Look on the Bright Side

This won't be my typical "Thankful Thursday".

I also won't apologize (though you know I am dying to) for being scarce this week.

I will be honest.

It has been a hard week.

Much of it I don't care to share.

But just trust me when I say it has been hard.

I think it was Tuesday night that I had a little pity party.

You know, the kind where only I was invited.

Where all I really wanted to do was curl up with a big box of chocolates and a tall Mtn. Dew and cry.

Okay, I think I did cry.

And I had a 7.5 oz Mountain Dew.

But I couldn't curl up.

I have four kids.

If I curl up, they will TAKE over the house. :)

But anyway...

It had been a hard day.

I was feeling a bit blindsided by some things.

Then I found out one of my children had not had a stellar day.

And I had big plans to cook dinner with Child 1 (his choice? Fried catfish).

Which would have been fine except around 6 hubby calls to tell me that he is stuck in traffic. In another town. In another state. Which I didn't know. So suddenly I was in charge of homework for one, supervising the not-so-stellar-day child, not to mention entertaining a certain little fuzzball. And cooking a meal with child 1.

I really felt like a camel. With a lot of straw on my back.

So I had my pity party. In my head. And heart. And spirit.

And as I did, a couple things came to mind.

First:
This week before Easter, Jesus went through a few not so fun days also.

He rides a donkey into town with people throwing palm trees down in front of him, a sign of victory.

Later that week, those same people would be casting (not literally) stones at Jesus by calling for his blood upon the cross.

Jesus had His friends there with him, praying in the garden.

Except one of His "friends" was secretly betraying him for some silver.

And He was this perfect man, living a perfect life, who came from His perfect place (that being heaven) to save a very imperfect me.

And here I am complaining about what is wrong in MY life?

The other thing that came to mind is a little more in line with Thankful Thursday.

As I sat there thinking about some things that had gone wrong that day (feeling a little blindsided), I couldn't help but remember that I had gotten a sweet note on a report card thanking me for being their child's teacher. Or that a friend sent an uplifting e-mail at JUST the right moment.

As I thought about that wayward child who hadn't had a stellar day, I remembered three other children who had had a great day. And that the wayward child has had several other stellar days in recent months.

While I feel frustrated with homework (supervising it), I am thankful that my children (for the most part) do their homework willingly.

It was so easy to be frustrated with a husband who called late to tell me he would be even later (as I am cooking a fairly extensive dinner), but instead I decided to be thankful that he bothered to call at all. And that he made it home safely, even if it was a couple hours late.

And of course, as I think about the meaning of this week, I am most grateful for the eternal life I have been given through the death and resurrection of My God.

I wish I could say my pity party ended there.

It didn't.

But I think it lessened a little.

And maybe, just maybe, changed my perspective.

Reba