When it rains...

... put on your dancing shoes and go find the puddles!

In my last post, I mentioned that illness had struck our home for the week and that, while no fun to deal with, we were all on the mend.

I'm wrong a lot. And I mean a LOT. This time, I was WAY, WAY, wrong. After that week, the phrase, "on the mend" was no longer applicable to our family in any way. The girls continued to deal with horrible coughs, fevers, more vomiting, and to top it off, pink-eye all around. Cory was so sick one night, I think we might have gotten two hours of sleep in. He was feverish, but chilled, nauseated, and sick as could be. Both of us got pink-eye at some point with the girls. The women in the house are all well as of Tuesday, (knock on wood) with the exception of a lingering cough for Natalie and Abi during the night. It's a different story for Cory, I'm afraid. He finished up with pink-eye, only to be at the mercy of some sort of major sinus infection. Sheesh! I don't think our little family has ever been through a month like this one as far as health is concerned.

Illness has not been the only damper we've had to confront for a whole month. There have been stressful work-related issues with Cory's job, loan officers who have been a bit difficult to deal with, and other things going on on top of it all.

Is there a silver lining to all of this?

OF COURSE!!! Though sometimes it's difficult for me to see through the pelting rain, the rainbow is not so far off in the distance:

Our family is LOVED... by the Lord, by our other family members, by friends, by many.
Our family has the GOSPEL and it's messages in our hearts, and therefore, clarity, understanding, and an eternal perspective to help us find peace.
Our family is BLESSED so greatly that as I reflect on it, I find myself tearing up in gratitude for all we have, for all we are, and just the fact that we get to be together.
While we might not always have good health, we have not one single chronic/major health issue among us.
While life may not run nearly as smoothly as we might hope for, we know where we are headed, and that, while it's rocky terrain at times, we'll eventually reach our destination.

Re-reading this post, I know it's starting to sound "perfectionist," or "idealistic optimist," and I want to be honest, so all that said, there's also this side of things: The wonderful stuff I just spoke of with regards to the silver lining? I see all that... truly, I do. But I definatley don't see it all the time. Internally, I have been pouting, I have been moaning, I have been complaining, I have not been "choosing to be happy" as well as I should.

BUT I am seeing things in a happier light today than I did yesterday, and plan to continue to do so. It's a process, that's for sure. Happiness is not a stagnant thing that I can just catch hold of and expect to stay with me for the rest of my days. Nope. Sometimes I lose my hold on it , or I voluntarily fling it far far away.

Today, though, I'm choosing to hold onto the happy things in my life and be grateful. So, today, I am metaphorically dancing in the downpour. :)