You are probably scratching your heads thinking “HUH?” How can anyone think of Monday as their favorite day of the week?  That is just crazy talk! Well, I will tell you why I say that Monday is my new favorite day of the week…

Most of the MCG team in Utah knows that my oldest son (and only son) Dalton, who is 19 years old, left home six weeks ago to go and serve as a missionary for the LDS Church for two years in Jackson, Mississippi. While he is gone serving his mission he only gets to write home once a week and it just so happens that the day he gets to write each week is MONDAY! So I know LOVE LOVE LOVE Mondays because I know I will get an email from my son for the week. Funny how Monday’s went from being my very least favorite day of the week to my new absolute favorite day of the week now that I have something so important to look forward to on Monday’s! There is a lesson to be taken from that story on how you can turn around a least favorite day of the week in your life by having something you love to look forward to on that day…

My heart has been aching with missing my son as he is one of my best friends in life and although the MN team didn’t get to meet him, the Utah and India teams have as he used to work at MCG while he went to high school, so many people got to know what a great and inspiring person he is. To give you a little glimpse of why I love the kid so much and why he inspires me in life I will share a little bit of his letter home today with all of you. In this particular section of his letter he is sharing lessons he has learned over these first six weeks of his mission and this one that I am going to share is something that every one of us should apply in our lives (that is the first paragraph below.

The second paragraph just shows what a great kid he is…). This is an exact section of his letter:

“And another lesson is don’t you ever take a day for granted. Ever. Especially your toughest days. You make every day count. Even if all you do is relax in a hammock, you make that count. I don’t mean go out and make sure every second of every day is filled with an activity (unless you’re a missionary, then you best be fillin those seconds), but I mean don’t ever think “I can’t wait for when this time is over and the next can begin”. Be excited for what’s to come, be excited for the journey, but never say “I wish this moment was over”. Every day is special. When all is over, and I mean we have been judged and dwelling in our kingdoms, you’re going to miss the life you lived on this Earth. You’re probably going to look back over the tapes of your life (or however it is), and while you’ll be glad you made it to heaven and stuff, you’ll also think of the times in your life. You’ll think of every single moment. So whatever you do, never ever ever wish for a time to be over. Even the hard ones, cause as soon as one hard thing ends, you better believe an ever harder one is going to follow. You best be livin it up son. (Sorry, I just pictured how Ashley would probably say that:))

Gosh dang family I miss you all. Never doubt that I don’t. I love you with all my heart, but I wouldn’t speed this up for even a second. I definitely can’t wait for Lake Powell trips, video game nights with Dad, going to BYU with Ashley, snuggling with Mom, and even just sleeping in, but i wouldn’t trade a single moment of this mission. I wouldn’t make it go faster at all, even when I’m sweating from my eyeballs, I’m being bitten by mosqitos, my feet feel like they’re gonna fall off, my knuckles are bruised from knocking on doors, no one will listen to the message of Salvation, and I’m dehydrated like no other. I wouldn’t speed it up because even when I’m in the lowest of the lows, and believe me, they get pretty low, I would never ask to be released from the work of the Lord. Oh how great my joy is when I’m in the service of my God. I’m going to miss this so much.”

You can see why he inspires me so much. And what a great message he shared about never taking one single moment of our lives for granted. Not one. Even the tough ones. Cherish them. Learn from them. Appreciate that you are becoming a better and stronger person with everything you go through in your life. And take joy in those moments when you get to relax in a hammock and smell the roses in life.

Those moments don’t come often enough so when they do come be aware of them and make them count. I am so inspired by his letter this week and I am going to really try harder to appreciate every day of my own life. Life is a gift and I want to be proud of the way I have spent every moment of it during my journey here on earth.

Today’s challenge is to never take a single day for granted. Starting with today. HAVE A PERFECT DAY TODAY!

~Amy