It's Been One of Those Days

It's definitely been one of those days. You know the kind of day I'm talking about?...the kind where you need to take some of your own advice that you so easily spew out to others when they're feeling down. When it's easy to tell people to "trust God", or "just lay your burdens down at His feet", or "God is in control". You know, an easier said than done day. While it is true, God is in control; I need to trust Him; and I do need to cast my burdens on Him, the best advice I've given lately, that I needed to heed myself, was actually found in the name of this blog. "Laughter does the heart good like a medicine". I needed to laugh. I needed to take a break from my troubles and give joy a chance. I needed to spend some time in God's presence and I needed to lighten the mood in my home.

Here's a little history of what's going on, to shed some light on my day. My husband is in the process of changing careers. He's been in real estate for over 16 years, and I don't need to tell anyone how real estate has been doing in this economy. He's taking courses to sell insurance, so he's been studying everyday & night for a month now. He has a test on Friday and the State exam on Tuesday. The stress level in my house is very high right now. I worked part-time last year to help supplement his income, but I haven't been working since June. Times are tight to say the least. My son Jay came home from school yesterday sick, my other son, Josh, started running a slight fever tonight. And folks, this is really just the tip of the iceberg of some of the stuff that has been going on in our lives for the past year. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a downer. I am optimistic by nature. That's why I say "this was just one of those days" when it seemed like it was all piling up. I'm sure some of you can probably relate. I also know that I have much to be thankful for, and there are always those who have it much worse.

So, I had to consider my options. I could be stressed & angry and take it out on my kids (been there done that before). But they were sick, so that seemed unproductive. I could yell at my husband and make him the bad guy in this thing called our life together, but that would be like shooting myself in the foot. I could go to my room and throw the covers over my head and tell everyone to leave me alone...but I have to be the grown up (somebodies got to be, right?) I could go spend my last dollar on a lottery ticket and then fast & pray that God would see fit to make me a winner (don't judge me, I'm sure some of you have fantasized about how you'd bless the Kingdom of God if you could just having the winning ticket!) I could wear a mask on my face, live in fear, and not allow my kids to kiss me goodnight because I was afraid they'd give me what they've got (but I love my little guys way to much to ever turn down a kiss & hug goodnight). Or...I could pray, choose to have joy, and spend the night playing games with my kids, having a family movie night (minus Bobby who had to study), and then spend time laughing together after we said our prayers, as my two boys sing a ridiculous song and laugh so hard they turn red in the face. Which is exactly what I did.

Can I just say that watching their little faces laughing so hard, being so silly, even when they don't feel their best, just makes my heart skip a beat. Something about being childlike makes you get your priorities straight. Even now, my husband has taken a break from studying and is in the family room watching the trailer for Tyler Perry's new movie, and he's laughing his head off. If you just hear him laugh, regardless if you've seen or heard something funny, you will join him, because his laugh is truly contagious. It makes me smile. The Bible says "many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers them out of them all". How we act while we're waiting on Him to deliver us, is our choice. But given the options, it seems pretty clear to me what the obvious choice should be. Now God please give me the grace to choose wisely.