Loving Monday...?

Loving Monday…?

What???

……………

So today Monday changed my mind…

Here’s how it started.

Yesterday at church my amazing Pastor John Finochio preached a message called “MyCrossroads”.

It was basically about who we are as a church and how we need to BE the church Monday-Saturday and then we just have a family gathering once a week – that’s Sunday services. J

Sunday’s are made for the best of times with people who love you and support you. Your church is meant to be family. A community extended from your immediate family. A group of people to laugh and cry with you thru life.

But I’m not writing this to include a re-cap of PJ’s sermon (amazing as it was), I simply want to state that Mondays do NOT have to be the dreary, mundane, dreary, slowest, “need-my-coffee-NOW… or ELSE”, kind of days that we all dread.

I don’t really know how to say this, (I’m tired, and writing this fast, cuz when else is a better time to post this… but a Monday? J)

So here’s my thought…

If church on Sunday is really all it’s supposed to be, and meeting with your spiritual family is really uplifting and God uses that time to fill you up and give you excitement for another week of “being the church” out there in your homes and jobs…

Then WHY are we buying into the depressing lies of MONDAY?

It’s like we just had the best Sunday… we had a great worship service, maybe you cried when Jesus showed up for you (and He usually does that, you just need to look for Him)… then Pastor gave a great sermon. Maybe you even went up for prayer afterwards.

So if his sermon made such an impact on you and Sunday was such a great day of friends, family, fellowship… etc. etc. etc.

Then WHY is it that Monday morning it takes more than one cup of coffee to get going?

Why does the sunshine mock (no beach days for you, you have to go to work!) and the snooze button get hit again for just 5 more minutes of sweet sleep?

I ask all of this, cuz these are questions I battle every single Monday of my life!

If you are a Monday-dweller like I am, then this blog is for you.

If you are not… well praise the Lord! 

(please comment on this and teach me your optimism!)

I have lived in a Monday state of mind for a while now.

I have the best church… I would rather be there than anywhere else on this earth… it’s not the building, it’s the people and what we’re working towards. The dreams God is giving us. J

But for some reason every Monday I have woke up frustrated with life for some reason or another.

But today I got thinking… why all this negativity?

Shouldn’t we be MORE refreshed… built up… encouraged… full of life?

Shouldn’t Mondays be the day that our hearts are still reverberating from the great church family time we had the day before?

(and hey… if you still don’t get what I mean by church family, I would LOVE to tell you exactly what church family means to me, but can’t explain in this particular post. E-mail me? J )

Shouldn’t Monday be the day we jump in with both feet – no coffee needed – and really just give it all up and serve Jesus with a new passion and love that is rarely seen in this generation?

Why can’t Mondays be that way?

Oh I can hear you cynics… you say this is crazy… you say church is just a social gathering… perhaps your cynical nature makes you want to agree that Mondays are mundane and we should detest them as much as anyone in the world.

But listen to what Jesus said…

“…Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

So basically, Mondays will come… of course there is a possibility they may be exhausting… and perhaps you’ll even feel like giving up.

But see! Even tho we have troubles, HE has already overcome them!

Even if everyday was Monday, we don’t have to be just slumping through life trying to make it to the next weekend, because with Jesus in our lives we should be over-joyed to be living out a troublesome Monday just for the pure fact that He loves us.

So dear friends… don’t get caught up in what this world wants you to think about Mondays (like I have so many times).

Don’t let the enemy of your soul rob the joy that was imparted to you on Sunday just as soon as the Monday sun rises.

Don’t press snooze that extra time and grump  your way through yet another work week.

Live life above the ordinary.

Choose to focus on Jesus and who He is… instead of yourself and who you are and where your life isn’t headed.

Lift your eyes a little higher than your circumstances and then just simply let God be God and lead you through a week of living for Him.

Not easy… but here’s something to remember.

A play on words, if you like…

Yesterday in church my pastor said the word “RE-member”… you are a member of the body of Christ. On Sundays you RE-member yourself to the body (as opposed to dismember… and that sounds painful).

On Mondays, I think we should learn to REJOICE!

I mean by this, we should make an effort to RE-Joy ourselves in our circumstances.

Joy is not being happy all the time… it’s focusing on who God is and the love we have for Him in spite of what surrounds us.

I’m still learning this, but I hope my Mondays are better because of this little Monday thought. J

Now if you’ll excuse me, it’s almost midnight and my Monday is officially over.

Bring on TUESDAY! J J J