July 15

In hindsight, I realize this picture of my dinner looks kind of gross. Sorry about that. But it has a point, so here is my funky-looking slice of pizza:

I'll start by saying that I had something of a tough day. I woke up in a negative frame of mind, and lots of frustrating things sprinkled themselves through the hours and minutes that followed.

Fast-forward to dinner time. As we sat at a table with slices of it'll-burn-ya-if-you-touch-it hot pizza, Abby posed a question: Would I rather have really, really, really hot pizza, or really, really, really cold pizza. After mulling her query for a moment --and honestly, being annoyed that she'd asked such a silly, pointless question-- I muttered hot, I guess. She smiled and looked pleased with herself. And then she said something that changed the entire tenor of my day: Well then, you can be grateful that you have hot pizza and not cold!.

From the mind of God to my daughter's lips to my ears.

It's not an easy message to hear, but it's an essential one. And I'm trying to be mindful of the importance of maintaining an attitude of gratefulness no matter what.