Loving Great Days

Sometimes great days come unexpectedly, like a sunny day when the forecast predicts rain. Other times you can see them coming from a mile away, like when you are anticipating the vacation-of-the-year for six months (or in the case of my in-laws, 2 years!). Today was of the first variety, a great day that came unexpectedly. Looking back, I should have seen it coming, but for some reason it didn't hit me until recently. It started around noon when Noelle made a surprisingly delicious mahi-mahi on top of a fresh salad (she may blog about it later... but she doesn't blog about her amazing lunches for some reason). Then we headed out to "Edgefield" - a 60+ acre Disneyland for grown ups type of place. The place has a hotel, a couple restaurants, a distillery, pub, winery, two par-3 (a.k.a. "executive") golf courses, movie theater, and probably more that I'm missing. We went the golf and winery route today.

It turned out to be a perfect weather day - slightly cloudy, about 68 degrees, comfortable as can be. We played 9 very short holes of golf (no hole was more than 80 yards... and when some courses have 530 yards on one hole, that's a short course) in about an hour. Noelle played the round of her life and almost made a hole in one!

Yes, she sank the birdie putt.

After golf we toured the vegetable garden before heading the winery where our server was by her lonesome, apparently not expecting anyone at 3:15pm and preparing for the busy time coming in a couple hours. We had some great drinks and shared a plate of spinach and artichoke dip... delightful. It was the perfect afternoon - a surprisingly jovial affair of laughs, good golf shots, and beautiful scenery.

Noelle starts work next Monday, so that's why we decided to take off to Edgefield for the afternoon. The Lord must have known what was in store for us because I honestly could not have planned a better day together. Sometimes you just need a great day when you don't expect it. We've been blessed to have many great days together since moving to Portland - hiking, trying new restaurants, having a best friend visit, getting to know churches and friends. But today was just special for some reason.

Open up your eyes and give thanks to God for great days. And even when days aren't "great"... maybe they're average, maybe there's disappointing for one reason or another, realize that all of life is a gift of God to be lived with a grateful heart.

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