Our family experiences our share of trials. The sun does not
shine on us everyday. Sometimes the much needed rain does not fall. Sometimes
the hills we climb seem higher than usual. It is truly a part of life that we
stretch and grow when times are tough. And it is also true that nothing worth
having comes without hard work and sacrifice. It is uncomfortable to build
muscle or endurance. It takes discipline and hard work to see a garden through
from seed to harvest. Dinner does not cook itself each night. Laundry doesn’t
fold itself. None of us are immune from hard work and sacrifice and suffering
and sorrow.
I have been asked on many occasions, “how do you bear your trials with such cheerfulness?"
I read once that if all of us gathered around and pulled all
of our problems out of our pockets and threw them in a pile, when we saw what
everyone else was dealing with, we would grab our own problems right back! I do
not doubt that for even a second.
When I fill up my body with real food like fruits and
vegetables and meat and cheese, I find that I have less room for junk. The same
is true when we fill our minds and hearts with gratitude. If I fill my mind
with thoughts of my many blessings, I have much less room for bitterness and
anger.
Where can you start? A
gratitude journal. Each day write down a blessing in your life. It could be as
simple as I ate today, or I prayed today, or my baby made me smile today.
We can not borrow gratitude from another. We must have our own lamps full so that when the trials come, and they will, we have a reservoir to draw from. What are you thankful for?
If you are new to this blog, you may enjoy this post.
If you are new to this blog, you may enjoy this post.
This is so true! Everyone has their share of problems, but it's really how you choose to handle them that makes the difference (key word is CHOOSE!) If you don't want to be a grump, then don't :) Now it's not always that easy, I understand, but like you said, sometimes you need the bad things to make the good ones all that much better. It's that dynamic nature of life that really makes us able to see & feel & experience all there is!
ReplyDeleteI like these lamp full posts. I don't know if this is the second or third one I've read but I know when I saw the lamp on the link-up I was happy!
ReplyDeleteThank you for that, I hope to have one each Monday. Please come back!
ReplyDeleteI love your food analogy about being full of gratitude so that there's not being room for complaining or ungratefulness or anything else!
ReplyDeleteI would love it if you would add a courtesy link back to my blog next to your other links! Thanks so much!
Also, thanks for linking up to the "Making Your Home Sing Monday" linky party today! :)