Enjoying Life

I wrote this last year to my daughter, Hannah. I have many letters I have written to each one of my kids and I love to look back and read about our triumphs and trials along the way. Here it is:

Hannah,

I woke up this morning, very tired from my lack of sleep last night. I stumbled into the kitchen at 7 a.m. to get my first cup of coffee, saying a silent prayer to God to give me the strength for another day. I guess you could say I was in a negative frame of mind, thinking about the house-showing and all the cleaning I had to do today. Then I saw you, standing there in your new jeans, new shoes, new top, AND your new haircut. I smiled to myself, remembering our shopping day last Saturday. Your joy is contagious. I smile at your enthusiasm for life, whether it be new clothes, playing outside with your friends, church, or sports.

You looked so cute standing there in all your new stuff, getting ready to go off to another day of 7th grade. Then the unexpected happened! As Daddy was pouring your bright red liquid vitamins it exploded on you. Tiny splatters landed on your white jacket, your new shoes , and your jeans. I watched as you showed very little emotion except for a tiny groan of “oh, no!” I was amazed at how you “handled’ the disappoinment of a ruined outfit. Especially when My mood was so bad for no apparent reason!

Isn’t that life sometimes, where you get up, expecting your day to go in a certain direction and then one wrong move and it takes an unexpected turn? The bible says to give thanks in all circumstances, how can we do that when something we are excited about, like a new outfit is ruined? Or how about something bigger, like when a best friend betrays us, or our sister is mean to us?

I can’t help but think you will be fine, that you will be able to give thanks in all circumstances after watching your reaction to the spill of the vitamins. It is so easy to be happy when the circumstances in our life are happy, but what about when the unexpected happens? What we do then is more of a barometer of where we are in our outlook on life and in our faith. Hannah, your outlook looks pretty great to me. I pray you will hold that outlook when the spills of life come your way. Love you,

Mommy