Today I Choose

I'm just going to vent my frustration here because my husband isn't having a great day either so he doesn't need to have more added drama. I wake up this morning to Eli crying and he won't go back to bed so, yes, I do the lazy Mom thing and stuff him into bed with me. I just about fall back asleep when I realize I really need to be up showering and getting ready for my super busy day that includes payroll. I'm running behind already and it isn't even 8:00. I get my stuff organized and get ready to log in to start payroll and the Internet at my place of business is down. Great! So, I can't remote in and that means one thing, pack up your stuff and head to the office. But, wait, if the Internet is down, then I still can't connect to Commerce to do direct deposit so I'm going to have to do hand-written checks, anyway. Uggghhhh! If I just have to write the checks, anyway, then it isn't crucial that I get the information at any certain time. It's only direct deposit that has to be done before 6pm tonight. I move on to Job #2 and have problems there, as well. Things won't balance, transactions are missing, I'm confused about new items. Ugggghhh! Did I already say that? I finally get things figured out through several phone calls (and I rarely ever place a call to my boss there - I just do my job and we talk through e-mail if at all). As soon as I complete that, the Internet starts working again so I'm back to working on payroll. I get everything printed and I'm rolling along and I have troubles logging in. I finally get logged in after several tries and then low and behold there is an error message when I'm doing direct deposit. I log out and log back in like a good customer before calling. Same error message. I try to do a fund transfer instead thinking I'll just do the necessary and try again later...error message! Uggghhhh, I am so frustrated. The kids are arguing in the background. The trains are going round and round on the track but no one is playing with them. And, I'm sure there was something else annoying going on but I don't know what it was. I finally decide to call tech support and he says, "Well, you can't use Google Chrome...your error message is because you aren't logged in to Internet Explorer". What? Are you serious? I use Chrome every week and now after 6 months of doing direct deposit, it's going to give me an error message. Is this a test? I'm not passing. My stomach is full of anxiety. I haven't really eaten more than a snack of shredded wheat today (and that's not a filling snack, mind you). My head is starting to ache. My muscles are tense. I keep telling myself, it's Friday. The day is going to get better. I log in to Internet Explorer and it works. Everything works! This is the first good sign of the day. I finish payroll and I know that made me happy because that means money in the bank for me. But even through that, I had to laugh at myself. I've been talking about how good things have been lately and there always has to be bumps in the road. So, job #1 complete after job #2, but that's ok. Unfortunately, I didn't make it into town today to make my pick-up for job #1 and I didn't go by Mardel's to get my things laminated for my Sunday School class. I have friends possibly coming over tomorrow night which means tomorrow was set aside for cleaning. But, now I need to make a trip into town to do my pick-up and my laminating, so I have to switch plans for tomorrow to today. Where's my superwoman costume? I fixed the boys lunch. Does peanut butter and honey sandwiches with some chips, grapes, and a banana qualify as "fixing" lunch? I mean really, not much work involved there. I threw together a smoothie for my lunch and started picking up everything out of the floor for a quick vacuum. I vacuumed the house while the boys ate lunch and then put Eli down for a nap. Don't I feel horrible that he was awake 6 hours and I didn't spend much time with him. I feel pretty rotten. I sat down with Dylan and did a little learning time, all the while he's begging to play a board game or card game of some kind. I know the learning time is important so I insist we finish that but then he really needs to go down for a nap, also. Tonight, we're leaving him and Eli with some of our friends so he really needed that nap. Of course, now he's up for the 3rd time because "he has to go to the bathroom". He's not napping and he's not going to. He needs to wear off some energy. So, I tell him to get some shoes on and a jacket to go outside and play. I'm watching other posts on Facebook and I'm not the only one having a Monday on Friday. You know who you are?

So, I set out to find peace in the only place you really can...in God, the Bible. I started just looking up some key words and phrases. He's what I came across that made my smile, I've had plastered on my face all day, a reality. 2 Corinthians 12:9 "And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly, therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me." My day really wasn't that bad. I had a few hiccups, but if I let those little things wear on me, they could end up ruining my whole day. I can't let that happen. Ephesians 3:19 - 21 "And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus through out all ages, world without end." He's saying God's love passes our understanding. It's beyond our comprehension. But, if we know the love of God we can be filled with him. God is able to do more than we can even think about and his power works in us, if we allow it.

I'm human. Being a Christian doesn't mean you don't have bad days. I have days that will get you down. I have frustration just like anyone else. I don't always handle it correctly. Today, I'm going to choose the right path. God loves me. My family loves me. If I get down in the dumps and let it ruin my day, I will have a negative effect on everyone else I come in contact with today. God will direct me. He says he will in Proverbs 3:5-6. So, today I choose to put a smile on, to sing funny songs and to finish my night with a bounce in my step. What will you do with your bad day?