Medicine for my Mood

Spring Break is supposed to be a wonderful family time. Not this house - not this year. Not only were we plagued with a stomach virus, another much more serious strain of sickness hit us with a vengence.

BAD ATTITUDES!

These were not your ordinary sassy comments. My children made criticism and hatefulness a real sport this week. It starts quietly. Siblings are really good at this strategy. It involves mumbling under your breath and paying close attention to what direction mom is looking. A casual "bumping into someone" which no one can prove was done on purpose.

Then it escalates to complete infestation. It was raging out of control before I knew what happened. There's a huge correlation between those pesky bugs that cause tummy troubles and the ones that infiltrate our spirits.

Now we don't use official foul language in our house, but words like jerk, dumb head and big baby were heard often. I tried all the standard methods of discipline with the exception of spanking. (They're all a bit old for that, but I was tempted!) I was horrified. It was a viral bullying that was running its course.

By the time I went to bed last night, I was completely exhausted in every sense. My body and my spirit were worn out from the battle. But today after my coffee and prayer time, I read something that God used to speak to me. Billy Coffey (love the name) posted a wonderful article about prunes. Prunes are not a good thing when you're suffering from the stomach flu, but this object lesson shows how something small can affect the big picture.

Lisa Whelchel has a great book called Creative Correction that uses object lessons like Billy's prune story to teach kids important lessons. Lessons like these aren't just for kids. They aren't just for Sunday School. They remind all of us about the truth.

And the truth is.... I need more coffee.