the gift of mondays

it's going to be a great day. say it outloud. now say it again. with enthusiasm. it's going to be a great day! forget everything else you have to do today and keep saying it. say it until it becomes a habit. until it's your first reaction to every day.  until you wake up thinking it. say it so much that your thoughts turn to beliefs. stay in the habit of joy. of knowing that no matter what the day brings, God will bring you through it. He's done it before. He will do it again. today is going to be a great day. it's God's day.  He made it for you. He made it for me.  believe it.  and watch it come to pass. "this is the day the Lord has made. let us rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118:24

it seems as if my whole life people have been dying. my mom, my godfather, my uncle. my sister, my friend, my dad. i started at such a young age (six) that one would think i'd be a pro by now. that death would be old hat to me. that it wouldn't still catch me by surprise. or make me lose my breath. or cause me to break down. but it does. all of those things. just because i started early doesn't mean i've mastered it. or that i like it. or that i know what to say or what to do. actually, i'm probably worse at it than most. i fumble it. i stumble over my words. i react with crazy questions like..."are you joking?" i mean really,  who asks that? as if someone is going to joke about death. but it seems to be my standard response when i hear the news for the first time. i said that back in november when my husband's cousin died in the operating room. it was supposed to be routine surgery but there were complications and he didn't mak