Happy With Him

27 Days to a Happy Mom - Day 27!

I am a child of God.  He is my Heavenly Father, and loves me more than anything I can ever imagine.  Because I know that He loves me, I feel love no matter what anyone else is doing.  My sweet husband can have an off day, my children might be seriously grumpy, my neighbors could gossip, my dad could be upset, my brothers could turn on me and everything else could be going wrong... but I know that God still loves me because I am His.

And so are you!

Thanks for tuning in to our 27 Days to a Happy Mom challenge.  Hopefully, you've found a few happy things along the way.  I know I have!

Families Can Be Together Forever

27 Days to a Happy Mom - Day 26

My family brings me so much happiness.  I can't imagine being without them, and the thought of getting to keep them for always...  

That's real joy.

Just for today... treat your family like you'll get to be together forever.

Happy to Be

27 Days to a Happy Mom - Day 25

I am a woman, a wife, a mother, daughter, and sister.  I belong.  And those best and most wonderful relationships will always be mine.  All those vital parts of me will remain, even after this life.

And that makes me happy.

Just for today... answer this for yourself:  who are you really?  And does that make you happy?

The Graceful Receiver

27 Days to a Happy Mom - Day 24

Several eons ago, my first husband and I found ourselves approaching the holiday season without our normal amount of anticipation.  He had been laid off from his job a few months previous, and was unsuccessfully looking for work.  We were unusually prepared for such a time, with money in the bank and food stored away for the winter to feed our family of chipmunks, but not enough to make us feel comfortable.

A few days before Thanksgiving, I answered a knock on our apartment door.   I found, instead of a caller, a brightly wrapped box containing a frozen turkey and all the trimmings.  I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that I was initially offended.  I didn't want to be someone's charity case.  The anonymous gifts - from different sources - continued through Christmas and into the new year.  There were little gifts for our three little boys, thoughtful surprises for us, plates of goodies, and more and more food.

As I complained about them to my sweet mother, arguing that we really didn't need these offers, she wisely told me to quit it.  She knew that I would much rather be on the giving end of a service, but taught me that in order for anyone to give, there must be a receiver.  I learned that being a graceful receiver is actually much more difficult than being a generous donor.  I worked hard at controlling my pride and allowing others to help.

I hope that now I'm more gracious than I used to be, and that I can continue to learn how to help and how to be helped.  How do you do at getting?  Really.

Just for today... be grateful - and graceful - about being on the receiving side of the service equation.

Spread Sunshine

27 Days to a Happy Mom - Day 23

In high school, we called it "spreading Kool-Aid."  That just made it sound more fun.  But it's one of the easiest ways to help other people:  you just smile.

A long, long time (it seems like half of forever) ago my first husband was in the hospital for surgery in his head.  It was when we found out that he had brain cancer.  Not a happy time.  At all.  It was the hardest thing I had gone through.  Every day brought a challenge just to get out of bed and start moving again.

In profound discouragement, I decided (through no apparent brightness on my own part) that I would fake it.  It was the only way I could slog through the stiff molasses of my worry.  As I took the first step into the hospital every morning, I would paste an incredibly fake smile on my fretful face.  I would smile and nod to the nurses, not daring to actually speak lest my resolve would be ruined.

Every day, for weeks, I pretended to be cheerful.  And I thought it did help me to get through some very painful and difficult times.  It wasn't until much later that my beloved father-in-law told me that he depended on my smiling face to make it through.  He said he could not bear the pain of seeing his son in the hospital bed - until I walked in the room and spread my (fake) sunshine.  I was astonished.  I thought everyone could see that my smile was plastic, my happiness less than genuine.

It didn't matter to him.  He saw the smile, and his heart was comforted.  My pretenses helped us both.  And I am forever grateful for the inspiration I had to try a smile.

Just for today... smile at someone.  Then do it again.  See how many people you can smile at today!

Looking to Help

27 Days to a Happy Mom - Day 22

There are lots of people who could use our help.  We would quickly be crazy (and poor) if we responded to everything we see.  And at the same time, there are others pleading silently for help who we don't see at all.  How do we help?  Where would our energies be best spent?  How do we know who to help?

My brothers and sisters, the Lord's purposes are often accomplished as we pay heed to the guidance of the Spirit.  I believe that the more we act upon the inspiration and impressions which come to us, the more the Lord will entrust to us His errands.  -Thomas S. Monson, October 2012 General Conference

We know how to proceed because He will tell us.  We just need to ask, through prayer, and then listen.  If we feel even a smidgen of a good idea, then do it.  How do we know if it is a prompting or just a good thought on our part?  I've wondered that a lot.  But I've given up wondering.  If it is a thought to do a little bit of good for another person, especially someone I care about, I just do it.  President Monson continues by telling us to "never postpone a prompting."

Ask for an eye to see, and you will find - with the Lord's help - those who most need your help every day.

Just for today... ask, listen, look, then do.  It'll make you feel good!

I Don't Have To Help

27 Days to a Happy Mom - Day 21

Of all the "just say no" images I looked through, this one was my favorite.  Probably because the "no" is green, symbolically saying to me, "I really don't want to so I'll tell you no, but if you wheedle or press the issue, I'll cave in and say yes anyway."

How many times, as mothers, as women, are we asked to help?  Your supermarket change for a local sick child.  Your patience as a room mother.  Your very limited time for a needy friend.  Your meager talent for the church class.  And you know we ought to.  It would be a sin to turn someone away, wouldn't it?  And we feel guilty for even thinking it.

Let me tell you, ladies, that you can't say yes to everyone.  Plan your schedule, write up your priorities, and see what will work in your life.  Take out a few non-essentials and make room for some service, but you really don't have to cater to everyone.  Not even to your husband.  Or your children.

When you live your life really for you - and not for everyone else - then you have the ability, the space, the happiness to say yes to some.  Take those hands off your steering wheel and you'll be able to help others with their boxes.  And you'll be happy to help.

I'm making cupcakes for cub scouts tomorrow.  I feel good, needed, when I can help out.  But it feels a million times better when I serve because I want to, and not because I feel like I have to or I was guilted into it.  More happy is better.

Just for today... say yes to you so you can say yes to (a few) others.