It's another weekday in England. Some 28 million people
will soon be starting their working day.
Of course, no two days are the same for any of us.
But if we're honest, a huge part of our life follows a pattern.
I wonder if you were watching your life on a film, if you would fast-forward
these normal days, and look for some drama or action.
Do these days mean anything?
I'm going to see if I can find out the answer, from four different people
as they go about their routine day.
First I went to meet Tony, who is a Health and Safety Officer from Oxfordshire.
How many people, on average, do you think are on their way to work today?
How many million? How many million, right.
I would say...
20 million. 28 million people.
Are you the sort of person who gets easily bored with what you do?
I am, yeah.
So that's something I have to work on
and many times I've thought of the Word in the Bible,
"Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might."
I think no single day should be lost in being unthankful,
and heavy about things.
I think you can get something out of every single day
especially if you think about what God's Word says.
Dissatisfied thoughts can come into your mind:
If only I had different circumstances,
then I could become a better Christian!
But I see it that God has led me into that particular work,
and so therefore, I come into a new day and I think
this day, as it is written in the Psalms
"This is the day the Lord has made, I will be glad and rejoice in it."
And that means each and every day, I can get something out of it.
I've often thought, what does a day consist of, really?
It's lots of small things, and I must take
each of those things in a good way.
That's how you can be transformed, which is what I believe in.
It's been really interesting talking to Tony,
and following him about his job.
It's amazing in all that routine pattern and every day life,
he's got a purpose - there is something he is living for.
And it's not just to go through the day and come to the end of it,
but he is looking for what God's plan is
in these very simple situations he's going through.
From building site to high street, I next went to visit Elizabeth
who works full-time as an optician.
Hi Elizabeth. Hi David.
How are you doing? Good thanks, and you?
Yes good, thanks for letting me come round.
I'm a dispensing optician, and what that means
is that when people have had their eyes tested
then my job is to help people choose the right frame that is suitable for them.
So would you say you enjoyed your job?
I love my job! I mean, of course there are
times where I have my 'down days', but on the whole, I love it.
You say 'down days' - what do you find difficult on those days?
It's petty things really.
I remember I had this boss once, who I felt was always
breathing down my neck, and always checking up on me.
How did that make you feel?
To be honest, it just irritated me constantly being told how to do things better.
I had to be professional,
but I felt that God had a much more important plan for me,
that I'm not just good outwardly, but that I deal with the irritation
that rises up in me.
Because I love God I knew He wouldn't want me to carry this irritation around
in my heart, He didn't want me just to cover it up,
but that it was to be dealt with.
So how did you react?
I remember praying to God to save me
from my own irritation. It was amazing how
the situation was turned on its head, that I learned to
respect my boss. I realised she had a business to run,
and was just making sure that everything was going ok.
It wasn't her that was at fault, it was actually me.
And do you think God has answered your prayer?
Yes I do, and each day seems to have a purpose.
Even if outwardly, it just seems to be a normal day.
Next I travelled north to meet Ben, who is a university
student from Durham. Having taken a gap year,
he now has his sights on a degree in English Literature.
The trip's about an hour and 45 minutes,
one bus, I get the whole way from home to university, is
one hour and 45 minutes. Same bus? Same bus.
Some people would say that you have a lot of freedom as a student,
would you say that's true?
Yeah, I think so. You have a lot of time to think
and you have to be really careful with where you allow your thoughts to go.
For me its the biggest battle in my life that I
have to take up; I can't come together with young people
and together at the youth meetings and just speak about something
that I haven't got, or try and put on a show of something
which I haven't got. You have to live it, in those situations
that's the most important time to stay faithful.
There's a rest when you come together with the other
young people and together with the church, because you feel
you have been carrying out what you've heard.
I've just been to Ben's university,
and seen many other students,
and you never know what any one of them's thinking,
the worries they have, the thoughts going through their mind.
And yet Ben has actively chosen
to make his thoughts pleasing to God.
And in doing that he's become free from
worrying what people think about him.
In a quiet cul-de-sac in Somerset,
I meet Emma, who is a full-time mum.
Hi Emma, how are you doing?
Hello litl'uns! Alright?
My normal day starts around 7 o clock,
with noise from the children. Then we come
downstairs, we pack the lunches up, we get dressed,
and then shoes on, into the pushchair,
the twins go in and we go off to school up the road.
In all these daily things, what do you think God wants?
As a mum, it doesn't always feel as though you have much to show
for what you do. But I think the thing that
is really important is to make sure that I'm in a good spirit.
And it's especially important for the children when they come home,
from school, that they come home and sense that
I'm happy, and I'm able to deal with them in a good way.
And their happiness is a really high priority for me.
Three down, two to go.
Even though you can want the best for your children,
then there are many things that can ruin that.
The area for me is comparing myself and
my abilities and children with other mums.
But I've really taken up a battle in this,
and God helps me to deal with that,
so that I become more free, and I'm able to breathe,
and be free from what other people think of me.
How has God made you feel differently about being a mum?
God, He's saving me in the day-to-day things,
He's given me a vision that it is such a great privilege
to be a mum, and the task is so important.
And in that task, there is great joy and
I can be content in the day-to-day things that I do.
I have spoken to four different people,
and seen them in their everyday lives,
at school, at home and at work.
But there's one thing which links them all:
and that is their burning love for God.
And it is through this love that their everyday lives
have been transformed. The question for me now is
how will I use my daily life?
Will I take up my own cross daily,
and follow him?
And I suppose that is a question for everyone of us.