Kristen Welch
About the Author

Kristen writes at her parenting blog, We Are THAT Family and is author of Rhinestone Jesus: Saying Yes to God When Safe Sparkly Faith is No Longer Enough and founder of The Mercy House. Follow Kristen on twitter as @WeareTHATfamily.

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things we love
& you will too!
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  1. Loved what you had to say about a bad day. I was like you always blaming myself for my bad day…now I just pray God will turn that bad day into a good “rest of the” day.

  2. My hubby has always been big on “your thoughts affect your actions which affect your feelings and attitude”. He recently gave his testimony to the boys tennis team he coaches, and based it around Philippians 4:8-9 (whatever is true, noble, right… think about such things). In the heat of the moment it’s often hard for me to remember these words of advice, but I’m working on it! πŸ™‚ Thanks for this encouraging post today!

  3. Thank you for this! It is so easy to to let circumstances drag the whole day down. It is so great to know we can just give it up and start over in the space it takes to take a nice deep breath.

  4. So many times we accept that the whole day is ruined instead of moving forward and making that choice t accept it for what it is.. just sleeping in!
    Thank you, I think many of us appreciated this honest post.

    Irene

  5. “His mercies are new every minute”…Love that! I’m so grateful for a God who is faithful even when I am faithless. Thank you for reminding me start this day with a Christ-centered mindset. To Him be the glory, whether I’ve got bed hair and a headache or not πŸ™‚

  6. I’m not doing ok this morning! It’s funny how God works to remind us to TRUST HIM!
    My daughter has been suffering for over a week with a pain in her hip (like, in bed not able to go to work or school) and today is worse than all the days put together.
    I’m stressed to the max and AT WORK trying to function while my mama strings are pulled to her! I snapped at my other daughter and ranted at my husband—see how I need this post?
    Geez, Lord–calm my anxious heart!

  7. I experienced a really bad day yesterday that required a doctor visit because of an extreme allergic reaction in my daughter after I gave her something I shouldn’t have. When the bad days roll in I am learning the best way to turn them around is to give thanks! That the reaction wasn’t worse. That He gave me a calm mind. That we have good medical care. That a doctor was so readily available…
    “Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, ABOUNDING IN THANKSGIVING.” Colossians 2:6-7

  8. Encouraging words like these help a lot because they shift my perspective. Thanks for all the times you’ve been part of helping me make that choice for it to be a good day, Kristen!

  9. Anyone with children and a schedule will be able to identify with this. Thank you for your honesty and inside to a better day! Blessings on you!

  10. Kristen, I need to be remind to choose to rest in His new mercies! I forget that a day is not ruined by a bad morning, a bad afternoon, or even a bad evening. There are new mercies minute by minute. Thank you!

  11. I love that you shared this – so simple and true. I know it will help me immensely! God bless you!

  12. Thanks for this – such a needed reminder. I have been coming back to that verse, “His mercies are new every morning” for a few weeks now, and it is helping me to stop in the midst of hard days and give thanks – true eucharisteo thanks – when I don’t see the good. Even when the day looks bad, and doesn’t seem to be turning around, I can give thanks for His mercy. I can choose to worship. I still struggle to make that choice, to see His mercies instead of my own circumstances, and to remember that those circumstances don’t define my days. But I am learning, It helps to know that others are learning with me.

  13. Why is it that we think a day that starts out badly, will be an entire, full day of BAD? You got it right, Kristen, when you wrote:
    “It was a simple choice. To turn a bad day into a good one. I started over-with simple thanks,”
    I believe the answer is to give thanks–look for those little bright spots that shine in the fog. It is difficult to be sullen while thanking and praising. I find the best way to do this for me is by taking a walk and focusing on God! It often turns gloomy into sunny!

  14. LOVE this post!!! Coming off of a very bad day yesterday, this was just what I needed to read this morning! Thanks for sharing this! My spirits are lifted already! πŸ™‚

  15. I. LOVE. THIS. !!!!

    I’ve been guilty of using the excuse of “oh, it’s a bad day” to get away with murder for the rest of the 24 hours- like eating that whole box of cookies, the rest of the ice cream, pouting in front of my kids and not worrying that I burnt dinner. It is SO possible to turn that day around right at the outset, in the middle or even at the very end. Thanks for this encouraging reminder!

  16. Needed this, on this particular day, when the furnace guys showed up and it turns out we cut the wrong wire and the we’re trying to get out the door to school and I can’t get ahold of my husband who might know what to do and I’m angry at him because I told him to leave the wires the way they were…

    And that was two hours ago. Still struggling to come up for a breath, just amidst the kids’ normal needs and demands.

    I’m going to choose now. And then the next minute, and the next. Thank you.

  17. I read this late last night, and it was after one of the craziest days I have had in a long time. At noon, I had called my husband and told him that I was beginning to feel like I had morphed into Bill Murray in “Groundhog Day.” I got lost heading to an appointment, and from there the day just progressively sour. One thing that helped me was to verbalize Scripture and put on some worship music to help me get my head back into the right frame of mind.

  18. I SOOOOOOO needed this today! Had the morning from you-know-where complete with a sobbing meltdown and I’ve just been sitting here at work wondering what else is going to happen. I need to change my attitude! Thanks for the reminder.

  19. How do I learn to turn a bad day into good?

    I need to learn to submit MY will to HIS. He orders our steps, and if we’re late, there’s a reason.
    Yes, it’s a choice. Absolutely. πŸ™‚

  20. That verse about His mercies being new every morning? I like to think that it’s always morning somewhere . . . πŸ™‚

  21. When I’m having a bad day, I often call one of my sister-in-laws who is really good at processing whatever has happened. She’s also very calming, unlike my dh, whom I love very much. However, he can be as intense as I am. My sil isn’t, and it’s fabulous. My back up plan is to call my mom. Even if I don’t hash things out, just talking to her can help a lot. And, my back up back up plan is to call my mil and tell her funny stories about the grandkids. I guess what I’m saying is that I reach out to people for support, and use that support to help me turn the day around.

  22. Thanks for an encouraging post! To turn a bad day around, I turn to God and I practice gratitude. Even if I can’t find that silver lining right away, I know I can always thank God that He is WITH me and I don’t face the day alone…Thankfully!

  23. When we’re having “one of those days”– we all need to stop and thank God for the good stuff we have. Quit thinking about poor me and start praising God and watcfh how your day turns around!

  24. I had this morning (but without the kids). I woke up late, when my quiet time was already supposed to be ending. I did the bare minimum, put my unwashed hair in a bun, got dressed and went to work. Then got a call rejecting me for a job I had applied for that would have taken the “long distance” out of my relationship. After that I sulked. Then I realized that it wouldn’t fix anything. I just tried to ACT happier and thank God for the blessings in my life. I am still not thrilled, but at least I’m not angry.

  25. Thank you so much for sharing this. I am guilty of having a bad start to my day and getting sucked into the whole rest of the day being wasted. I have a very hard time turning my day around and this is something I am actively working at changing in myself. For me, prayer, prayer and actively choosing joy.

  26. I love this post & I am encouraged by your words. We all have a choice in how we react to things/situations that don’t go our way. Declaring defeat is probably the easiest route to take. When I am having a bad morning/day etc I try to stop and remind myself “It really could be so much worse,” and this helps me put my days tragedies into perspective!

  27. What a great word, thank you so much for sharing. I have these rush-around-frantic-snappy mornings WAY too often, and the only thing it accomplishes is beating down the spirit – not just mine, but my family. How easy – well maybe not “easy”, but simple, rather – it really is to just STOP, take a breath, give it to God, and instead turn our thanks to Him instead of our whining. I love this, I’m reposting! πŸ˜‰

  28. Kristen, I am having one of those days. πŸ˜‰ And it’s not even 8:30am. THANK YOU. Your words point me back up and into Him for His mercies are new every minute.