While dog sitting I was trying to help out with the potty training the two pups. On this particular morning, my grandsons had spent the night, and we were rushing to get dressed, lunches made, breakfast down, and get out the door in time for school. One of the boys noticed one of the dogs sniffing in the corner of the dining room. Sure enough, someone had an accident. I grabbed the cleaner, a rag, and some toilet paper. I used the toilet paper to pick up the dog poop. I stood up, and the next thing I knew, I was laying on the floor, with my feet over my head! The boys just stood staring at my lifeless body in a ‘dead man’s pose’, yelling “What happened?!” I laid there on the floor and calmly said, ‘I just slipped in a puddle of pee, no big deal.’ We all laughed as I couldn’t move from the floor. The youngest finally caught his breath long enough to inform me that the poop had flown out of my hand was on my chest! After cleaning up the mess, the boys kept recounting the epic fall, as they finished off the cereal. I picked up the remnants of the cereal packaging, only to find I had pick up the wrong end and dumped the cereal crumbs all over the kitchen. Again, laughter ensued. Although even my hair follicles hurt from my epic fall that would even put a sitcom or cartoon to shame, we were able to start their school day with plenty of laughs, and a great story for the boys to tell!
Too many times when our day starts off rough, when it seems nothing is going our way, we feel sorry for ourselves, and we get angry with the world. How many times have we used ‘I’m having one of THOSE days’ to only look for the negative, use that as an excuse to stay in a bad mood, and have a bad attitude about anything and everything? When you are laying in dog pee, and have poop on your chest, instead of getting down, frustrated, or mad, find the humor. God has a way of turning things around, and helping you find the good in your misery. He promises us He will be there for us. When we’re flat on our backs, that’s when we need to reach down deep, and find the JOY in the day.
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you experience various trials, knowing that the testing of faith produces endurance.” James 1:2-3
