Under the Weather

It has been a very long week in the Mills household. Kaitlyn was sick with an ear infection followed by a bout with Roseola so she was pretty miserable. Poor baby.

 To top it off I have been having some back issues that kept me in bed for pretty much all of Wednesday. We were pretty pathetic. It didn't help that the sun didn't seem to come out once all week, blah. I found myself getting really down at times this week, I was pretty exhausted caring for a sick child and the weather didn't help brighten my mood. I find it so hard when I have had a week like this to choose joy. What I really want to do is just crawl in bed, watch 7th Heaven on my laptop (yes, really), eat ice cream, and wait for a better day. I find my bad mood rubbing off on those around me and it just makes for a pretty miserable situation for everyone involved. When I am in the depths of feeling sorry for myself I just start along this pathway of thinking that I deserve to be in a bad mood and no one really understands what I'm going through. It is really hard for me to believe that I can choose to feel joyful. I guess its times like these that knowing scripture and clinging to it can really make a difference. For example, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." That verse really hit home for me because I see it as a command. It is so easy for me to start thinking that my present circumstances are unique and I am somehow justified in feeling sorry for myself and being in a bad mood. But I do have a choice. In light of what Christ did on the cross my present "sufferings" seem so petty. It's so hard for me to have that mindset, its really like exercise for me, it seems like such hard work to just TRY to be joyful despite my circumstances sometimes. Maybe as God continues to teach me this, it will become easier. I hope so.

I do hope this weather improves very soon, something like this would be nice: