Thank you, God. Amen. Konichiwa.

Beatle's been ending her prayers with the Japanese word "Konichiwa." Haha! Not sure...

Yesterday morning, we (Brent, Beatle and myself--Birdie actually slept in. Gasp!) groggily came to the table and despondently stirred our oatmeal. With our hands wrapped tightly around our coffee mugs like that sweet elixir was our only hope to help us start our day, we didn't have a whole lot to say to each other. After whining about starting a new week, I realized that we were moping around like a group of whooped dogs. I had never watched Pollyanna as a child but during the winter we had checked it out from the library. To remedy our case of the Mondays, I decided that we would play the "Glad Game" from Pollyanna to pep us up right before we went our separate ways "because we know that this is the day that the Lord has made and we should rejoice and be glad in it." Quite honestly, I don't even remember what Brent and Beatle said they were glad for. (I was exhausted, people!) But I do know that I actually had a fabulous day and so did Beatle and so did Brent. I know it had everything to do with focusing on the good because it definitely could have been a bad one.

"My brothers (and soul sisters!), count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience." James 1:2-3 (Sidenote shoutout: Never had I done a Beth Moore study. Never understood what the hubub was all about but just finished her study over James--it will change you! I looked forward to it every week and cried when it was over. Baby, weirdo, call me what you want but it was fantastic!)

Last night, I had finished my Monday night fitness classes and was feeling good. I was headed home when Brent called asking if I wanted to go to Larry's--the ridiculous pizza buffet that we always binge at. I didn't want to. I was feeling good. I had my Fitness Staff shirt on. I was ready to go home and cook a delicious meal of cabbage. What? Oh...no, nothing else with it just tender, delicious cabbage. I knew it was going to be a tough sell to my family on any night but this night with Brent already turning on me and Beatle, the ever present eavesdropper, getting ramped for Larry's, I figured that they could possibly stage a coup or a walk-out if I told them cabbage was waiting for them. So, I reluctantly acquiesced but I had to run in and change shirts first. We pulled up to Larry's and saw a terrible sight--the lights were off. For two Sunday evenings, we've fought the urge to go, knowing they are closed Sunday nights but when we showed up this Monday, we saw on the door that their night off had changed to Mondays. Whaaa! Ok, staying positive. Just swallow all of the drool that was already pooling in your mouth and pick a different place. We could not agree! That was not like us. We usually always can agree. So, I forced their hand and said that if we couldn't figure anything out, we might as well save our money and go home to cabbage. They quickly chose Appleby's (we're not normally Appleby's people so again, weird). The parking lot was empty and it was raining. I usually always wait for Brent to get Birdie out but Beatle and I ran on ahead to get out of the rain. They seated us right under a blaring TV so we just asked to move where it was quieter. The whole night, it just felt off, like we couldn't get situated. The girls had to pee twice after our food got there. (Twice??? Really???) Brent volunteered to drive across the street to Kroger to get some decaf coffee and cookie dough to take back to the house while Beatle pumped her dollar (that she brought for Larry's arcade area) into the new fangled juke box. He came back in the restaurant while we were listening to "Billionaire" and desperately implored, "Please tell me you have your keys." "I do but they're in the car." We locked not one but two sets of keys in our car (not the record, mind you, the locksmith said he's seen three. Whew, we squeaked out of holding a shameful record.) Seriously, I had a mystifying calm that Brent wasn't sure to even trust for awhile. :) Brent called the locksmith and we kept the dollars flowing into that jukebox and turned Appleby's and its two other occupied tables into a dance club. Of course Beatle rarely needs an invitation to bust a move and Birdie's growing into her moves like Jagger. I spared the 6 people mine but it was somewhere during Beatle's rendition of "Crocodile Rock" and Birdie running barefoot back and forth saying, "wheeeee!" that I saw that God had given our family the ability to choose joy during our funky night. I felt honored that our faith was being tested and I really think for once I might have passed one of those tests!

I know I'm getting windy and maybe a little too far out there for some of you but this morning as I was flipping on the lights in our laundry room, my eyes scanned the room, looking for...it's hard for me to even type...roaches. Yes, roaches. We've spotted three by our back door this weekend. Yuck! We battled them around Christmas and the buggers look like they are trying to make a reappearance. But, this morning my mind went back to "The Hiding Place" written by my namesake Corrie ten Boom. When her and her sister got to Ravensbruck concentration camp, their barracks were infested with fleas and her sister Betsie told her to give thanks for the fleas for they are one of God's creations. Corrie thought she had lost her mind. But during their time there, they had unimaginable freedom in their barracks to hold Bible studies and prayer times and it was only until years after she had left that she learned from a former guard that no one wanted to enter those barracks for fear of the fleas. God had used those pests for his glory! This morning, I was trying to process why we keep having this problem. I keep a clean home and we have someone who comes and sprays when our problem flares up. Yes, someone who comes to spray...Jesse! Jesse, who initiates spiritual conversation with me every time he enters our home. Jesse, who was raised only knowing the fear and wrath of God, not the love and redemption story. Jesse, who I can't help but enjoy his engaging personality when he comes. This morning, while I was making my beloved coffee, I got misty-eyed with the notion that God is after Jesse to return to his faith and is using our roaches to do it. Some of y'all may think I'm nuts but I beg to differ that our God is just too big to always understand and in that case, I'll just keep trying to blindly give thanks in all things.