Days

Our lifetimes are made up of DAYS. 

 We start with our birthDAY. Meet Emma Godfrey. 

 This week (December 13) she started her lifetime with her birthDAY.  Number 7 grand baby.
Lots of undeniable THOTL in timing for this little angel's birth.  So blessed!

Every 365 DAYS we get to celebrate our birthDAY, like Adi did for the 5th time on December 12. (Niece Wendy celebrated one too, but more than just 5 times)

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In the Book of Genesis we read about how DAYS began. 

The scriptures tell us God made DAYS by organizing light and dark and time and seasons. 

But DAYS are not just irrelevant marks of time. Each DAY counts. Each DAY is important. 

We all get our own amount of them.  Enough for our PLAN, our lifetime on earth.  

Kinds of DAYS

Everybody we know gets all kinds of DAYS,

some rainy and cloudy DAYS 

...full of tests and trials, 

some DAYS that are hard and they hurt...and you're glad when they are over.  

 This starfish,who found himself outside of his "living water" or "water living" was having a pretty HARD DAY.  Not just his heart, but everything about him was getting pretty "hard" too.

But we find that everybody we know also gets at least some DAYS that are sweet, and fun, and full of joy, and you hate to see them come to an end.  

That's what "Barney" has every DAY he gets to chase balls at the beach.  

Hint:Barney is the dog.

Likewise we all seem to get some DAYS that are mundane and a bit boring, 

some DAYS that are depressing and even tragic,

 some DAYS with new beginnings, and a mix of  DAYS with just about everything.

 Some DAYS just the fact that we survived the DAY without giving up the rest of our DAYS 

counts for a heap.

All of our DAYS count. 

.

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DAYS break big times (lifetimes) down into smaller times. We label or name the DAYS to help us organize our time.  Then DAYS can help us remember and record things in our lives that would be good to remember.   

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We also have specific and special DAYS that we label as such.  
We can remember our grandparent’s talking about DAYS they called “wash” DAYS, ironing DAYS, work DAYS, baking DAYS, and harvest DAYS. 

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 We have preparation DAYS, school/learning DAYS, summer DAYS, even pay DAYS and tax DAYS.

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 There are planting DAYS and then DAYS for Blooming and growing
(December is strawberry season in NZ, and its been a great year!)

No doubt these hydrangea were enjoying a "bloomin great DAY"!  

The hibiscus too!

Even the Aurea (yellow Pohutakawa) is flourishing in it's blooming DAYS this year. 

There are holiDAYS, and Holy DAYS...

...and DAYS when we  "graduate"(heaps of Uni graduations this week) and move on to new adventures...

...and DAYS of feasting and parties and plenty.  

The Lincoln Ward cooked a Umu (like a Maori Hangi feast where roasted pig and meat and veggies are cooked underground - but the Umu is cooked above ground) for their Christmas party feast.

The YSA 2nd Ward Christmas party DAY was complete with games, food, dancing, and even a visit from the jolly man in the red suit.

Sometimes we have lean DAYS, and other times we have DAYS with plenty, then we look for someone to share what we have.  Christmas is a good time for sharing good things and good DAYS.

Once a year at Christmas the senior missionaries at our Shoal Haven Apartments sponsor a 

Christmas Party.

We get to know our fellow "flatmates" and share...

...goodies, games and good things,

things like fish ponds and crafts and Rudolph, Jingle Bells, and Happy BirthDAY to Shirley.

It was a great evening DAY.

 We have found others who like to share their plenty and good DAYS in other ways, 

like Barry who lives in this house on the beach.  

Barry shared "gud-DAY mates" with his morning beach walking friends along with a sausage and friendly chat  (and we all gave donations to the kids sailing program at the yacht club).

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Niue is a pin dot Island in our mission in the South Pacific.  DAYS on Niue are always very warm. Sometimes those are good DAYS.  Tropical storms make for bad DAYS on Niue, and an outside plane only flies in one DAY a week.  Sometimes DAYS on Niue are still beautiful but very hard. 

Elder and Sister (Lynn and Colleen from Centerville, UT) Sessions have had lots of good DAYS.  They are the missionary couple on the Island of Niue.  But Lynn had a bad DAY when he slipped and on a rock near a cave on Niue while exploring with some of his visiting family. 

 THOTL: Two of his daughters visiting him were nurses and after a few really bad DAYS they insisted he be flown to a hospital in Auckland.  

Even with a TBI he is finally having some better DAYS.

Its nice to have DAYS with friends, even friends from home.   Rob and Lisa Harris took a cruise to NZ and we got to spend a few DAYS visiting with them.  

They brought us goodies from home that are hard to get in NZ, like real chocolate chips and canned pumpkin to make heavenly pumpkin chocolate chip cookies to share with our YSA’s. What a blessing!

 A DAY at One Tree Hill with the Harris'.

We are grateful for DAYS.  Years and lifetimes are wonderful but they are big and sometimes harder to keep track of, especially if you are trying to overcome weaknesses or do something a little better...

"One DAY at a time" is a nice place to start.  And we have to at least start.

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We may not get to choose everything that happens in all our DAYS, but we do get to choose what we will do with it.  And what we choose counts, and makes our DAYS count.

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We also know that He who created our DAYS has told us He will come back to get an accounting of how we spend our DAYS, how we tried to at least just do our best.

Obadiah 1:15 "For the DAY of the Lord is near."

Hang in there, keep trying, and be grateful for your DAYS.

We love you, and cherish the DAYS we have shared with you in them.

Vance and Louenda

Elder and Sister Downs