Ever been there? One minute you feel on top of the world and the next as if you’re buried under…you’re not sure what?

That’s when verses from the Bible come to mind like “Don’t grow weary in well doing” and “His burden is light and His yoke is easy” and “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.” Then floods my mind, “I know how to be abased and how to abound” and “nothing moves me” and “you are the head and not the tail, above and not beneath” and “Jesus came that we might have life and have it more abundantly”.

So many other scriptures come to mind tonight as I write this to you because I am walking through a whole lot right now. Ya see, trials come to us all. Attacks don’t just cease because you are a pastor or have attained any certain level of success. Actually, it’s really true…bigger levels, bigger devils.

I’m fighting to write this blog without tears if I’m honest and it’s the only way I know how to be-honest. If you have followed me from the beginning of when I first wrote Happy ANYWAY, you’ll know, I’m not at all about faking “happy”. I want to share with you what actually works in being happy ANYWAY in the middle of all hell breaking loose, choosing to love ANYWAY even when people are just plain stupid or maybe you were the one that plain stupid like I’ve been before and it cost you big-time.

I want to share with you today what it looks like to stare down a double barrel of problems with the courage of a lion and strength of a crowbar refusing to back down no matter how you feel. That’s what faith does. Faith never quits. Faith remains hopeful. Faith believes ANYWAY! Your body may be screaming at you. Your loved ones may have given up on you. Your situation may look so bleak, you just want to curl up in a ball and never come out. Or you just may be mad or irritated or whatever emotions are flying.

Here’s the deal: We are not feelers. We are believers and that’s not just a saying we have heard a million times. It’s the difference maker. It’s how we can not go into full blown exaggerated mania when we are on top of the world and begin to think grandiose thoughts, live with a messiah complex, and be so spiritually flighty and full of dreams that we lose touch with being grounded and the power of incremental progress. So that can be the highs or “ups” for many go-getters and can be just as challenging to navigate as the lows. I’m all for thinking big and vision boards and living at the top. But I’ve noticed in those times, the same verses as I listed above are some of the same ones to focus on as when we are lower than low trying to put one step in front of the other.

Main take away: Whether you find yourself soaring high as a kite or trying to pick yourself up out of a pit or somewhere in between, The Word is what evens us out and keeps us in the zone. If you find yourself in a funk, renew your mind with the Word so you can get some grit about you to push through, leap over, or sometimes sit down in His presence and let Him renew your strength.

If today was an Up Monday or a Down Monday, I double dog dare ya to choose to be happy ANYWAY by the power of yielding to His Word and His grace.

Happy Monday, what’s left of it!

XO,

Adrienne

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