One of those days…

Have you had one of those days recently? When everything that could possibly go wrong did go wrong? Like Alexander and his terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day?

From the moment he wakes up with gum in his hair, things just do not go Alexander’s way. At breakfast, Alexander’s brothers Nick and Anthony reach into their cereal boxes and pull out amazing prizes, while all Alexander ends up with is…cereal. The situation does not get any better at school, in fact it gets worse. No wonder Alexander wants to move to Australia! In Australia, everything is upside down, so maybe a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day can become a wonderful, terrific, really good day. After school, Alexander encounters even more bad news when he visits the dentist and goes shopping for sneakers with his mother and brothers. And Alexander’s father isn’t at all happy with him when the boys visit his office and Alexander gets a little carried away with the new copying machine! This terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day is enough to make anyone want to go to Australia!

(By the way, in the Australian version of this delightful children’s book, Alexander decides to go to Timbuktu instead of Australia.)

I had one of those days recently. I went out with my three kids and had a very delightful morning at the park but then everything seemed to go horribly wrong. My five year old got violently sick with food poisoning at a certain nameless fast food restaurant (yes, it has golden arches). My quick trip to the supermarket with a very short list turned into a dramatic affair complete with the basket full of groceries on top of the pram being toppled over resulting in food all over the floor and bewildering stares from the other childless customers in the store. My oldest decided while I was halfway down the moving ramp with the shopping trolley that he was too scared to get on and stood at the top with a panicked face screaming for me not to leave him. I really wished at that moment that a black hole would come and swallow me up. What a day! As Alexander’s mum puts it, “Some days are like that. Even in Australia.”

So how do we respond to those seemingly “terrible” days?

• Take into account physical factors (illness, lack of sleep, major life changes, pressures at work, hormones, disappointments, etc.).
• Don’t lose the ability to laugh at yourself. I had a really good laugh thinking back on that absolutely crazy day though I wasn’t really laughing during the thick of it.
• Let the joy of the Lord be your strength!
• Spend some time thanking God for His blessings.
• Look to meet the needs of someone else (your own needs often become very small when you look in comparison to the needs of others).
• Glorify God by letting His grace be evident in your life.

The Psalmist moves from turmoil to tranquility in the space of six verses in Psalm 13 as He remembers the Lord and His bountiful deeds to him.  May we be quick by God’s grace to rejoice in His wonderful deeds to us even during those seemingly “terrible” days!

But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me. Psalm 13:5-6

Treasures to Share

Don’t Make Me Count to Three: A Mom’s Look at Heart-Oriented Discipline by Ginger Plowman

Excellent book for young mums!  She draws upon many of the same principles found in Shepherding a Child’s Heart and her own practical experiences to provide practical application of Scripture to reach past just the outward behavior and into your child’s heart.

Honey for a Child’s Heart: The Imaginative Use of Books in Family Life by Gladys Hunt

A great guide for finding good children’s books!  It includes lists of best-loved children’s books.  Instead of searching through all the books at the library wondering if they are any good or not, I use this book to look them up online at the library and reserve them.   It also includes advice on choosing good books and the importance of reading aloud to your children.

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