One of the blogs I read is that of Alan Clother, Executive Pastor at our church. He wrote a post several weeks ago that has stayed with me. He wrote: “Saturday night at church I was a little tired, and maybe, just maybe, life was not going exactly my way. I have a lot of trouble hiding how I'm feeling at times.” Someone asked him “Is something good not happening?" His response and mine is what a wonderful positive spin on "what's wrong?" I have written that question down on a post-it note next to my computer and also in my planner that I carry everywhere. Too often we allow the little upsets and annoyances of life to take over our thought process, which in turn makes us crabby, sad and emotionally spent. It can become a viscous cycle.
I interviewed for a job yesterday and the owners of the company are a Christian couple. In our conversation, she shared with me that she was diagnosed with breast cancer last December and is fighting for her life now. Having experienced numerous health issues in the last decade, I was touched that she would share that with me. It was a reminder of how precious life is. While driving home, I kept thinking about the phrase “is something good not happening”. In that same blog post, Alan wrote “How much of our time do we spend waiting for something good, versus celebrating what is good?” That’s a powerful question and one we each need to ask ourselves. We have so much to celebrate in our lives...each day that we wake up is a blessing. I am loved by God and am blessed to have a wonderful husband with whom I am madly in love, a healthy happy daughter who is on her way to a great future, family who loves me just the way I am. I have so much and while I do struggle with health issues, I am ALIVE, which means that something good IS happening! Another reminder to myself on a post-it note is: "Going strong: working my way to fabulous". It's a reminder to me to stay positive every day, even when my body is aching and so tired and my spirits are dropping.
We live in a beautifully landscaped condo complex and one of the perks is that we don’t have to do any yard work. Every Wednesday, rain or shine, a crew from Willamette Landscaping descends on the complex and six hours later, everything is mowed, edged, raked and weeded. I told a couple of them this morning how much I appreciate their hard work and how much we enjoy our beautiful landscaping. They looked a bit baffled that someone would tell them thank you, which made me wonder how often we take the time to tell someone they are doing a good job, or that they are making a difference in your life?
Speaking of good things...Shanna brought me flowers (see photo below) and a card for my birthday and yesterday we spent a couple hours at IKEA browsing and having dinner. It was a fun, harmonious time together. It was fun to see her choices for furniture, house wares, wall art, etc. There's something about a vase of flowers that just makes my heart happy...it's one of the wonderful gifts that God has created.
Celebrate what is good in your life. Psalms 136: “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His love endures forever”.
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