Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Blessed

This morning was the first morning of the school year that I really didn't want to do school. My two sisters had talked and switched places in the bed for at least half an hour before we finally got to sleep, and of course, I was talked to and maneuvered around, over, and aside in the quest for the "best spot."

I looked in the mirror after I got up, and found that two, big, purplish bags now permanently presided under my eyes - as this hadn't been the first time I had been kept "up" at night. I also noticed, to my horror, that I had quite a few more "facial blemishes" than I usually had. Next, I weighed myself on the bathroom scale, and found that I had only lost one pound on my diet. Hmm. the chocolate cake probably hadn't helped me much.

I just wanted to go back to bed.

The room kind of waved up and down whenever I got up from a sitting or lying position, and I scarcely opened my eyes on my way into the dining room for breakfast.

Dad raised an eyebrow "Didn't you sleep well?" I mumbled something in reply and slid into my chair.

After I finished breakfast, chores and devotions I laid down on the couch in the hopes that I could rest for a while before Mom came to start the "school devotions" that normally started the school day. No such luck. Within what seemed to be exactly three minutes, I heard her calling the rest of the kids.

When she came into the living room she looked at me and promptly asked if I was sick, if I wanted tea, did I need Tylenol, and why didn't I just go back to bed for a couple of hours? I wailed back that I couldn't go back to bed unless I wanted to be doing school until six o' clock in the evening.

So, I stumbled on through the day, not really counting many blessings as I went.

Violin practice sounded a little better than yesterday, but was - by no means- anything like I wanted it to sound.

I really didn't want to read Isaac two chapters of his "Cameron Townsend" book, but I did.

I didn't like it when Becca jumped on my back and pulled my hair in the evening....

And the list goes on.

All of us have days like this I suppose, and than nights that follow, in which we either cry ourselves to sleep because "nothing" went right, or go to sleep immediately too tired to think about anything, and end up resuming the negative outlook on life in the morning.

On days like these, do we ever stop to consider all the good things that we overlooked as we went through our day? After all, even if you are having an awful day, it doesn't mean that the sky is falling, and that the sun won't shine again. The birds still sing, and the world doesn't stop turning due to the frustrations of your day.

Maybe someone did something to try and cheer you up, but you overlooked it - after you snapped at the person for getting in your way.

Perhaps a little patch of sunlight broke through the dense clouds outside and poured down on the seat you were sitting in, warming your icy, cold hands.

I can thank God that I have hair for my little sister to pull - I could have lost it all due to a sickness of some sort.

Thank God that you have eyes to see with - bleary and spinning as your world may seem.

And this list goes on as well.

I find that I can be pretty pessimistic in my outlook on life sometimes, and it takes a great effort to see anything good as truly good, when my day has already convinced me that "everything" is bad.

But in the Bible, is where I can find my comfort and reassurance. To some people, the Bible is just a boring book that you have to read because your parents tell you to. (No, my parents do not force me to read the Bible) How completely wrong they are! But, there is a difference in reading the Bible to get through it, and reading it to find comfort, or an answer to a difficult problem.

A few years back, I was angry about having to do chores. I felt like all I ever did was work - you all know how the argument goes, I'm sure. I opened up the Bible to begrudgingly read a verse of two, and there, looking me plain in the face was this verse: "Behold, it is good that a man bear the yoke in his youth." That straightened me out pretty quick.

So you see, God does speak to people through the Bible, so, that makes it very important. It is actually his "love letter" to us. In this love letter, He tells us that "A joyful heart is good medicine" and that "A broken spirit dries up the bones." He also tells us to rejoice when faced with "Divers temptations, knowing this, that the trial of your faith worketh patience."

From these two little glimpses of the scripture we can see that God wants us to be joyful - for our own benefit. However, there is a difference between "joy" and "happiness". Joy is like a river of springing thankfulness that flows through a Christian, even though "A time to weep and a time to mourn" may come. Happiness, is the bubbly feeling that causes us to grin, smile and clap our hands in gladness. So, we don't have to go through life gritting our teeth into a smile, but let the joy of Christ be in our hearts.


So, if you have a day like mine sometime soon, remember to be joyful, and positive.

God Bless.

(Written a couple days ago by an extremely tired teenager.)

4 comments:

Bethany d said...

Ah, those days...they are the worstest days...

I'm glad you got it resolved!

Bailey said...

I've been trying to schedule a post addressing this same topic but it keeps getting pushed later and later and later.................

You're so right. Me? I tend to wake up on the wrong side of the bed, immediately further the problem by being pessimistic and then compound all the day's evils with my "Why can't I be CHEERFUL?" grumpy rant.

And then I just have to make myself look ridiculous by pondering, "Why was this day so terrible?"

Kara said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

It is so interesting to hear about other people's lives, and all they went through. It's too bad the family life is absent in so many homes. I think it is so important for children to learn responsibility while they are young. Realities of life are sometimes hard, but we can learn through every situation that God allows us to go through. We loved this writing. Mamaw and Papaw.