You take the good, you take the bad.....

Sigh. It's been a pretty crappy few days, pardon my language. (Sorry, mom!) Although, there have been a few bright spots, and those are what my always-pessimistic personality needs to write down and remember.

Let's start with the half-empty part of the glass, naturally.

1. One of our children was really hurt (justifiably so, in my opinion) by the behavior of some "friends". It took everything in my power not to "fix" things the way I thought these so-called friends deserved.

2. Someone I barely know asked me if I had left a group of which we are both members. I laughed it off, explaining briefly that her information was inaccurate. But later I realized that not one person in this group, many of whom I regarded as "close friends", had bothered to check on me or see what was up. I cried. A lot.

3. The above two incidents reminded me that, sadly, Christians seemed to have cornered the market on a complete lack of emotional intelligence. Even sadder is that often this [sinful] behavior is hidden behind numerous and varied "spiritual" excuses that I'm sure disappoint God much more than they disappoint me. How is it possible that, so often, unbelievers treat others with more love and respect than believers? Have you heard the saying "The only army that shoots its wounded is the Christian army."? Cheesy? Maybe. But also absolutely true.

4. We had to make a difficult decision regarding yet another child's participation in something that we could not condone because of a complete lack of regard for biblical principles. It was hard. For the child and for us. Frankly, it stank.

5. I have HATED the weather recently. I want January to be, well, January. Freezing cold temperatures. The constant threat of snow. Gray, blustery days. Everyone whining about how cold they are. People aren't supposed to be doing yard work or driving convertibles in January.

Now on to that ever-elusive (at least for me) half-full part of the glass.

1. This child responded to the hurt in a very Christlike and mature way. All was forgiven quickly, and no one seemed worse for the wear. A lesson learned for mom.

2. I will not just think about contacting someone I haven't seen in a while; I will actually make a phone call or send a note. Just to let that person know that he/she hasn't been forgotten. Just to be a true friend.

3. The glass is pretty much totally empty on this one. We live in a fallen world. The only thing I can do is to make sure that I always respond with emotional intelligence and ask for discernment and compassion when dealing with other broken believers.

4. The right decisions are always the hard ones. Again, I am pleased to say that this child responded in a very mature and Christlike manner and even admitted that he/she knew we had made the right decision, even though it was hard.

5. I'm pretty sure I have Reverse SAD. It feels so good to have a name for my "condition". HAHA!! I'm not as abnormal as everyone constantly tells me I am. I don't have to like summer or heat or swimming or, gasp, the beach! This hilarious article made me laugh--in spite of recent events. And maybe, just maybe, it will be cold and snowy in April. Hey, dreams are free, right?

Well, I'm off to check the weather and watch this. I'm pretty sure I don't have anything that a good English accent can't cure!


P.S. Fifty bonus points if you can name the 80's sitcom theme song that included the line I used in the title of this post.