complaining vs. thanking

recently it seems all i can talk about is how i don't want to be in school anymore & how much i want to be done with all of my work. however, i'm really looking at the big picture here to see that the Lord has provided me with a family who will pay for my schooling, a servant's heart to lead, & the opportunity to attend college. some people would kill for the opportunity i have in front of me. i have 3 possible opportunities in front of me for post-graduation & all i am doing is worrying & complaining every single second.

my worst day of the week is wednesday. it's long & boring. i don't look forward to it. once wednesday is gone, i feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. last night i was reading Ephesians 1 about thanksgiving & prayer. i went through today as a normal day. i was complaining a lot because i wanted to be done with school...& then....it hit me. i thought of just how lucky i am to be here. how lucky i am to be on this earth & to have the opportunity of gaining an education to have a job to someday help support a family.

so, my challenge for all of us is to be thankful. when we are complaining about how the world is completely against us, God is completely FOR US! thank the Lord today for making you His creation. don't complain. thank HIM!

balancing grace & truth.

this past weekend, a huge incident happened to me. instead of having grace for this person i immediately began pushing them away because i was so focused on the right & wrong way to handle the situation. however, after some great Godly counsel, i began to view the situation from a different perspective. sometimes if we step away from a situation and look at it with different eyes we can really do ourselves some good. i have realized that i really need to be aware that i need to have a balance of grace & truth in any situation i am facing. sometimes in the heat of the moment it's really hard to see the other side because we just want to think we are right ALL THE TIME. which we aren't always right, but that doesn't mean we are always wrong either. i challenge you today [& from now on] to look at situations from another perspective other than your own. we all think differently and people don't always have to agree with what we say. so, have grace on those who think different from you. however, also make sure you are putting truth into your perspective as well. to put truth into our perspective we must seek the Lord to have the truth ingrained in us. spending time with the Lord every day is vital. take 30 minutes out of your day today to be still before him & spend time sitting next to him & talking with him.

sounds like a great plan to me! :]