![Can I Really Be Thankful in All Things? [Episode 11] jpg](https://www.jenniferrothschild.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/11_22_2018_Pod_11_CanIReallyBeThankful.jpg)
When I was a little girl, one of our family’s holiday traditions was that my brothers and I each got to open one gift on Christmas Eve.
Every year, we spent most of December carefully examining the presents that appeared beneath the tree. And, by Christmas Eve, the gift we had chosen to open was the most coveted one under the tree!
![Can I Laugh When Life Isn’t Funny? [Episode 9 with Liz Curtis Higgs] jpg](https://www.jenniferrothschild.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/11_08_2018_Pod_9_CanILaughWhenLifeIsntFunny.jpg)
Now, you might assume that one of the fringe benefits of blindness is that I can’t tell when I’m having a bad hair day. Not so! I don’t have to see my hair in the mirror to know that it looks ugly—I can feel it!
And, as I was preparing to speak at a local women’s event one day, I was feeling it! I knew my hair looked bad.
![Can I See Good Even on a Bad Day? [Episode 8] jpg](https://www.jenniferrothschild.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/11_01_2018_Pod_8_CanISeeTheGood_Oct.jpg)
I once made the world’s worst casserole.
Oh, girl, I am not exaggerating! The recipe called for milk, but I ran out and used buttermilk instead. Bad idea.
But, my sweet family tried to be so mannerly and gracious as they swallowed each sour, sticky bite! After all, it was Christmas Eve and they were on their best holiday behavior.
![Can I Get Through Disappointment With Hope? [Episode 6] jpg](https://www.jenniferrothschild.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/10_18_2018_Pod_6_CanIGetThroughDisappointment_Sep.jpg)
When my son, Connor, was little, he had a new balloon which he insisted on taking outside.
“Connor,” I told him, “if we take the balloon out in the backyard it will probably pop.”
But he would not relent, so out we went.
He swept the brightly colored balloon up into the air, and it slowly glided downward. He caught it and repeated the motion several times.
I used to have a guide dog named William. And, one Sunday morning, after I’d had William for several months, we sat attentively in my Bible study group.
Well, at least … I sat attentively … kind of.
It was awfully hard because William’s attention was riveted by a grasshopper that had made its way into our room via an open door.
William was determined to catch that critter—even if he had to knock over a stack of Bibles and three Baptists in the process! He slapped his paws forward and jerked his head in pursuit.
![Can I Get a Handle on My Destructive Self-Talk? [Episode 3] jpg](https://www.jenniferrothschild.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/09_27_2018_Pod_3_SelfTalk.jpg)
I had carved out time in the middle of a busy week to travel 30 minutes downtown to apply for a passport.
After waiting in a long line, I turned in my application and photo only to hear a lethargic and impatient clerk ask, “Where’s your birth certificate? You can’t get a passport without a birth cert—”
“Okay,” I said. “I’ll get it. I’ll come back.”
