Dear Thursday,
Thank you. Thank you for all the late nights, deep conversations, and laughter. Thank you for the home cooked meals, sweet fellowship, and deep theological conversations about the Christian faith. Thank you for all the intense rounds of Uno Flip, the warm (or cold) showers, and a place to call home after school.
How often do you sit down and contemplate your favorite day of the week?
It's not something we normally do because there are bigger and better things we can spend our mental energies on, but it's also not that time consuming either.
This morning, I was writing in my journal and I decided to flip all the way back to the month of January, the moment the year 2020 began... As I was reading, not only was I hit with extreme nostalgia, but I was also very intrigued to see that a lot of my longer entries were all made on Thursdays. It didn't take me long to figure out why either.
Flashback to my junior year of high school. I have six weeks left of the year before I'm officially a senior. I'm excited, nervous, and super tired all at the same time.
A close friend (We'll call her Jo) reached out and decided that she wanted to host my sister and I on Thursday nights before youth group until the end of the year. Jo had heard that Faith and I would usually just lounge around on campus from 3:15 in the afternoon until 7 PM when youth group started. That just didn't seem right to her and she offered to open up her home to us. We accepted.
At this point, there were only two weeks left of the school year. I was in Jo's kitchen helping her and her son make pizza for dinner. The three of us were talking about how complicated it is to be fully involved in school functions while living so very far away from campus. For Jo and her family, they were a quick two minute walk away from campus, but many of their friends were not as fortunate and they understood the work that went into planning for something like youth group every week.
After we had eaten supper and were cleaning up the kitchen, washing the dishes, and wiping down the counters, Jo said "You know what Grace? I've been praying for you." To which I of course responded to with a big thank you but I was eager to let her finish her thoughts. "I've been praying that God will provide a family that will host you and Faith on Thursday nights next year. I know it would be much easier on you guys, and your parents, if an arrangement like that could be made."
And I totally agreed with her desire because it was a 1,000 times more practical than what we had been doing previously and it would also just be good fellowship, and I began praying that for myself as well.
Fast forward to about three or four weeks into my senior year. Jo and I were now working together in the first grade classroom. We were still both praying for God to provide a family to host Faith and I as no one had turned up with an offer yet.
The day was a Sunday. It was warm and sunny out, the church service had just ended, and I was out mingling with my friends discussing anything and everything from the latest news in America to the accident that had occurred just up the street from where we gathered for church.
Amongst this group of friends was Philip Kendall, whom a few of you will remember has written a few poems and short stories for the blog. His grandmother came up to our little circle of friends and tapped me on the shoulder asking if we could talk.
As she pulled me aside, she mentioned to me that God had laid it on her heart to host Faith and I before youth group on Thursday nights. She was asking if we would at all consider it and before she could finish her query I said yes, and thanked her profusely. I told her about how Jo and I had been praying for someone to come along and how God had now answered that prayer.
From that point on, we spent every Thursday night with Philip and his grandparents. From that point on, Thursdays became my favorite day of the week.
Not only did Thursdays remind me of how God had answered prayer, but they also were just great times of sweet fellowship and the food was to die for!
It may seem like such a small, cliche thing to do, but I challenge you to think about what your favorite day of the week is and why it is your favorite.
Always remember that the God we serve takes pleasure in the little things as much as we do, and He loves hearing us blab on about them anyways, even though He knew it all before the beginning of time. Thanking Him for creating Thursdays is a good start. :)