The Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day

It was most definitely a Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day!

I don’t even really want to talk about it.  It is embarrassing to tell the truth, and I will show each of you what kind of person I am.  I feel much more comfortable keeping the facade up.

I have been sick in bed for almost a week with the flu AKA Influenza.  It took me out and I absolutely felt terrible.  By yesterday I felt better and even got a shower and dressed.  My husband, who never gets sick, was flat on his back in bed with a fever, chills, respiratory issues, and a sore throat.   As I was making him some hot oatmeal I realized the date.  December 13th…

You see, 20 years ago I almost lost my husband to a brain tumor when he was just 30 years old.  To make the situation more difficult I had just given birth to our third child five weeks prior.  After surgery, my husband had a stroke and battled seizures for the next two years.   December 13th reminds me of God’s faithfulness to my family.  His presence through the long journey back to health.

I started the day with a grateful heart.

How could things go so wrong after a start like that?

In hindsight, I know the mistake I made but I didn’t realize it until about nine p.m. in the evening.  (Yes,  I am slow.)  I now know how to prevent a Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day!    On with the story…

As my husband started to improve we were both in bed and started to talk through the details of life.  Sounds nice, doesn’t it?  We went on to discuss Christmas and the budget and that is where things changed.  I thought I was going to have $700 dollars to do all of Christmas shopping which included Christmas presents for my 6 children, husband, parents, sisters and brothers, niece and nephew, neighbor gifts, dance teacher gifts, co-worker gifts, home baking and our yearly gift to a charity but I felt confident I could pull it off.  (After all last year we did Christmas on a 0 budget with the exception of our charitable gift).  As usual, something came up!  We need new tires on our 1998 Honda that we were not expecting we would need and we also thought we just required one tire but we really needed four.  Throw in a few more unexpected expenses and my Christmas budget shrunk to $200 before my very eyes.  There is no extra money in the seat cushions.  I already checked.

That was it, the straw that broke the camel’s back!

I began to launch into a rant (tears and all) to my sick but attentive husband lying next to me in bed.  (I know, great, self-control right?)  You would have thought that just the fact that God spared my husband’s life 20 years ago would be enough to have me singing His praises every day for the rest of my life but no, not me.  It just got me thinking about how life had been so hard for us over the years and how I felt so done in by the battle.   We have never been without some kind of crisis going on in our lives it seems, maybe a six-month hiatus before something else happens.  Constant financial stress and strain, the constant needs of a child with a disability, unresolved mysterious health issues for two of my children, Postpartum Depression and Anxiety after birth number five, personally battling seven different Autoimmune Diseases, having a father with Alzheimer’s Disease, having to place him in a home and the fact that he doesn’t want to see me, deaths of family members and then this Autumn the betrayal of a sister, our beloved Aunt Barbara being diagnosed with severe dementia, even more illness and lest we forget the black mold growing in our home that wiped out our retirement savings!

Basically, as the scene unfolded I turned into a two-year-old child throwing a big, fat, pity party.  I am humiliated to say it wasn’t pretty.  I may have even said that I didn’t even want to live anymore…

 I would really like you to think I am a mature Christian.  The jig is up though!

My sainted husband could have rightfully gotten upset with me but he didn’t.  He is patient and kind.  He just asked me one question…

Who are you putting your trust in?

To which I snottily replied, “man, and I am OK with that”!  (I did not stick out my tongue but I could have.)

It got me thinking though, how could I have gone from a grateful heart to one of bitterness so quickly?  How could I have gone from celebrating a life spared to giving up on mine in just a few hours?

Enter God!

He began to whisper into my old wrinkled bitter heart that he loves me even when I am ridiculously inappropriate and selfish.  Yes, even when I am downright sinful!   That very thought led me to see my behavior in light of the cross and before one more moment I was repenting.  Asking for mercy and saying I was sorry over and over.  Sweet fellowship with Jesus restored!

Next, I needed to apologize to my husband.

Next, I realized I skipped my quiet time with God and the truth of the situation lay before me.  How do you prevent a  Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day?   Don’t skip praying to God and reading God’s Word!  I can do nothing without spending time with God!  He is my strength my light and my salvation.  I can do nothing good without him.  Maybe some people can get away without quiet time with God but I am not one of those people.  I must draw on his strength to get me through every moment of the day!  His very Word is my lifeblood!

Next, I opened up my Bible and began to read, and ah, all was well with my world!

Who am I putting my trust in? My savior Jesus Christ! $200 dollar Christmas budget?  Bring it on!

YOUR TURN…

How do you prevent a Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day?

Blessings,