Sunny-side Up

“Oh, how sweet the light of day, and how wonderful to live in the sunshine! Even if you live a long time, don’t take a single day for granted. Take delight in each light-filled hour.” ―Ecclesiastes 11:7–8, MSG

Hitting the snooze button for the last time, I rolled out of bed, shuffled to the kitchen, and took two eggs from the refrigerator tray. Determined to start my day sunny-side up, I tapped one egg on the side of the cast-iron skillet and watched its contents slip into the sizzling pan.

Wow! A double yolk. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen an egg with two yolks.

As any appreciative twenty-first-century recipient of such good fortune would do, I first chronicled this rare occurrence with my camera and then googled the significance of a double yolk. Wikipedia informed me that the superstitious say a double yolk means double good luck: the recipient will get double their good expectations.

This eggspert view of life is amusing, but basing our expectations on false hope is a slippery slide into discouragement. The hard-shell reality is that regardless of our sunny disposition, at some point we’re going to end up in a frying pan full of hot grease. What does the outcome look like for you―scrambled or sunny-side up?

In general, I view life from the upside. I attribute a great portion of my optimism to the unrealistic portrayal of family on television in the late fifties and early sixties. Although I viewed the lives of Beaver Cleaver and Ozzie and Harriet Nelson on our twenty-one-inch black-and-white TV, I projected my future in wide-screen living color. Of course my life would be nothing less than perfect.

It didn’t take long for my imaginary universe to morph into reality as I transitioned from youth into adulthood. My latter teen years were peppered with the usual girl drama, heartbreak, and life adjustments, most of which could be remedied, and yet they groomed me for the unalterable hard knocks that were soon to follow. 

I never envisioned my future to include a child with Down syndrome. In fact, at age twenty-seven, I’d never even heard of Down syndrome. Nevertheless, thirty-nine years this side of our daughter’s birth, I can’t imagine our journey taking any other course. Like many others who travel this road, we are blessed to accompany a child who experiences life at a slower pace and marches to the beat of her own drummer.

Perhaps, like me you’ve collided with a future you don’t recognize as our own, and you’ve found yourself in a procession you didn’t sign up for. I pray you know Christ. I can’t imagine walking this road (or any road) without Him.

Regardless of your challenge, Christ 
will always lead you to victory and is waiting for opportunities to reveal Himself along the way. In the mean time, your task is to keep in step and walk on the sunny-side, for with Christ we always have reason to hope. Walk on.

Now it's your turn to "get down." When your life takes an unexpected turn, what do you do to maintain a sunny disposition?

I always welcome your comments.

Keep your sunny side up,
Starr

Day 1 of a five-day series which first appeared at www.zookeepersministries.com