Attitude does not begin with a small "a"
I found myself in Sunday School, listening to our teacher, who is just a peach! She is the sweetest, most beautiful lady. She has such grace, and carries joy with her everywhere she goes. She is such a mercy, she knows just when something is wrong. As I sat there, she asked me,"Are you okay, have you had a migraine?" All I could do was nod my head yes. It had been a really hard week. The holidays are always hard now. I use to love this time of year, I could sing Christmas songs all day, but now the holidays just do not have the same sweetness as they did when all of our kids were here for the day. So as I try to keep going, there are those days where I gotta pull myself out of the pit, wipe away those tears and smile knowing God is good, and He blesses us daily. As Ms. Joy was teaching, she brought about the saying,"There is no little "a" in attitude." She is so right. Our days are all about our attitudes towards people, towards our family, and every task we must do. So as I knew today was a busy day, I got started, after taking almost two hours to get out of bed. When I am in such pain, its hard at times to have a smile on my face. Showered, put my clothes on, and realized I had put on a t-shirt that says,"I don't need any of your attitude, I have enough of my own!" Just wait, its gets better. As I was making my way through the crowded, and rude Walmart, a man almost hit me with his cart. My mouth opened and just as it did I looked over and there was a poster! Not just any poster, but one that said,"Attitude" with a big "A"! God saw me and He saw my attitude and knew just what I needed to hear in my heart. I just stood back, breathed in all that I knew God was showing me and attitude with the big "A" went away as peace washed over me. I'm so glad we have a God who knows me by name, who reaches out to me, and humbles me with love. So am I attitude free? Most likely not, but now God has planted His words in my heart, so that I can remember, so I can look to Him and know He is there in every situation. We cannot always change the situation that we are in, but we can change our attitude. We can just about find any excuse for our attitudes to? Think about that. When we treat someone wrong, we can say,"Well, I just don't feel good", or "I have really had a rotten day", or "I didn't get any sleep last night". No matter what we are going through, no matter if I have a migraine, or I am in so much pain I can barely take it, it gives me no excuse not to treat someone with love. Just as easy, we can blame our attitudes on others. Have you ever played the blame game? We cannot walk around hurting others, being bitter, being angry just because things have not turned out the way we wish. Things did not turn out so wonderful for Jesus as He was being beaten, as He was placed on the cross, and endured the pain of the nails, as He knew His last breath was coming. He still had love, He still showed others what sacrifice is, what compassion is, and what it is to give. Have you ever had your kids roll their eyes at you? Maybe shake their head with an attitude? We may not roll our eyes, we may have a smile on our face, but inside our hearts, we can have the worst attitude of all. We don't want to force a smile, we want to have so much joy, it is just a natural reaction to do. The next time you begin to open your mouth, the next time someone isn't so nice to you, remember you have the power in you from the Holy Spirit to do the right thing. We can lose our attitudes with a big "A", and place on God's love, with a big "L". Philippians 4:4-5 "Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand."
I found myself in Sunday School, listening to our teacher, who is just a peach! She is the sweetest, most beautiful lady. She has such grace, and carries joy with her everywhere she goes. She is such a mercy, she knows just when something is wrong. As I sat there, she asked me,"Are you okay, have you had a migraine?" All I could do was nod my head yes. It had been a really hard week. The holidays are always hard now. I use to love this time of year, I could sing Christmas songs all day, but now the holidays just do not have the same sweetness as they did when all of our kids were here for the day. So as I try to keep going, there are those days where I gotta pull myself out of the pit, wipe away those tears and smile knowing God is good, and He blesses us daily. As Ms. Joy was teaching, she brought about the saying,"There is no little "a" in attitude." She is so right. Our days are all about our attitudes towards people, towards our family, and every task we must do. So as I knew today was a busy day, I got started, after taking almost two hours to get out of bed. When I am in such pain, its hard at times to have a smile on my face. Showered, put my clothes on, and realized I had put on a t-shirt that says,"I don't need any of your attitude, I have enough of my own!" Just wait, its gets better. As I was making my way through the crowded, and rude Walmart, a man almost hit me with his cart. My mouth opened and just as it did I looked over and there was a poster! Not just any poster, but one that said,"Attitude" with a big "A"! God saw me and He saw my attitude and knew just what I needed to hear in my heart. I just stood back, breathed in all that I knew God was showing me and attitude with the big "A" went away as peace washed over me. I'm so glad we have a God who knows me by name, who reaches out to me, and humbles me with love. So am I attitude free? Most likely not, but now God has planted His words in my heart, so that I can remember, so I can look to Him and know He is there in every situation. We cannot always change the situation that we are in, but we can change our attitude. We can just about find any excuse for our attitudes to? Think about that. When we treat someone wrong, we can say,"Well, I just don't feel good", or "I have really had a rotten day", or "I didn't get any sleep last night". No matter what we are going through, no matter if I have a migraine, or I am in so much pain I can barely take it, it gives me no excuse not to treat someone with love. Just as easy, we can blame our attitudes on others. Have you ever played the blame game? We cannot walk around hurting others, being bitter, being angry just because things have not turned out the way we wish. Things did not turn out so wonderful for Jesus as He was being beaten, as He was placed on the cross, and endured the pain of the nails, as He knew His last breath was coming. He still had love, He still showed others what sacrifice is, what compassion is, and what it is to give. Have you ever had your kids roll their eyes at you? Maybe shake their head with an attitude? We may not roll our eyes, we may have a smile on our face, but inside our hearts, we can have the worst attitude of all. We don't want to force a smile, we want to have so much joy, it is just a natural reaction to do. The next time you begin to open your mouth, the next time someone isn't so nice to you, remember you have the power in you from the Holy Spirit to do the right thing. We can lose our attitudes with a big "A", and place on God's love, with a big "L". Philippians 4:4-5 "Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand."
