When You Think Things are Bad, Focus on Blessings

I've been feeling sorry for myself lately. 

You know, when you get sick and feel awful, 

then suddenly everything gets to you....that kind of sorry.

I've been grouchy.

Cuss words grouchy.

It hasn't been a pretty sight.

I feel like I'm being pulled in a dozen different directions. 

I'm a full time nursing student, a single mom, the only driver in the household, and so, so tired...

I remember when I first became a widow, 

I got through the days by thinking of all the people that had things worse than I did.

It probably wasn't the most positive way to deal, 

but it helped me to feel grateful for my circumstances, such as they were. 

It worked then.

I needed a dose of that today.

I got it tonight, in reverse.

My 15 year old daughter said her prayers with me.

It was a good, healthy reminder of what I have that's going right...and it put things in perspective.

I have so many blessings, and I have been focusing on the negative 

to the point that I have dismissed the positive.

It was a bit humbling to realize.

I cried.

In the grand scheme of things, our families are what are important.

The things we teach our children are important.

The time we spend with them is important.

And our attitudes are important...

Here's hoping that we all can see things just a little bit differently. 

With gratitude.

Show Your Kids How Much You Love Them

I fell off the wagon. I was going to post thirty recipes in thirty days, then life got busy and I stopped. Now it's been....awhile...and I'm almost embarrassed to come back. Aaarg.

So much for goals.

Here's a better one, at least for the moment, that I found on Amy Lynn Andrews' wonderful Facebook page.

Source

I decided to put this one to the test.

I hugged my 13 year old daughter goodnight and didn't let go.

She hugged me back and didn't let go.

For a long time.

And then we both started giggling.

For a long time.

It made me wonder how many times I pull away first because important things need to get done - and how much my kids want to hold on just a little longer.

It's sometimes hard as a single mom, and a widow at that, to find the time to do everything (which is why my kitchen floor is still a mess, but that's another story). Yet when the day comes to an end, they are most important in my life....and they need to know it.

Try an experiment. Hug your kids tonight and wait for them to pull back first. See if they notice a difference. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.  =]

Lift up Your Head, Princess...Finding the Fun in Adversity

How true. I don't know who said this originally, but I loved the thought. We need to remember who we are, for we are daughters of a King.

Along that general theme, I stumbled across the picture below awhile ago, and it's stuck with me. The quote is from President Uchtdorf and the sweet graphic can be found at Holy Handouts.

I lost my husband to cancer eight years ago and was left to raise six children on my own. I can remember sitting down one night after a very ordinary day was done and feeling so frustrated. I pulled out my journal and started to write. Woe is me. Oh, the troubles I had faced!

"I am feeling very stressed. The house is such a mess. We have piles in every room and tools everywhere. Kids keep getting out of bed and it is after 10:00PM. I started school today but missed half of the first class. We are out of bread. Boys missed the bus again. Emily wet her pants at school (kindergarten - just sayin' for her sake, lol). Kate called home in tears. Courtney doesn't know her times tables...The bank closed too early. Braden has a health "sex" class that I need to preview materials for right now. I don't have time. I have a test tomorrow and only made one out of the four hours of class today. I just want to cry. I am not up to this and sometimes feel like I just can't do it."

I think I did cry that night. The next night brought a different journal entry. I listed the things that had gone wrong in the month since my husband had died, and followed by...well, I'll get to that.

"Since Rick died, our oven died, the computer quit working, the dishwasher broke, and now my dryer's not working. Also, one of the circuit breakers blew out, the A/C isn't working, a window broke, I ran into an angle iron trailer parked on our street and cut open the side of our car, and the phone quit working."

Not bad for a month, eh? And it was just the tip of the iceberg. The fun part, though, came after my sob story, because that's when I thought back to all of the things I had LEARNED. I started writing, and the amazingness of it overwhelmed me.

I learned how:
To install a ceiling fan (yep, it broke, too)
To wire a light fixture
To pull and replace a circuit breaker
To take the front off a dryer and look for a heating element
To remove an oven (the wires melted inside the wall so the whole thing had to go)
To remove cabinets/counter/tile (went with the lovely oven fiasco)
To install baseboards and doors (we were in the middle of a project when my husband died)
To ask for help (probably the hardest lesson)
To program the heater (it's a man's job, you know)
To test a phone line (in an attic full of yucky spiders)
To repair a phone line in said attic
To find the humor is a frustrating situation (the car vs the trailer, but that's another story)
To grout tile
....and the list went on...

Two pages! I filled two whole pages with lessons and blessings that came from those trials. This was a turning point for me. Oh, the difference it made to look for the blessings and lessons! What a blessing in and of itself to have written them down!

I've heard of gratitude journals before, but this was my first experience with the healing and comfort that they can bring. Now when things are difficult, I can look back and remember that the times I struggle are often the times I grow the most. I believe I really did become stronger, wiser, and more joyful because of those trials.

We all have our trials and adversities. It's how we chose to look at them that is important. The lessons and blessings are there for us if we chose to see them.

If you like inspirational quotes, I've got a bunch on Pinterest. They'll make you smile.  ~ Erin