Here in BIG Life, we gather to welcome and receive each new day of life as a gift. The simple shift in perspective to see the rising sun as the wrapping on the gift of a new day is truly life-changing. Receiving this gift with gratitude and anticipation sets our minds and changes our life experience.

You know, if you’re looking for the color orange, you will suddenly start seeing it everywhere. But before deciding you were looking for orange, you likely didn’t even notice it. Orange was there, but it went unnoticed. But, seek and ye shall find. Anything you’re looking for, you will find. Good or bad. Positive or negative.

So wouldn’t it make sense to intentionally set your mind each day to find the best of the best so you can experience it in real life? Why would you live any other way?

Tomorrow, we wake up to a Saturday. A Saturday that is rare and precious and of tremendous value. This is a Saturday that only comes along once every 28 years! Yes, you’ve been waiting 28 years for what is coming tomorrow, and you may not have even known it.

What is so incredibly special about this day?
IT’S LEAP SATURDAY!!!!!! (Yeah, it’s a thing and I totally just gave it my own title.)

This is a leap year, you get yourself the bonus day of February 29th and that happens every 4 years, but once every 28 years, that leap day falls on a Saturday!!!!!

Your kids have been waiting their whole life for this day! I’m 44 and the last time I got myself a Leap Saturday, I was 16 years old!!!!!! This is totally EPIC!!!!!!!

This is the bonus day. An extra day added to our year that’s a pure gift. You always get 365 days in the calendar year, but tomorrow you wake up to a day that is set aside as the rarest of days. February 29th! And because that special day falls on a Saturday, I mean Holy Balls, doesn’t this just call for a celebration?

It’s a double whammy gift. It’s the jackpot of all days!

I’m challenging you to seize this bonus day of life given to you and live it like no other day before. Soak in every moment, waste nothing and make it special in every way. Fit as much living into this single day as humanly possible.

Ecclesiastes 9: 7-10 (MSG) says “Seize life! Oh yes, God takes pleasure in your pleasure! Relish life. Each day is God’s gift. Make the most of each one. Whatever turns up, grab it and do it. And heartily!”

This is how God wants us to live every day of life, receiving it as a gift. But imagine what our response should be to a gift like Leap Saturday that only comes once every 28 years!

Our pleasure should be intentional!
Our relishing should resemble wallowing in the goodness!
We should be grabbing all that comes our way to do, to see, and to enjoy with both hands and dive in head first!

Because this won’t happen again for 28 years. Figure that up … how old will you have to be to ever experience another Leap Saturday. Well, that’s not guaranteed now is it? No, it isn’t … so let’s decide now we’re going to live this one like our last one.

Seize life. Carpe diem my friend! To seize means to take hold of. Don’t let it pass you by. The day will come and the day will go, with or without your participation. But, God is inviting you to participate.

He’s done all the work of creating. I mean seriously, think about it. Do you have to tell the sun to rise? No, you just get to enjoy it, he did the work for you. Do you have to control the photosynthesis of the plants to produce oxygen? Nope, you just get to breathe it, he did that work for you too. Do you have to make the Earth spin on it’s 23.5 degree axis, suspended in the galaxy, perfectly positioned 92 million miles from the sun so we’re neither frozen nor baked? No, you just get to enjoy the ride as we spin, he took care of that exhausting work.

HE HAS DONE THE HARD PART, now he invites you to participate in all he has done for you.

How do you best participate in this awe and wonder? Let’s go back to our scripture again. What does it say?

“God takes pleasure in your pleasure!”

It brings God pleasure to see you enjoying all he has done for you. So, how will you enjoy the gift of life on Leap Saturday, the epic bonus day of living you get to wake up to tomorrow?

Make the most of this day. Live every single second you can with intention and purpose. Set your mind on goodness and opportunities. Remember what happens when you look for something … you find it. What will you intentionally look for? How will you fully seize the day and make it a once-in-28-years kinda day?

We’re currently traveling. So I intentionally booked an Airbnb on the water. In the morning I will bundle up, and I will watch the sunrise while sipping my coffee on the dock. Maybe the colors will be magnificent, or maybe the skies will be gray, it doesn’t really matter. I’ve decided in advance it will be beautiful and I will be there to seize it.

How will you wake up to Leap Saturday? What will you seize?

I’m buying my husband a fishing pole today on our travels so tomorrow he can do what he most enjoys doing. We will make everything an adventure. A walk will be an adventure walk, to see what we can see. If I see a flower, I will stop to smell it. If I find beauty, I will capture it. If I see an opportunity, I will jump into it. Heck, I may just do a polar bear plunge into the Newport News bay if the opportunity presents itself.

Why? Because my pleasure brings God pleasure, and this girl just wants to make him happy. Don’t you want to do the same? Don’t you want to enjoy this bonus gift God has given you to the level of just making him giddy? Don’t you want to make your creator sit on the edge of his seat watching you live your Leap Saturday, amazed by all the living you managed to fit into this single day?

Give yourself permission to be slightly ridiculous … hey, you only get this day once every 28 years. Sure you’ll get another Leap Day in 4 years, but it won’t be on a Saturday. This is the ONE girl, this is THE GIFT OF LIFE!

How much living will you fit into your day? How much seizing will you do? How much pleasure will you find, savor, create and give? How will you make the most of the day? How much of what turns up will you grab ahold of?

The alternative is to just let it slip through your hands and miss it.
That sucks.
Don’t do that.
Not with this kind of gift.

Gather the family. Make your plans. Ask everyone what they want to do to enjoy this EPIC day, and let your default be YES. Instead of your standard default of no, finding all the reasons why you can’t, how about your default be yes?

Yes, let’s find a way to do that.
Yes, let’s get creative.
Yes, let’s take the time.
Yes, let’s dare to be totally different.
Yes, let’s make this day the most memorable day ever by showing up and seizing it.

Grab hold of every single thing the day offers, be all there, all-in, create all the memories, give all the love, bring all your energy, find all the goodness, and don’t miss a single thing.

And in the end, your pleasure brings God pleasure.