something good in everything...

This morning as we left for church, I, uncharacteristically, didn't pay much attention to Leah's hair. I had tied the front back into a ponytail when she got out of the tub. I let it air dry and as we headed out the door, I stuck a clip in it. Done. 

Now, that said, today was an awful day. 

Terrible. Horrible. No good. And very bad in every way imaginable. 

Okay, not every way. But everything that included Leah today was just horrific. I was planning to go into details, but after reading the following quote a dear friend posted, I have reconsidered. 

"Think the best of each other, especially of those you say you love. Assume the good and doubt the bad. Encourage in yourself what Abraham Lincoln called 'the better angels of our nature.'"

"I suppose no one is as handsome or as beautiful as he or she wishes, or as brilliant in school or as witty in speech or as wealthy as we would like, but in a world of varied talents and fortunes that we can't always command, I think that makes even more attractive the qualities we can command—such qualities as thoughtfulness, patience, a kind word, and true delight in the accomplishment of another. These cost us nothing, and they can mean everything to the one who receives them."

 - Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

Leah does deserve to have her mother think the best of her and I definitely didn't do that today. I will say, that while being chastised via Facetime by her dear dad, she very clearly told him with her eyes that no, she wasn't in pain and no, she wasn't being terrible because she couldn't control her body, but YES, she was being terrible to give her mom a hard time. 

Awesome. Gotta love a five year old. 

I shed a good number of tears and most of them were at church, which is just embarrassing. But now that she's in bed and I've had a chance to breathe, I decided there had to be something I was grateful for today with regards to Leah. 

I thought and I thought and I thought and I thought and, other than the wonderful people I'm surrounded with that helped me today (that goes without saying...), I decided I was most grateful that I didn't spent a lot of time on her hair. She did a number on it today and I didn't even care. That, and at least I'm raising a child willing to state the truth even if it does hurt.

See? There's something good in every situation.