sweet & sour

I try to be the person that finds the joys in life each and every day...

someone who counts my blessings instead of wishing for something else...

the person who always finds the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow...

Well last week just felt "sour".  And at the end of all the madness we finally hit a "sweet" spot.  

Like packing a picnic and enjoying it by the breathtaking koi pond at Balboa Park...

There were a couple "sour" moments in my week...

I found out that a friend of mine's mother lost her battle with pancreatic cancer.

My family has been very fortunate to have stayed healthy, and death is something that rarely affects me.  The thought of a friend my age losing her mother, her closest friend, tore my hearts to pieces.

And all I could do was pray.  I felt helpless. 

I had been looking for a specific bookcase for my classroom and finally found it on Craigslist.  What seemed to be such a small task turned into a week long struggle.  We were fortunate enough to borrow my father-in-laws truck to pick it up.  As I went to take it to my classroom the next day the truck was dead.  It ended up being the battery but it took us three days to eventually get everything squared away.  

It just felt like one thing after another was ruining my week.  

It seems so silly to get utterly upset over car problems, or wanting something done on a certain day and having to wait instead. 

I was in a sour mood.  Everything just kept going wrong.  And as much as I knew I needed to change my attitude-I just couldn't.  That was the most frustrating part.  

Then we hit a sweet spot.  

We got the bookcase squared away, had a picnic lunch, grabbed dessert from Extraordinary Desserts, and headed to the sea.  

As we sat looking out onto the perfect, blue ocean all of the sour moments of the week seemed to fade away.  I was embraced in a gently hug from my husband and all of the worries, frustrations, disappointments, and sadness all seemed to melt away.  I love my husband so much because he gets me through those sour moments and helps me see how sweet life really is once we take a step back.  

I could've kept my bad attitude to myself and not blog about it, but I want to be as authentic as possible and be open.  Choosing joy is something I strive for, but we are sinners, we are human, we will have moments where we don't want to do the right thing.  And I think that through these times, I learn how to give myself grace.