Mama Told Me There'd Be Days Like This...

...as the song goes.

I can't post the Small Successes this week as, to be frank, there were none. Due to extreme tiredness, I did next to nothing (Survival Mode: keep kids fed, keep up with laundry, do core subjects, pay bills).

With everything else I have had to play "Look at the Bright Side" with myself. Here is how I played it:

1) We have a sick heifer. She has been unwell for a couple of weeks, seemed at one point to rebound, but now is acting very odd and I am concerned that we may have to call the vet in.

Bright Side: She is not our milk cow, and as she was born here, she cost us nothing. The cow, on the other hand, is a thousand-dollar investment and provides our milk, butter, yogurt, cream and sometimes cheese.

2) Bret's hours have been really cut back recently. In fact, he has had Wednesdays off for the last three weeks. And the future of his job is up in the air.

Bright Side: He's had some time to take on some of the many things that always seem to need doing around a house and farm. And outside of God, the entire concept of "security" is really rather illusory, isn't it?

3) The kids have colds.

Bright Side (this is relatively easy): The colds are not on the severe side, and none of my children are in a hospital fighting for their lives.

4) I have been doing such a bare minimum with the kids recently that I fear public school kids are getting a broader education.

Bright Side (a no-brainer, really): There are a lot of parts of a public school education I really don't want them to get!

5) Our water pump wasn't working this morning and I spent a lot of time under the sink with my finger holding the pump switch in order to get the water I needed for drinking and washing a few dishes. My arm got sore and I bashed my head on the cabinet opening three times.

Bright Side: First off, the problem turned out to be minor--Bret left the faucet on the stock tank running this morning. Then again, I thought of what it would be like to have no access at all to clean water, as is the case with much of the world.

6) My washing machine, once the pump problem was figured out, filled and wouldn't stop filling. I turned the water off, but not before the laundry room flooded. This was sort of a breaking point for me. I was in tears as I cleared out the laundry room in order to mop it up (and, boy, was it a mess, as it doubles as sort of a mudroom), and I really had to fight the self-pity at this point.

Bright Side: as I stood with my bare feet sopping up water with old towels it dawned on me that there are folks in parts of the world like Haiti whose floors become a sea of mud every time it rains, and who have never known the luxury of a washing machine. How foolish the tears! I was able to remind myself that self-pity is indeed a form of pride, wounded pride, and that I shouldn't act like such a spoiled child.

I am happy again for my very blessed life. How good God is when He allows our eyes to be opened to reality.

Hope your day is blessed, too!