Day 29: Celebrate a Small Moment

If life had been normal, I’d be in the middle of a great vacation right now. Our family would have finished up seeing tons of relatives, we would have shared the wonders of New York City and Washington D.C. with our kids for the first time, and we’d be on our way to the Georgia coast for an amazing reunion with some of my favorite people in the whole world. And then next week would have been a short jaunt to Disney World, the happiest place on earth.

Instead, we’ve celebrated the 4th of July with a fire in the firepit and some smores. That’s it. There won’t be fireworks or parties and there certainly won’t be any vacations for awhile. We’re all grieving those losses but I can’t just try not to look back. That doesn’t work for me. I need to look forward to what I can celebrate. Which brings me to all the little things.

Even aside from a pandemic, community rarely works out the way I expect it to. The nature of relationships, human frailty, and the unexpected nature of life means that my plans often remain just plans. Learning to celebrate the small moments ensures that I will notice the good even in the midst of uncertainty. It keeps my eyes on the prize. So many of the big things are outside of our control. But the little things? We can always be sure there will be some goodness to be found.

And when we find it, I believe we owe it to our community to call it out. To tell each other, “Look, here is the goodness. It wasn’t all bad after all.” We get to tell our people how proud we are of them, or how far we’ve seen them come, or how blessed we have been by their actions. We get to hang up a little celebration banner for everyone to see.

Even if it’s small. Maybe especially if it’s small. That toddler finally sleeping through the night? Celebration. You finished the presentation made even more stressful by video conferencing? Celebration. Those flowers you planted are blooming? Celebration.

What small thing can you celebrate for your community today?