I was talking with my sister today about how hard things have been this year and she told me that she has really had to make herself look for the "silver linings" lately... you know the term, right? Looking for the good, ANY good in the crummy circumstances of life is like appreciating the beauty of the silver lining of a storm cloud overhead.
I've mentioned before that a silver lining of all the lockdowns and canceled events this year has been more time with my family, which I adore. It doesn't make the bad situation any less awful, but it helps to change our perspective when we purpose to acknowledge the things we are thankful for.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
"Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."
We don't have to give thanks FOR everything, I'm not a "everything happens for a reason" kind of gal... but we can certainly still find things to be thankful for no matter our present circumstances. I'm thankful for a cozy home, a homeschooling year that has provided my kids some extra stability in a strange time, a husband who works hard to both provide for and encourage the kids and I to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. I'm thankful for all the extra time I've had with my family this year and the sunshine pouring in the windows right now.
So I sat in my home office as we were talking about the hard year and encouraging each other to hang in there...
and realized I was actually
sitting in a silver lining.
For about a decade, in this room, we had big book shelves full of home school curriculum, resource books, favorite classics and more. One day, toward the end of December, it just collapsed. No one saw it happen, no one heard it, and we had a house full of people at the time. Well, time for new shelves... and maybe it's time to get this room organized and think about how it could function better, etc. and quickly down the designing , planning, dreaming rabbit hole I went. My business mission had been to really focus on improving online sales and my work space needed to get in line if that was ever going to happen.
I needed a space for my Etsy inventory, for paperwork, packaging and more if I wanted to grow my business this way. I got creative with a small space and I love how it turned out.
Silver lining of a collapsed shelf and a huge mess? A new organized space for my online orders.
Silver lining of a quarantine this Spring? The organized space I had created just in time to roll with a sudden increase in online orders.
I know 2020 has been hard and we're not quite at the end of it yet, but keep your heart thankful, and look for the silver linings.