Sunshine and Rainbows

When my girls were little and acting up around people, I'd just smile and say as I walked by, "it's all sunshine and rainbows today". Life is not always great, but the way I look at it, it could be a whole lot worse! Kids are stinkers sometimes. Husbands forget to take out the trash, the dog pees on the floor after waking you up at 12:30 am by bumping into the bed, sometimes the parts are missing and you can't play the game. It's just life at it's rosiest, isn't it?

Well, I would rather go through those petty things, than the "real" issues people face. I'm grateful to have kids messing up my house and sometimes not doing as they are told. It sure beats having a sick child or worse, a child who has left this world, doesn't it? Worse yet, not being able to have a child, and in cases I've known personally, a child who was carried in the womb, only to not have a chance at life at all outside of it. (anyone familiar with anencephaly would know this one well) Yes, I'm glad for eye rolling, sibling arguments, complaining, and laziness. I love them all. I wouldn't trade it for anything on any given day.

So, the dishes are still there from last night. At least we had a good meal and no one complained. The dog pee is never fun to clean, but we've had her companionship and love for so much longer than some dogs give. I ran out of laundry soap, but maybe I needed a break from the laundry today anyway. At least I have a few bucks to go get detergent and a car to get there with. Some people don't even have nice clothes to wash and have to pay to wash them. Who am I to complain? Steve's gone a lot, but he has a job! And so far, that remains constant. In this day, it's a blessing just to have a job! To have a working vehicle! Money for gas! Simple basic needs we have that others struggle to attain. It's sad.

I'm at a standstill with my weight, and I'm mad about it, but guess what? I'm healthy and unless you count my craziness, I'm mentally well too. (debatable, I know) I'm fat because we have food in the cupboards. Good food. Not that stuff people donate to the food pantry, where in some cases it's stuff they would never eat themselves. No, it's good stuff, and we could even share it with others because there is plenty. I even have a machine to work out on in a room that is huge and cool with a tv. I have no excuses. Some people wish they had a room like that. I take mine for granted. It's chilly in our house (63-yikes), but we're not cold, and we have warmth and lights and hot water.

When you can see things from the other side of the glass, your life probably looks pretty good compared to some. It probably is sunshine and rainbows to someone else, and that life is something they can only dream about. We don't live in a war zone, unless, I guess you don't like your neighbors, but we can go outside without the fear of being killed. Most of us have parents who are still with us and love us. And if they're not with us, we had them at some point. Most of us have not been abandoned. None of us were aborted. Maybe your childhood wasn't great and maybe you have scars, but you're here now, and look around you. Wow. Rainbows. Imagine the kid today who goes home to dark clouds. My kids are princesses in a castle compared to that. I'm blessed in a healthy marriage with a strong partner and best friend. I'm not a single mother, struggling to make ends meet while dealing with emotional baggage. I have not been deserted or widowed. I still have a husband who sometimes bugs me, but I appreciate it. Each day I have to remind myself not to take him for granted either. As I've seen around me, that can change in a heartbeat's time. Yes, I'll take what I have and I'll be thankful.

I don't know why I'm in this melancholy state today. I guess I've been spending a lot of time talking to people who are very dear to me who are all going through something. I've listened, and done a little talking, but mostly it's a heart thing. When you care about what others are going through, your heart grows and swells, and suddenly there is room for much more than you thought. Your litte petty life complaints become stupid and useless after awhile. Watching the news makes me realize that while life is challenging at times, it's nowhere near newsworthy, and for that I am grateful. It makes me say prayers for people I don't know, which is probably why I watch that stuff in the first place. I have to feel like something good has to come out of everything bad. A little idealistic, I know. I've been told I wear my heart on my sleeve. I was offended at first, but now I know it just means that's something you see when you look at me. It's not a weakness at all, but a strength and a sensitivity. Wearing it there can also get it bruised from time to time. I'm becoming okay with that.

There is more to this life than ourselves. There is a God who watches over us. He brings the sun, he brings the rain, and he most definitely brings the rainbows. My friend Patty sent me a picture of a huge double rainbow she saw. On the back, she wrote, "You could see both ends. I would have needed a much bigger lens to capture it all". Yes, we all could use a bigger lens when it comes to trying to see the bigger picture. We don't always get to see around corners, but if we know God, we don't have to see around anything. He knows the bigger picture, and no matter how grim it seems to us, we can have peace as long as we keep our eyes on him, and not our circumstances.

By the way, this post was supposed to be a confession of what I ate this morning. I don't know what happened. There must have been some weird stuff in those barbecue potato chips! :) Oh, come on, you know I can't be ALL serious ALL the time, don't you??