living loved

A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. – Proverbs 17:22

Welp…that craptitude hit again. You know – the attitude of crap. Why? I don’t know. What caused it? No clue. Did it affect others? Of course it did. And who kept me accountable (as usual) – the youngest.

Readers…seriously, why do we constantly fall into the craptitude trap?! I could blame aging, perimenopause, socks right outside the laundry basket instead of inside the basket where they belong…but the reality, the only one to blame is me.

I woke up on Thursday and just “felt” moody. That moodiness led to mediocre coffee, mediocre discussion, and a mediocre ride to school until the joy of the Lord (that is all balled up into the youngest) hit me like a fast ball.

“Momma, I think we should start our day today saying something we are grateful for.” And that’s all it took. New perspective. A cheerful heart. Good medicine. She didn’t ask me what my problem was or why I was in a bad mood or if something was wrong; she shifted my perspective. She gave these dry bones some living water. And just like that…the mood was lifted. And right after that she said, “Momma, this should be a blog,” (she likes to be the secret author behind these).

That one line changed my whole day. That one perspective shift changed the trajectory of the entire day and became a story on repeat as I attempted to give my senior students a fresh perspective to their day (always trying to do some watering with my school cherubs). And for every period I told that story, the better and brighter the day.

A cheerful heart is good medicine. I am so grateful for all the cheerful hearts throughout my day. I’m grateful that God can do some watering to bring these dry bones to life. I am grateful for mornings with my kids and that the Holy Spirit can work through the youngest members in His Kingdom. I’m grateful that He can change my attitude of craptitude to one of gratitude instead.

And, I’m grateful for you, reader. Whatever you’re going through (maybe the worst of the worst), however you see your circumstances (dirty socks outside the basket are endless), know that God’s in the business of restoring. Keep your eyes and your heart on Him – always.

XOXO, Loni