This morning I was reading some writings of C.S. Lewis, when these words leaped off the page at me:

It is the difference between paint, which is merely laid on the surface,
and a dye or stain which soaks right through.

He was talking about how we start our days.

If we were meeting each other for coffee at Starbucks in the morning, I might ask you, “Did you have a good start to your day?”  It’s an innocuous question.  Purely conversational.  And of course, I would hope you had a great start.

Because we’re friends, you won’t cloak your answer with the usual dismissive remark.

Instead, you’ll tell me.

Mornings can get off to a fast and feverish pace.  We can get caught up in the mad dash of getting out the door on time.  However fast we may need to run, we can have peace or panic.

When we have peace… calming words come out of our mouths.  When we have panic… things become crazy.

The moment we wake up in the morning we know what lies ahead for the day and we have a choice to make.  We can either make time for our Maker, or we can make time to get everything done.

There are only so many hours in the day, so some days, it seems that the prudent thing to do is to acknowledge God, maybe read a verse or two, even a devotional passage, ask for his blessing on the day, and try to accomplish as much as we can so that we can get ahead for the day.

Seems good, doesn’t it?

Now let me return to Lewis…

It is the difference between paint, which is merely laid on the surface,
and a dye or stain which soaks right through.

If we begin our days like I just described… acknowledging God and getting off to a quick start… we are just laying paint down on our day.

But, if we choose to quiet ourselves for the day, listening to HIM, reading his word, and not giving him our list of things we need HIM to do for us… we are allowing him to dye or stain us for the day.

As a DIYer, I’ve learned that paint can be rubbed off or sometimes it flakes off, it doesn’t become an integral part of the piece.  But, if we stain or dye something… it soaks into the fibers and becomes a part of the wood or fabric.  We stain the deck because it will wear better than if we had painted it.

That’s the way it is with our day, too.

Tweet:  We can just paint our day with God, or we can stain our day with him.

Which would you rather do?

I know… you would like to stain your day, but some days you feel like you don’t have any other choice than to settle for paint.

When Jesus was still on earth, his days were full.  There were crowds of people following him, he was busy teaching his disciples, and traveling from place to place.  He needed to have time alone with God, so… In the morning, long before sunrise, Jesus went to a place where he could be alone to pray.  Mark 1:35

Even Jesus needed his day stained with God. 

Let me challenge you.

Before you go to bed at night, consider the day ahead.  If it’s going to be a super busy day, decide right then to get up 20 minutes earlier, so you can sit in the quiet with God’s word and get your fibers God-dyed for the day.

When we choose to have our days stained with God’s goodness, grace, and glory… we’ll have HIS fingerprints on all we say and do.

Isn’t that an exciting thought?  A great way to live?  An even better way to make a difference on those around us?

Paint is pretty and comes in a gorgeous array of colors, but it’s superficial.

Let’s start our days seeking the beautiful stain of God.

Click here and download to your computer a 4×6 free printable image.

Let’s stain our days with God’s goodness, grace, and glory.

Let’s stain our lives with God’s goodness, grace, and glory.

It’s JoyDay!

JoyDay! is the moment in time when we pause and take a quick look back over our week and give thanks.  It’s the time in which we fill our joy cups to overflowing.  It’s the time when we give thanks for the good and the not-so-good and find joy in the doing.

Won’t you join me?  Each week we count just ‘seven.’ 

I’ll start…

God I thank you for…

1. a week full of beautiful sunny days
2. sweet bloggy friendships
3. spring wildflowers popping up along the roadsides
4. circumstances that push us to walk in faith
5. providing a job… not what we expected or hoped but a wonderful opportunity
6. a totally unexpected blessing
7. the third anniversary of An Extraordinary Day

It’s YOUR turn!

Scroll down to ‘share your extraordinary thoughts’ below and list your ‘seven.’

You’ll be glad you did.  I dare you!!

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P.S. One of our readers has a big need and so I’m making a big request.  Please check out this post and give.  Every little bit will help.  And thank you for being the hands of Jesus by participating.

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