It wasn’t much of an aggravation. Just enough to make me uncomfortable. I kept on. It wasn’t much of an aggravation. Just enough to make me uncomfortable. I kept on walking because I didn’t want to stop for such a minor issue. The longer I walked the more distracting it became. Finally, I was forced to stop and take off my shoe to find the irritation. A tiny (and I mean tiny) little pebble was floating in my shoe. How could such a tiny substance cause so much trouble? I quickly dumped it on the blacktop, replaced my shoe and continued walking. Such comfort! Why had I walked so long before stopping to remove it?

As I finished my walk in comfort, I began to think how I do the same thing during the day. I start the day in good spirits and then discover I am out of cereal milk. A bit later my electricity is momentarily disconnected, and I am forced to reboot my computer, reset all my clocks and check my refrigerator and freezer. I drop an egg as I mix my cookie dough. Nothing major, but my husband comes home for lunch, makes a reasonable request and I “jump down his throat”. I have let the little rocks of the morning rub too long.

So often I let the pebbles of the day rub for too long and my family and friends experience the result. Paul wrote to rejoice…not just when we were comfortable and all is going well, but “Rejoice Always” is his admonition to the church at Philippi. I need to stop, take a breath, get rid of the aggravation, and rejoice in my day. So many blessings come our way and we miss them because we have a “small pebble” interfering with our day.

I am trying to take out the “pebbles” of the day and Rejoice Always. I hope you will too.