Mondays! They can be the best day, but routinely they are often not welcomed by many of us. We actually start to dread them on Sunday as we peek ahead into the day and try to hang onto the last remnant of the weekend and the freedom we feel when we are released from the workweek demands.

 Mondays represent a return to work or school or whatever duties are our lot in life. They represent routine, which often seems like drudgery. There are piles of one thing or another to do, whether papers, assigned reading, gardening, laundry, or other projects of one sort or another.

 Even though we have an awareness there is a need for the routine and somewhere have heard there is a value in it beyond the paycheck, the grade, or the satisfaction of stacks of clean, folded clothes or manicured lawns, we still tend to not look forward to such things. It can all feel so confining and limiting to us! It prevents us from going off in other directions more to our liking whether an exciting adventure or simply a leisurely morning in bed.

 Mondays get an unfair judgment from many of us, but we miss their value. The routine and the drudgery that pulls us away from sleep, play, and adventure are tools to mold and shape our character, helping us grow. On any given Monday we do not see growth. We do not see how the demands of Mondays and other workdays develop self-discipline, one aspect of solid character. Growth is seen after many Mondays!

 We need to recognize that Mondays shape our character and that helps us persevere in the midst of difficulty, endure in the midst of dry seasons, and stand in the midst of suffering. Character gives us the long view of things and the ability to not give up!

Character produces hope!