My "reasons to sing"

One of my favorite artists has a song called "Reason to Sing". I really love the song because it is about how, at times, we feel overwhelmed in our circumstance, but what we desire most is to sing, to praise, we are just searching for the reason. Tonight as I drove home from a late shift of work, I was struck by just how many reasons to sing I actually have. I thought that I would share some of them with you and maybe encourage you to list out a few of yours. As you do just see if your heart doesn't start to hum a little tune...

Reasons to Sing

No electricity- Maybe not exactly a joyful thing, but today, when I picked up Garrett and was listening to him rant randomly in the backseat, I knew that I had a secret weapon that would calm him down. As soon as I told him that the electricity was out, he smiled and requested that I "step on the gas". The boy loves when the electric goes out. Not as much fun for me but I will sing about it anyway.

Waiting with my boys- My two older boys and I have suffered through waiting rooms, appointments,  therapies, and the like for years. This year with Garrett being in a school that starts earlier than theirs, we find ourselves once again with a spare 20 minutes. We spend it in the car reviewing spelling words and being fun and silly. Nothing special, just killing time and hanging out. I love it and feel certain that I will be remembering these times long into the future.

Dentist appointments- We have one this week and I am singing about it. Not because I think it will be a super fun experience, but because I don't feel nearly as anxious as I have in the past. We may not have typical appointments but each time Garrett makes progress and I am confident that God will see him through this one as well.

"Stupid" and "hate"- This may sound crazy but, Garrett has started using these two words lately and it kind of makes me smile. Now don't get me wrong, I correct him and make him try kinder words, but I feel some amount of awkward joy that Garrett is interacting with his peers enough to pick up on some "bad" words. We have worked on social skills until it is beyond painful so when I see normal social skills being practiced in any form, I rejoice. He even uses them grammatically correct! These are developmental milestones that I am grateful for.

My job- Now if you know me, you know that I would quit my very casual job in a heartbeat, however, I feel enormously grateful for it all the same. I work 16 measly hours a month. That is like nothing. I am thankful for a husband who provides and for flexible employment. I am thankful that for 16 hours every month I am outside of my comfort zone and trusting in God to help me help others.

Emotional eating- Salted carmel, coffee, chocolate, chips, french fries.....I am ok with eating when life is not ok. It feels good and gives me reason to sing even if just for the moment. Afterward, I can take an emotional walk to work off my emotional eating and that is where God usually heals the hurt. I would sing about it right now but I am eating a muffin.

Signs- Exit signs, open signs, no smoking signs, even caution signs about floors being wet, are some of Garrett's favorite things. He will gladly explain to anyone who will listen what each sign means and it is a readily available distraction every where we go. In fact, we love signs so much that we purchased an open sign to hang in his room. That is worthy of a song to me.

Those are a few of mine. Nothing major, but a few things that make me smile and sing. The song ends by saying that "I need to know that you're  still holding the world in your hands, and that is a reason to sing". Enough said, now let's sing.