One Thousand Gifts: Day 4, January 12, 2012

It's gonna get real in this post. Today has been one of those days where I haven't felt very joyful, but I was still trying to find joy and gifts of mercy even in the ugliness of the day. You see I had bad dreams last night, so I didn't sleep much, for like the 4th night this week. Sleep deprived Mandy = emotionally distraught Mandy. My kiddo apparently didn't wake up on the right side of the bed either because he gave us a fit this morning and even me and my sweet hubby got into a bit of a spat today. All is well in our world now, and we've all made up and we all like each other again. :) There's a mercy and joy all in itself. So in the midst of all my sadness and feelings of failure today, I was still able to find my 3 joys/gifts for the day. Today my gifts to look for were: something above you, something below you, something beside you.

Something above you = the blue sky today. I didn't get a picture of it today, but it's been a grey and dreary week, but today we had bright blue skies. They were a welcome change. The above picture was sunrise a couple of mornings ago, and then it turned grey again.

Something below you = my miniature schnauzer, Killer. When I was at my lowest point today (aka sobbing in self-pity and feelings of failure), my sweet Killer came right up to me and nudged me on my knee while I was leaning over with my head in my hands sobbing in prayer. It's as if he was saying, "are you okay? I love you, and I'll listen." Yeah, I love my dogs. Killer is my oldest, 5 years old. He's my only boy dog, and he's just too sweet. He's my little old man. He's such a lover.

Something beside you = my phone. Yeah that sounds weird and trivial, but I'm so glad I had my phone beside me today so I could call my parents and talk to them. They were such an encouragement and joy to my heart. I don't know what I'd do without my godly parents. They are two of the most giving and loving people I know.