Finding Delight in the Messy

God delights in concealing things;
Scientists delight in discovering things.
- Proverbs 25.2

When things just aren't going your way, the world seems like it is fighting you. Everything becomes a nuisance. The sun is hot. The winds makes everything unsettled. Questions become annoying.
In those moments, we lose sight of what is important causing us to miss moments of enjoyment.

My family discovered many unpleasant things on our vacation. Our house had many issues we had to deal with. Things that added stress to our week which was supposed to be a week to de-stress us. More and more kept happening. We could have fallen into the trap of being miserable about the things that were going wrong, but I think we made the best of what we had by relaxing, cooking meals, playing games, and laughing along with sweet Elliott.

Here is what I determined. For the things that popped up as a speed bump to our glorious vision of vacation, look at the positives. Are you alive on a beautiful day? Yes. Can you gaze out at some lovely landscape? Yes. Did you make a cup of coffee to enjoy? Yes. Are you here with family? Yes. Did your baby niece just make you smile and laugh? Yes.

I see in myself the tendency to get stressed until I stop and reset my mind to remember that all shall be well. It also helps to acknowledge that the situations are out of your control. And all shall be well.

The challenges we face are things that will test and strengthen us, and getting through it will help is grow, learn, and become more wise.