Bloom

Facebook is a wonderful thing. It has brought people into my life and let me get to know them on a more personal level. You can learn more about a person in one week of Facebook posts than sitting beside them in church for a year. Funny how that is. One thing that has really bugged me is how negative people are. There are many that go from one crisis to another. It is always too hot, too cold, too wet, too boring, too stressful..... it goes on and on from one thing to another. It touches me in a place deep down and I want to just grab them and shake them and wake them from mindless way they walk through life.

I remember the topic of one of my first women's retreats was being either a balcony person or a basement person. The meaning was that you are one or the other, you either bring people down or you lift them up. Some people so naturally lighten your day when you see them. The others can make a good day seem awful. I hope that I am a balcony person, I really try anyway. One of the things people tell me often is that I am always cheerful and happy. One friend even said I reminder her of Champaign- she explained that it is associated with happy occasions, it is bubbly, it tickles. I love that comparison! Thank goodness it wasn't that I needed to be corked or that I was ready to explode or something.

My life has not always been easy. I have some things that I have been through that hurt very much. The one thing I never let happen was for any one of them to define who I am, to immobilize me, or to rob me of my joy. In the midst of the storm you can still find joy- not for the storm, but because you believe the storm will end. I knew each time I had to take what I had and move forward. Thank goodness for my Jesus and knowing He was my hope and had a plan for my future. I believed that I would grow and be a little more like Him on the other side.

My point is that we all have choices to make every day and very few are going to be perfect days. What can you do today to take what you have been given and make something of it? When it rains find some fun inside activity to do or get out there and stomp in the puddles. You know the saying When life gives you lemons make lemonade- well it is so true. I always look at road blocks as a challenge. When the electricity goes out don't sit and complain, get out games and fire up the grill. When we've moved I search the new area and make a list of fun things to do in that area. I look at it as an adventure. We once went on a business trip with my husband. We booked a hotel suite months in advance but arrived in Michigan to find a new owner and no room. We spent six weeks in a hotel room so small it had two beds, a dresser, a microwave, and a table with two chairs. We had them bring in two cribs and you couldn't walk around the beds. I took it as a challenge to cook meals in there using our crock pot and the microwave. We had 7 people in that room and I was home schooling during the trip. I could complain or I could do what I could to make it work. Whereever God takes you and whatever circumstances you have... bloom... bloom where you are planted!