I didn’t start my day in a bad mood, but as all but one of my children woke up expressing their grumps, I started to feel aggravation creep into my heart. My initially peaceful, content mood was quickly being conformed to the downcast mood around me. My issuing of consequences and breaking up of fights and listening to whining and screaming had me in a state of anxiety and ready to join right in to the negative chaos. I was feeling consumed by these negative attitudes and all the inconveniences and challenges I had faced in dealing with them when I called Hannah into the bathroom to brush her teeth. She bounced in, smiled at me ever so sweetly and expectantly and said, “Mommy, let’s have a toothbrush dance party!” And so we did and it was 2 minutes of “letting go” and giggling and silly movements and loving eye contact in the mirror. It was just the 2 minutes I needed to reform my sour mood. It was the touch of grace I needed to get my day back on track and moving in a positive direction again.
“When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul.” Psalm 94:19
God promises His peace in the midst of our everyday chaos. It is easy to be so consumed and distracted by the problems directly in front of us that we forget about this gracious offer. It is easy to allow ourselves to be captured by the turmoil and forget that we do not need to conform to the negativity around us. It is easy to let the attitudes of others dictate our own moods and forget that it is possible to find and maintain a joyful spirit despite our circumstances. It may mean withdrawing from a situation. It may mean holding scripture tighter in our hearts and minds. It may mean phoning or texting a friend who we know will pull us back up. It will most certainly take prayer and seeking the Heavenly Father. Who knows, He may just ask you to throw a toothbrush dance party.
Quiet Meanderings 