Will It Ruin Your Day?

When I was younger I would have moments in which I would get very upset. It could be over an injustice that happened between my siblings and I or the fac that I didn’t get to have the item I swore I wanted so badly and couldn’t live without. It really could have been about anything. I would try and hold onto my bad moods just so that I could make sure the people around me knew I wasn’t happy. Then my mom (probably out of being tired of my attitude) pulled me aside one day and plainly let me know that even though I wasn’t getting what I wanted it was my choice to let it ruin my day. I was told I had a choice, which I probably knew deep down but once my mom wisely brought it to the service I had to face it. I had to face the fact that for whatever reason I wasn’t going to get “x,y or z”. I could chose to make people not want to be around me because I was upset, or I could chose to let it go, and find my way back to a better day.

My kids (mainly my daughters) yesterday had to make this very choice. We have this nativity scene that is an advent calendar. We got this about two years ago and told the kids that they every third day (three kids) it was their turn to put the object of the day where it needed to go. My middle child likes to be different and go against the grain sometimes and so she does things like put the sheep up in the sky vs. where it belongs. My oldest likes order, after a discussion they agreed that if this would happen only one animal could be put in the sky, all the other animals needed to be placed where they go around the nativity scene. My middle child did not follow this agreement and an argument came from it.

We had plans made and places to go. We had to do them together. After the yelling match one girl went one way, one went the other and I was stuck in the middle trying to calm my nerves. Did this need a yelling match? Absolutely not, but this is what happened and so we needed to calm down from it. From that point on it was like I was listening to my mom again as the same words she said to me I was saying to my girls. I let them know they had to chose to let this moment ruin their day or they could move on from it and enjoy the day.

Happily they gave it a shot, we loaded into the car and heading to do the errands we had which included the library which is something they both wanted to get to. There are times when the wisdom of my momma is louder in my head. She was and still is a quiet woman, but a force to be reckoned with, especially when you are a kid determined to get her way. There are times when I think my kids took the rulebook and threw it out the window. They have challenged me as a momma in more ways then I ever thought I would be challenged, but I wouldn’t change it, because in the larger sense I needed to make my own choice. Do I allow these challenges to ruin my days as a momma or do I embrace them for what they are and chose to enjoy the moments that are always scattered in between the challenges? My family is full of people who but heads, get loud, and love each other fiercely. We pull together quicker than a hedgehog curling into a ball (it’s fast, trust me).

This Christmas we are doing our normal routine, with people that have changed over this last year. I am looking forward to Christmas Eve and the service at the church, even though I know one of my kids won’t be there. I am looking forward to Christmas morning in which my son with read the Christmas story from Luke and then we will open presents. Instead of it being at 7:30 in the morning it will be closer to 9 on the request of my middle child who loves to sleep in. We will visit family afterwards, getting there by packing up the car with all five of us, two crazy dogs and a hamster who I am sure will not like the choice we have made for her, but it’s an adventure for sure. We plan on the end of our trip having our oldest test for her driving permit so that she can start her own journey of driving and getting herself to the places she would like to go.

Each day we wake up, we get ourselves ready for the day, and we have to harness our thoughts to be more positive then negative. It is so much easier to just let our thoughts go where they will, but when we decide to look for the good, look for the positive and the beauty around us we will feel better, we will treat ourselves and those around us better. Our outlook will be more uplifting which will help us get through the days that are not easy to get through. This Christmas season, I hope that the stress of the season doesn’t overpower the reason for the season. We are celebrating a birth! We are rejoicing with the angels! We have been given a gift that can’t be forgotten about, so let’s chose to focus on the good, and the joy that comes with it. Until next time:

And behold, and angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid.  Then the angel said to them,  "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.  For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  And this will be a sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger"  And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:
         "Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!"    Luke 2:9-14