When Your Monday Won't Cooperate

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

-Lamentations 3:22-23 (ESV)

Mondays don't always cooperate.

In my ideal world, I'd start every week with a clean kitchen, an updated to-do list, and clean laundry all put away. I'd be well rested and ready to take on the world or at least the week. My pantry would be stocked, the menu would be planned, and all the meetings would be on the calendar. The checkbook would be balanced, the DVR would be cleared, and the inbox would be empty.

The is the Monday I dream of, but it's not the Monday I meet. Ever. Sometimes Mondays just won't cooperate.

We start the day arguing over undershirts and matching socks and saying, "No, you cannot have a cupcake for breakfast." We get busy on Sunday and step over the pile of laundry on the way to bed instead of folding it. We stay up too late catching up on our DVR shows, only to say goodbye to morning workout and quit time intentions.

We forget that it's trash day. We get caught in traffic and walking in late to work. Our shirts aren't ironed or even clean. There's nothing to send for lunch. We just want a nap or a do-over.

The thing about Mondays is that they come once a week, but that doesn't mean we have just one chance to get it all right. Instead, I believe it means we have six more days to try again; to accept grace from our family, co-workers and God.

All week long, we can accept the grace that's offered through the forgiveness for missed deadlines, a takeout dinner, wrinkled laundry and clumsy presentations. We accept that we can't do it all, that we're not perfect by remembering that it's OK. We can spend some time being grateful for all the days in our week, the family in our house, and even that lame lunch.

Monday may try to beat us down and keep us there for another week, but we can do it. We can rally on Tuesday or Wednesday afternoon after a nap and a cupcake we hid from breakfast.

Sometimes Mondays don't cooperate, but we don't have to let it ruin our whole week. God offers us grace and new mercies every single day. You really can start by setting your worries, unfinished plans and enemy expectations aside and embrace today.

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Mary Carver is a writer, speaker and recovering perfectionist. Mary writes with humor and honesty about giving up on perfect and finding truth in unexpected places on her blog, marycarver.com. She is the author of Fast Talk & Faith: A 22-Day Devotional Inspired by Gilmore Girls and co-author of Choose Joy: Finding Hope & Purpose When Life Hurts. Mary and her husband live in Kansas City with their two daughters.