Burnt Toast

We woke up to dreariness.  The rain and clouds just added to the blah blah feeling already in my mind.  We had a day full of thrills and excitement yesterday at the fair.  There seemed to be nothing to look forward to today.  There was rain outside and tired and cranky children inside.  What were we to do?

I made breakfast.  Eggs and bacon for my oldest and me, and grits for my youngest.  (She has grits everyday of her life!)  I decided to make some toast.  I do not do this very often.  For one, I seem to burn it a lot.  Who can remember to constantly keep checking the toast?  And, reason two, I never seem to make it like Bebbie (grandma) makes it!  Well, I burnt it.  Not the "so black you can't eat it" burnt, but the "it's darker than we would like" burnt.  I didn't want a burnt toast day today!  I didn't need a burnt toast day today!  Burnt toast was the last thing I wanted on an already not so great day.  I got ready for the comments, but instead I got excitement.  You see, I had carefully sprayed the butter in a smiley face pattern, and my oldest was soooo excited to see that smiley face.  The darker color only added to the effect.  She still wanted to eat it.  She even said, "Mom just turn it over when you are eating it, and doesn't seem so burnt."  Yay for smiley faces!

Ups and downs are a must.  Our days and weeks are full of ups and downs.  Even on our best of days, we are going to hit a small pot hole.  We had a fantastic time at the fair yesterday.  But just like going up and down on the carousel, our days will have those ups and downs.  There were super fun times of riding rides and eating treats, and then not so fun times of whining because a balloon popped.  Today had the potential of starting out bad with burnt toast and rain, but instead we had smiley faces and reminisced about yesterday!  Since the delightful breakfast, there have been some disagreements and a tantrum here and there, but there has also been laughing over doing laundry and good game of go-fish.  

We can't go up on the carousel unless we go down first.  Up and down, around and around, our days are full of ups and downs.  When you are in a down time, leave it in God's hand and wait for Him to lift you up again.  You have to trust He will!

Verses for today
"It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O Most High:  To show forth thy loving-kindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night."  Ps 92:1-2

If we start our days on the up side by praising Him, and end our days on an up side by praising Him, it will not matter how many downs we face in between.  Rely on Him to get you back to the up.  He knows when you just can't handle anymore downs without at least a small up!  So always be on the look out for smiley faces in your burnt toast!