Blessed, Not a Mess

Today I am a mess. I'm a frustrated at life, grumpy mess.  My kids are sick, I didn't sleep much, and someone came to our house to fix the flooring issues but instead blew a lot of steam and blame shifted.

I feel like I have significant reasons to justify my attitude and behaviour that stems from it.  Really, though, I have much else that is RIGHT going on today and should not let the few irritating things get in the way of joy.

I haven't really caught on to that idea and am still having an incredibly hard time being positive. I am reminded of a song that is currently running through my head - Count Your Blessings. It's an older song by Johnson Oatman Jr.

The chorus goes like this:

Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your blessings, see what God hath done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

How often do I take the time to take stock of what is going right in my life? Personally, I tend to complain and want to vent or rant to whomever would listen. Not cool.  Not biblical (see Philippians 2:14). Not becoming. Rats, guess that means I should stop, eh? There is an alternative, and it's right in front of my eyes - especially since I just copied and pasted that chorus.

I am finding, too, that there is much that the majority of people wouldn't even see in my life that push it into the joy-causing realm. Things like this:

- my experimental chickpea plant actually growing
-edible sparkles in my cup of tea
- that my son's teacher uses season appropriate colors for the papers she sends home
- that a friend of ours lent us a 'new' movie just before these kids of mine got sick
-that the city we recently moved to picks up compostables at the curb (!!)
-the forecast includes snow!
-the sock pattern I'm working through
-the anticipation of seeing some of our dear friends who have committed to coming down for American Thanksgiving!
- true blackout blinds
- that my middle little one can put on her own socks!

The list really could go on forever. Thing is, I have to choose to think these things through. To recall that there is value in the seemingly insignificant things that I often take for granted. 

Today, I'm a mess.  Today, instead of letting it define me, I'm going to do my best to choose to see how blessed I really am.

XO,
J

soli deo glori