look harder

Sometimes there might not be an ounce of good in your day, but chances are that you're not looking hard enough.

I know there are days that I just feel like giving up. Sometimes around 10:00 in the morning, I'd like to go back to bed. Other times I think it might just be better for everyone if I just left the house because I can't seem to get along with anyone!  And those are the easy days. I've been through tough days. Unimaginable days. Days I wouldn't wish on anyone. 

But even on those days, the worst days of my life, I had perspective. It might not have been on the forefront of my mind, but like a little glimmer of light, that hope stayed lit within me, giving me comfort.

I don't know what your perspective is. Maybe life has never seemed fair (not that anyone ever promised it would be!) Maybe you always get the short end of the stick. Perhaps it feels like trouble follows you everywhere you go. 

Or maybe you've just never been taught how to look for the good...

In the movie Pollyanna, she talks about The Glad Game:

How true is that? When you start to get in the habit of looking for the good, pretty soon your perspective changes and the good becomes easier to see!

Healthy children

A place to live

Food on your plate

A wonderful community to raise your children in

An uplifting church

Friends 

Chocolate 

Music

An ugly car that drives you from point A to point B

This list could go on and on, especially if I focused solely on the material goods we have, but, even if all of that were gone, there is one more light, the most valuable light that stays lit within me:

Salvation.

Because even in the worst situation that I could fathom, heaven with my Father awaits me. And that knowledge trumps every bad thing in this world.

KC

an oldie but a goodie

What I'm gonna share with you today might seem outdated but I am surprised at how often I use it and how valid it is today. 

WWJD?

What Would Jesus Do?

Honestly, I use that phrase in my head all the time, whether I am evaluating a decision as a friend, wife, or mother. I use it when I read about controversial subjects on Facebook (because that is where I spend my time catching up on things of this world. Not too ashamed to say it - I care about my friends more than what I read in the newspaper.) I use it when I am trying to choose my words carefully. I use it when I write. 

I was raised in a Christian family, in a Christian school, and in church. I heard about and learned about my Jesus everyday. He was... (I'm sorry, but I am struggling to come up with an adjective that truly describes Him, but we will go with awesome) AWESOME. Full of compassion, mercy, grace, understanding. Yet he spoke the truth and convicted people without turning them off. He was a healer and a teacher. He forgave and he blessed.

And perhaps what strikes me the most is that he was a doctor to heal the sick. 

And aren't we all sick?

Don't we all have planks sticking out of our eye as we try to pick a speck out of someone else's?

Shouldn't we love the sinner? 

Because if not, I'm in trouble...

So at the risk of bringing back an old acronym: WWJD?

KC

grown-up decisions

I had a moment today. It was a grown-up moment. I was laying on my bed, chatting with my husband about my day while he was at his computer. We finished the conversation, he walked out, and I stayed on my bed feeling my eyelids get heavy...

The mental battle started:

Just a few minutes, a little nap.

Nope! Too much to do.

I'll just close my eyes for a second.

No - this evening is full. Close your eyes even for a minute and nobody will get dinner!

But it's so comfy...

You'll regret it!!

(Can you see the angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other?!)

Now, I'm not one of those nappers who sleeps for 15 minutes and then I am refreshed! Nope. Give me two hours. That'd be awesome. And I know this about myself, so I got my behind up off that bed and started dinner and made lunches for the next day, made a quick trip to the grocery store and got my clothes changed for a meeting that evening. And all with 0 minutes to spare! Good thing I didn't close my eyes just for a few minutes.

Sometimes I don't like being an adult. You know why? Because I have to think about other people...all the time!! There is hardly any time for selfishness. Too many people rely on me to make life go smoothly around here.

And you know what else? That's okay with me.

Because when it comes right down to it, that is who God created me to be: selfless, thinking of others, caring for other people. I'm not always that great at it; just ask my family and they will freely point out my selfish moments! But I try. And it's good to have goals, right? 

Romans 15:1-2 says this:

We then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification.

So I made a mature decision earlier this evening. Now, as I finish writing this post at 12:08, I'm realizing that maybe I need to be making better choices about my bedtime...

KC

sometimes ya just gotta

When my daughter was young, under the age of 3, she would sometimes wake up in the middle of the night and not be able to fall back asleep. Already possessing a strong will during the day, you could understand my frustration at night when this strong will showed up during my sleep time!! I started resent her as it took an hour to get her back to sleep. (I was a somewhat new mom and had a lot to learn!) So I developed a new habit to combat the resentfulness: I would write down all the things about my girl that I loved; from her smile to a funny thing she said that day. Sometimes I could only come up with a couple, but that was enough.

So this evening, a few frustrations from my day have crept in; I have heard myself sigh more than usual! So instead of letting them get me down, I will refocus on the good that God has given me throughout the day:

1. My little buddy with the bumps on his hands and feet is now sleeping through the night - no more pain. This means that I am sleeping through the night again. Yay!

2. I got a head start on my laundry. That never happens!

3. I got to watch my hubby be a handyman today - that's my favorite: to watch him build stuff!

4. My hubby went and filled my truck up with gas for me. Wow! Double brownie points. 

5. For most of the day (not the entire day because that never happens), my kids got along and didn't push my buttons.  My daughter even had a couple of moments where she was very thoughtful of me!

And there were many more good things. Tasty dinner, laughs with my husband, spending time in the spa with the family, working on some fun projects, and 2 or 3 moments of obedience from the kids!

You know what? When you see all the good in a day, it starts to drown out the bad.

Sometimes ya just gotta re-focus and look for the good!

KC

behold

Simple concept:

There are times when I feel like God and I are sitting right next to each other.  

Times when His peace feels like a hug.

Moments when His words pop into my mind right when I need them.

There are days when I seek Him and there He is.

And then there are times when I get caught up in my life and don't take time with God.

Times of desperation when I don't know what to do.

There are moments when I am distracted.

When I am a disappointment.

When I feel like a failure.

But His word never changes:

KC

rolling with the punches

I had to do a little research to make sure that phrase meant what I thought it meant because this week I'm pretty sure I have just been rolling with the punches.

It's spring break - time to go places and have friends over or go places with friends!! 

Except three days into spring break my youngest came down with a fever. The next day a bunch of bumps showed up on his feet, then his hands, then a few on his face. Yeah, if you've got kids, you know what that means: no friends over, no leaving the house. We are contaminated. *sigh*

Soooooo. What do you do for the rest of spring break when you can't really go anywhere or have anyone over? 

You roll with the punches.

Praise the LORD for Pinterest!! (And if you think Pinterest is a waste of time, you can talk to my husband about how delicious his hamburger was this evening and you can be impressed at the folding job I did to my fitted sheets - even I was impressed - and you can ask my daughter if she likes swing dancing now.)

Here is our past couple of days in picture story form:

Pipe Cleaner Creations:

Dancing Raisins:

Dyeing Celery and a Rainbow Jar:

Name Creations:

Making Butter and Whipped Cream:

Our favorite - Baking Soda and Drops of Rainbow Vinegar:

Linc Built a Pizza Monster:

Aaaaaaaand we made play doh, bubbles, drew with chalk, took a 20 minute dip in a freezing pool, watched Frozen (3 times) and Despicable Me 2 (2 times), did crafts from the Dollar Store, and I cleaned the kitchen 14 times.

So we didn't get to visit our friends who are camping today and we won't get to go to the beach with our other friends tomorrow. We haven't had any sleep overs or even any play dates. 

But we rolled with the punches and had a ton of fun doing it together.

KC

because you are 8

I utter this phrase often these days: "because you are eight!" 

My daughter is a pushy kid (at home). She desperately tries to get her own way. And by desperate, I mean that she will try anything and everything to make things work out exactly how she plans for them to happen. (Currently, she is trying to convince us that we should purchase some chicks from the local Tractor Supply Co because we can create a pen for them in our side yard using a baby gate and a cardboard box. I'm encouraging some research on the subject.) 

But this girl is smart, too! When I tell her "no," she will badger me to death (yes, to the death of my sanity) with her "why not?" and "but Mom!"  She is looking for a discussion because she likes to argue. She likes to debate. She had told me this to my face. Yes. To my face. This non-confrontational mom has had to learn how to be confrontational and how to handle my cool through it all. 

We have learned not to engage her in discussion in these situations. Because the fact of the matter is that "I said so." 

(Now there is a time and a place to listen to and discuss with your kids. We do this on a regular basis.)

(But there are also times and places where it is not appropriate to argue with the God-given authority of parents.)

I have sat with my daughter, (not in the middle of one of these arguments, mind you, because it would go in one ear and out the other) and have chatted with her about how God gave me the authority to be her mom. And I have explained that when I tell her "no" it is because I have good reasons and she should trust my decision without having to know the reason behind it. And I have told her that usually the decisions I make are for her good, not just because I want to rob her of all of life's fun. (Although sometimes, when I am really irritated....)

AND because I am 25+ years older than her and have much more wisdom, experience, and knowledge than she does because she is only 8.

So, when I tell my daughter, "because you are eight!" she knows that trumps everything because I am older, wiser, and more experienced at life than she is. 

Now, when she is a teenager, that will be a different story.  *sigh*

KC