Several years ago, country singer Trace Adkins released a song entitled You’re Gonna Miss This. The song chronicles the life and frustrations of an unnamed woman. When we first meet this woman, she is an angsty teenager being dropped off for school by her mother. She is looking forward to better days, days when she is older and independent. The song then jumps ahead a few years to just after the woman’s wedding. Her father stops by to visit her in her humble one bedroom apartment. He compliments her on the new home and she dismisses it, opting instead to focus on dreams buying a house and having children in days to come. Finally, we are transported five years down the road. The woman has the house she wanted and the chaos of life surrounds her with broken water heaters, dogs barking, phones ringing, kids crying and screaming. At this stage, the woman is apologizing for her current reality. While the song doesn’t explicitly state it, it is safe to assume that this woman is still looking forward to what’s next. In every season of life, the woman is offered the same piece of wisdom from those around her through the chorus. They tell her, “You’re gonna miss this. You’re gonna want this back. You’re gonna wish these days hadn’t gone by so fast. These are some good times. So take a good look around. You may not know it now, but you’re gonna miss this.”
This song popped into my mind as I was texting with my daughter this morning. Just two days ago, we dropped her off at college for the start of her senior year. This morning, my wife and I received a text from her saying, “I take it back. I don’t want to get back into the routine of school.” She went on to lament the full day of work that lay ahead, complete with long hours, unending responsibilities, and limited freedom. Ironically, even the blue skies and sunshine outside were less than desirable as there is an extreme heat advisory today. I sent my girl these words of encouragement: “These are some good days, my girl. Try to enjoy them.”
Even in the mundane and monotonous, the awkward and annoying, the overwhelming and undesired experiences of life, there is happiness and satisfaction to be found.
It’s not an uncommon trend. Even the wise King Solomon declared, “Meaningless! Meaningless! Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.” We all have times when we lament the drudgery and difficulty of the day before us. We all have moments when we get lost in daydreams about things we would rather do and places we would rather be. We all have the ability to manufacture rain clouds on the inside while surrounded by blue skies and sunshine on the outside. In those moments, we need to recalibrate our hearts and minds.
We need to remember that every day is a gift from God. Even in the mundane and monotonous, the awkward and annoying, the overwhelming and undesired experiences of life, there is happiness and satisfaction to be found. Once again, we turn to the words of Solomon. In Ecclesiastes 3:12-13, he writes, “I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in their toil – this is a gift of God.” It’s a refrain Solomon repeats several times and it very much mirrors the chorus of the song mentioned earlier and the text I sent my daughter. It’s a reminder we need early and often. These are some good days, my friends. They are a gift from God. Let us do all we can to enjoy them.
