Those of you who know my youngest daughter’s story may have noticed something.

August 17th passed this year, and there was no “Four Years” post on this blog.

Did we forget about the awful events of August 17, 2015? No, I’m writing about them now.

Are we not thankful that our daughter is still with us, four years after a skateboarding accident almost took her life? Far from it. We’re grateful every second of every day. We’ve lifted our thanksgivings to God countless times.

But at some point, I had to give August 17th back to God. It was His to begin with, after all.

How selfish would it be to forever hold on to the grim memories of a specific day, when God’s potential for good every August 17th is without limits?

August 17, 2015 is indelibly burned into my consciousness much as any other day that has shaped me. There was March 1, 1990, the day after my oldest son was born, when we learned he had “chromosomal abnormalities.” Eleven years later, there was September 11, 2001, a day when I saw things I thought that I would never see. And last fall I added to that list October 21, 2018, the day we lost my Dad.

Do I commemorate those days? I remember 9/11 with the nation, but the other days pass with only a thought. The same can now be said for August 17th.

This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. – Psalm 118:24

After all, it wasn’t just the day of a horrible accident.

It was the day when my daughter didn’t die.

Now, I can’t wait to see what else God is going to do with August 17th.

What are you holding on to that is stealing your joy? What hard thing can you give to the Lord so that you can watch Him do great things in and through you?