my husband is my highlighter.
i don't have bad days very often, but when i do, he has this very subtle way of helping me forget how bad it was. he has always been better than me at finding the silver lining, and i like to think i'm pretty good at it. still, he's better.
when he comes home from a long day at the office, some days i'll have a lingering sour attitude, throwing around lots of heavy sighs, because i've had a long day too you know. instead of opening the conversation for complaining and negativity, my husband asks me:
"what was the highlight of your day?"
there i am, minding my own bad day business, hanging out at my own pity party, and he's asking me about the highlight? it takes me a minute or two {or ten} to come up with an answer. i'm ashamed and embarrassed at my own selfishness. i need an attitude adjustment. i have to shut up that inner voice that wants to cry over the milk that spilled 8 hours ago. and then i retrace my steps, my woe-is-me drudging, and i dig. i really dig for the good part (parts?) of my day. and it hurts when i realize there were so many of them, the good parts, that went unnoticed. like that unsolicited hug from my toddler son, or when my maturing daughter and i shared a laugh while folding the towels, or the email i got from a friend just to say she's thinking of me, or the coupon i found for a free cup of coffee, or the relief that washed over me when my husband walked through the door just in time for dinner. those are highlights.
later, i cry when no one is looking. not because i had a bad day, but because i missed the highlights. bright as they were, i missed them. i vow to have an answer for my husband when he asks about my day's highlights tomorrow.
with a simple question, my beautifully smart husband has a way of making me humble myself, count my blessings, and forget about my so-called bad day. my eyes flicker from the bad to the good, my heart is relieved, my self-pity fades, and i persevere with newfound joy. it's late in the day, but i forgive myself. i think of my God who loves me, the One that planned this day long ago. surely He didn't want me to mark the day as bad. i won't, God. i don't.
a question, a thought, a reflection, a reminder, and i smile. my husband has teamed up with God to show me the highlights.
"Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting."
Psalm 139:23-24 NIV
so...what was the highlight of your day?
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