{"id":1065,"date":"2012-02-14T19:00:32","date_gmt":"2012-02-15T00:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/smalltownamerica\/?p=1065"},"modified":"2012-02-13T16:29:03","modified_gmt":"2012-02-13T21:29:03","slug":"celebrate-or-be-depressed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/smalltownamerica\/2012\/02\/celebrate-or-be-depressed.html","title":{"rendered":"Celebrate or Be Depressed"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I was volunteering at our local homeless shelter last weekend and learned that Valentine&#8217;s Day can be fun for everyone.\u00a0 I took some craft supplies with me and one of the younger residents helped decorate the shelter and made some beautiful cards.\u00a0 It didn&#8217;t matter that she wasn&#8217;t in her own home or that she had to share the work space with a bunch of others.\u00a0 She just had fun.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/smalltownamerica\/files\/2012\/02\/IMG_0629.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-1076\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/259\/2012\/02\/IMG_0629-239x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"239\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Like so many things in life, it comes down to the choice we make.\u00a0 We could have spent those hours whining and complaining about how bad\u00a0 life was treating her,\u00a0 but instead we had fun.\u00a0 We made a few items to brighten up the shelter, made the staff a valentine and then\u00a0 the young resident made a lovely card for her mother.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/smalltownamerica\/files\/2012\/02\/IMG_06271.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-1079\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/259\/2012\/02\/IMG_06271-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a>What made the difference?\u00a0 In Philippians 4:8, God clearly states the things we should think about.\u00a0 They are good and pure things.\u00a0\u00a0 They are honest and lovely things.\u00a0 They are things that bring hope and not despair.\u00a0 What we allow ourselves to dwell on, are the things that determine our attitude and mood.\u00a0 We can dwell on the hardships we face or on the goodness of God and the hope that it brings; no matter what our situation.<\/p>\n<p>Being homeless is not the end of the world.\u00a0 It can be difficult and even depressing at times, but it can also be the beginning of a new chapter in your life.\u00a0 Life is full of unmarked dangers that sneak up on us and slap us in the face.\u00a0 We all experience difficult times, it&#8217;s how we deal with them that makes the difference.\u00a0 We can go through life with a &#8220;woe is me&#8221; attitude or find hope and peace in all situations.\u00a0 The choice is ours.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I was volunteering at our local homeless shelter last weekend and learned that Valentine&#8217;s Day can be fun for everyone.\u00a0 I took some craft supplies with me and one of the younger residents helped decorate the shelter and made some beautiful cards.\u00a0 It didn&#8217;t matter that she wasn&#8217;t in her own home or that she&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":420,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,14],"tags":[42,19,46],"class_list":["post-1065","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-encouragement","category-inspiration","tag-choices","tag-faith","tag-holiday"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Celebrate or Be Depressed - Small Town America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/smalltownamerica\/2012\/02\/celebrate-or-be-depressed.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Celebrate or Be Depressed - Small Town America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I was volunteering at our local homeless shelter last weekend and learned that Valentine&#8217;s Day can be fun for everyone.\u00a0 I took some craft supplies with me and one of the younger residents helped decorate the shelter and made some beautiful cards.\u00a0 It didn&#8217;t matter that she wasn&#8217;t in her own home or that she&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/smalltownamerica\/2012\/02\/celebrate-or-be-depressed.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Small Town America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-02-15T00:00:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-02-13T21:29:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/smalltownamerica\/files\/2012\/02\/IMG_0629-239x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"dhanny\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Celebrate or Be Depressed - 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