My Positive Girl

Actually, all three of my girls display great positive attitudes. All are strong women. Driven women. They don’t give up and they will fight hard to make their own way in this world. And they never ask me for help. 

But this particular post is about my oldest daughter, Denae. This girl is a worker. She’s a wife, and mom of two Littles, ages 2 and 6. She homeschools her oldest child. Denae makes most meals from scratch and she’s a wonderful cook. She bakes amazing sourdough bread weekly for her family and friends. When time allows, Denae sews quilts that are personalized from shirts and fabrics that have sentimental meaning. She also works in the evening from 6-11 as a custodian in a high school. Denae is an avid reader as well and has read dozens of books so far this year.

This girl runs nonstop, and always has. When she left home with only a carload of belongings, she stayed with friends of ours in another state. She found a job and worked hard. Within two months she had enough money to get her own apartment. She never asked me for any financial help whatsoever. She’s worked hard from the beginning and hasn’t taken her foot off the gas petal yet. 

I know she’s tired but she always pushes through it. I know what it is like as a young mother. Sometimes there are not enough hours in a day, yet some days there are just too many. But she’s not a complainer. 

The only complaint she has (and it’s not even a complaint) is when within the first hour of arising, her two children have called for her approximately 36 times even before her first cup of coffee. Mommy. Mommy. Mommy. Mommy. I totally get it. I had six kids. 

With all this being said, I wonder how I’d be if I worked all day with the children, cooking, gardening, cleaning…etc., and then had to drive a distance to go to work, work hard by cleaning bathrooms, hallways, and classrooms until late, and then getting home close to midnight. Only to have it start all over again in just a few short hours. I’d probably not be a pleasant person at work, or anywhere. Juss sayin’.

But not Denae. She always sees opportunities to brighten someone else’s day. She found a secret way to promote positivity to young people.

As she goes about her work at the high school, she cleans everything. Even the disgusting things like bathrooms and trash. But her focus is on a whiteboard found in a certain classroom. She wipes it clean and then secretly works her magic. In the left-hand corner of the newly-cleaned board, she draws a character along with a positive quote to go along with it. Mostly, the inspiration comes from Disney movies. Every morning there is a new character with a new quote to start the day. 

Oh, and I say secretly because no one knew for a long time who was leaving the messages in the corner of the whiteboard. When she was discovered by the teacher owning the board she was a little nervous, but the teacher was more than pleased. 

Here are just a few of her messages. 

Today I lift up Denae for all she is as a wife, mommy, daughter, sister, aunt, and friend. She brightens the lives of so many people. She is a worker bee who has very little time of her own. I envy her energy, her strength, and her spirit. 

♥️

Andi