Grateful

Sometimes I get in a slump. You know the feeling--where you think nothing is going your way, your life is hard. My sister explains it as, "Life sucks and then you die."

I have those moments. I hate them.

I don't have a cure for getting out of them, but this is how I got out of my current slump.

I went to church. I don't mean to be preachy, and it wasn't a stirring sermon that got me out of the mood, but the people I interacted with instead.

First I learn that my good friend, who was supposed to be on a camping trip, had gotten in a wreck. Though they totaled their truck, they were okay. But that wasn't the worst part of it. Their neighboring campers had a three-year old son. He'd gotten hit by a truck. Unfortunately, he didn't make it. I can't even imagine the pain the family must feel.

And then I talk to another friend. Her husband passed recently. When I asked how she was doing, she answered with tears in her eyes.

She'd been cleaning out a closet and found an umbrella. It was the umbrella her husband had used to dance with her and sing, "Singing in the Rain." She'd forgotten about it until she'd found the umbrella, and when she'd pulled it out, I guess all the memories came flooding back.

My heart broke twice yesterday, but it also healed.

Sure, I have problems, but are they really so bad?

My four babies are healthy. I have a husband who loves me. I really have nothing to complain about. I love my family so much. They're the world to me. And because of them, I have to make a valiant effort to stay happy.