When I was young, my siblings and I would eat cereal most mornings before school: my sister with her Apple Jacks and my brother and I with our Cookie Crisp. We’d sit down at the kitchen table swinging our feet a few inches above the ground as we waited patiently for dad to pour the milk for us. He’d pour just enough, or at least what he felt was just enough. But I was never one to agree so quickly.
“Pour more,” I’d tell him. Without hesitation, he would add just a little more milk to my bowl. Most often it still didn’t satisfy me. “You have to get milk on every cookie,” I would whine as he screwed the cap onto the carton. Shaking his head he would remove it and add a little more.
If little me would have simply stirred my cereal after the first pour, it would have tasted just the same. Every piece of Cookie Crisp would have had milk on it. I think a lot of us often look at life like Child Kodi did. If we choose to focus on the things that feel disappointing, eventually everything will be drowned by that feeling.
Sometimes we have to stir things up and choose what to put our feelings into. What is worth more? Being upset over not having what we think is enough milk, or being grateful for having any milk at all? We can choose to be happy or we can choose to sulk in our misery.
In her book So, Stick a Geranium in Your Hat and Be Happy, Barbara Johnson explains this in such a great way. “…It is all in how we choose to look at the circumstances. We can look for the flowers or the weeds. We can see the bright side or look for the clouds.”
Johnson also references the Apostle Paul and his message to the church in Philippians. Paul tells us “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” (Philippians 4:8)
Thankfully, I have grown past the need to have milk poured over every piece of my cereal. However, I think about this story often and the lessons it has taught me. I encourage you to stir your cereal and change your perspective. Whether your cereal is a flat tire or tiny scratch, choose to be thankful for the car. Find what is worthy of praise and hold on to it.
Blondies Good Bad and Ugly 
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