Delicious Blackberries Come Only Through the Thorns

Sorry for not writing, these last few weeks have been challenging, actually challenging isn't the right word.  We've been all but stretched to our max and then pushed a little over the edge.  With Drs, therapists, job possibilities, thoughts on education, and all the usual chores that come with maintaining regular life... I really started to lose my mind, my hope, what little faith it seemed like I had.  Often Joel and I would say, I know life is supposed to be hard, but for just a short time can we have an easy break?

I was talking with a friend today and he said he felt like he was in a rut.  I said, I can relate.  Now all of us are in a rut of varying size throughout the days and weeks but sometimes the deep ones really get us down and make it so that we can't see anything, let alone the positive.  After a little bit of talking, listening, and multitasking the chores in between, I had a thought.  It's not about the new, the different, the exciting or even the of excitement... It's about appreciating the small and simple things.  I know we hear that in scriptures and in church but you know, and I forgot, but was recently reminded... it's true.

Hailey has a few things that she really enjoys.  She loves looking at ceiling fans or bright lights.  She has the same dome mat with hanging mobiles and she never gets tired of it.  I even bought new toys and she prefers the old ones.  Recently she loves watching "The Croods" with us.  Each day she plays with the same things... although she did take quite the interest in my cereal bowl and spoon lately... mostly just the spoon.  Something soo simple as a spoon, or a shiny plastic castle, and she was perfectly happy.  All of these things are soo simple and fascinating to her but are commonplace and boring to us.  Can you entertain yourself with just a spoon?

Take the movie "The Croods."  Usually I don't like watching movies over and over because I get bored... a very few movies can actually  capture that much of my attention... The Lion King is one of them.  Back from the tangent... in "The Croods" the more we watch it, the more we see.  Small details, facial expressions, puns, etc. We enjoy watching it and even just listening to it and waiting for those lines that we know will make us smile even though we're in the other room and can't actually see the screen.

Now, do we do this with our normal, boring, every day lives?  Do we look for the things that are there but usually overlooked?  Instead of seeing all the things to criticize about or complain about, or the things that we feel are lacking, what can we appreciate?  For those of us that are married, we get to look at the same person day in and day out!  Uh huh, what just went through your mind... was it positive or were you rolling your eyes saying "Don't remind me?"  I needed a serious Reframe.  Do you remember when you'd look into those eyes and could see the world and all the possibilities?

We need to get back to the small and simple things.  Can the greatest part of love or intimacy be a hug?  Can a hug really be exciting?  Yes!  Something so simple can express so many different things.  Or is it just one of the small things that are overlooked when we walk in the door and dinner isn't done, and there's stuff all over the floor, and your spouse is frazzled because it's not all done/perfect like the Brady Bunch.

As much as I've wished and hoped and even prayed for an easy streak, it rarely comes, and when it does come I'm usually too busy being worried or searching for a way to make things better or more exciting or different so it's not boring... But then I've missed it.  That small moment has passed.

Are the days still hard?  You'd better believe it.  Are there still boring things to be done?  Yep, dishes and laundry and food preparations never end.  The alarm still rings and 4 and 4:30 in the morning telling us it's time to repeat the day.  But even though it seems the same, there's always something new and exciting to be found, something to make us smile IF we will look for it.  Let us work to turn our tears of frustration and stress into tears of happiness and contentment with what we do have, because we may not always have it.

I write these things not to chastise but because I usually need to hear them myself.  I know many of you read these posts anonymously.  But today I challenge you to post something that you saw today that made you smile.  Something that you may have missed every other day but stopped to pay attention to today.  On my mission, it was like stopping to eat the blackberries on the side of the road.  I could have been sour about walking in the heat to who knows where, but when I saw those blackberries I smiled and worked through the thorns to that deliciously sweet treat.