It was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day, and that says a lot, because Vivian* was at work, and she LOVES working at Chick-fil-a – she loves her co-workers, she loves the busyness, she loves the challenge and the action. But today – she wished today could just be over. She was working drive-through – it’s normally her favorite position, but today it was more than a struggle. She couldn’t figure out why things were going so wrong, but everything that could, was.

Once again, a car came through the drive-through, and there was something wrong with the order. Vivian struggled to keep a smile on her face and a positive attitude as she apologized and fixed it. She remade their drinks to be fresh, gave them their receipts, wished them a good evening and went on to finish out the rest of that disappointing, difficult day.

Then, as she was cleaning up after closing, a miracle happened, and her whole evening turned around. Vivian’s manager told her about a couple with a messed-up order who was so impressed with how she had handled the situation, they texted him to let him know they appreciated her – that she had “done Chick-fil-a proud.” Suddenly, it wasn’t such a bad day after all – suddenly the moon shone a little brighter and the discouragements of the day melted away.

In the middle of her frustrations that evening, Vivian had blessed someone in their own frustrating moment, and they had, in return redeemed her day. They had given her a gift to treasure – a memory of the good that can come through the next inevitable terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

Time is redeemed when you make the most of your life by fulfilling God’s purposes. – Elizabeth George