Mirrors: Friend or Foe

So today is my 25th birthday, and yes I know most of you are saying in your head 'oh she is so young'. However, I haven't been feeling so young here of late. I have been doing a lot of soul searching, character analization - pretty much looking in the mirror.

I woke up this morning and I will admit I was quite grouchy. I just wanted to sleep in - don't talk to me, don't look at me!!! I had to get up and take Kaylah to work, and Kandra to the doctor. It was just a morning that I was not motivated to do such tasks.

To further my grouchy mood, I get on the freeway and a 18-wheeler blared his air horn right on my tail because he thought I should be driving at 80 mph just like him. Yes, folks I am a law abiding citizen - I drive the speed limit. I finally dropped Kaylah off to work and realized I had a few minutes before we needed to be to the doctor and that I did not eat breakfast. Ugh this day was just not going so well. We arrived at the doctor's office and get settled in. The report came and we knew what we had to do to take care of Kandra's hand, but the nurse practioner tells us to wait. This day really is not going as planned. I am now 30 mins late to the office and we have to wait some more. Needless to say we ended up waiting an hour and fifteen minutes, and I was an hour late to the office.

Once I arrived at the office, I was pilfering around in one of the drawers that desperately needs cleaning out and found a little poem and was immediately convicted. Here it is:

"The Man in the Glass"

When you get what you want in your struggle for self

And the world makes you king for a day,

Just go to a mirror and look at yourself

And see what that man has to say.

For it isn't your father or mother or wife

Whose judgment upon you must pass;

The fellow whose verdict counts most in your life

Is the one staring back from the glass.

Some people might think you're a

straight-shootin' chum

And call you a wonderful guy.

But the man in the glass says you're only a bum

If you can't look him straight in the eye.

He's the fellow to please, never mind all the rest,

For he's with you clear to the end,

And you've passed your most dangerous test

If the guy in the glass is your friend.

You may fool the whole world down the pathway of years

And get pats on the back as you pass,

But your final reward will be heartache and tears

If you've cheated the man in the glass.

- Author Unknown

After reading this, I was so convicted that I had to go find a place and repent for my terrible attitude. I realized that if I saw myself in the mirror this morning as someone who was a grouch, and ungrateful, what did others portray me as.

Did my sisters feel tension from me this morning as I yelled at the truck driver while his air horn was blaring in my ear? Did I miss an opportunity at Burger King to witness to the lady who gave me a "king size" Diet Coke for free? Did I pass up a chance to care about the nurse practioner as she sat there chatting while I was silently grumbling about being late to work? I now realize that when I look in the mirror there lies the truth completely - am I a friend or a foe!!!