Thorns and Roses

After church today, we went to eat at Cracker Barrel with my mom and cousin. It is such a spring kind of day that we decided afterwards to ride to Barnes & Nobles in Tville. Just got home and I’ve been pondering our preacher’s message today.

Due to being out of town and being sick, we’ve missed Sunday’s church for the last two weeks. It’s really amazing how God works. He knew what we have needed and provided that for us today.

He talked about Attitude. How there are two types: Positive and Negative. He talked about how on our own we max out and we need help. I think about all the projects I take on. I push myself well past my limits, I max out. I then get stressed and disorganized. My attitude goes from being good to being bad almost instantly.

Our preacher talked about how a high jumper when they peak out, they will actually stop jumping for awhile, take a break, then after awhile set their jump bar lower and start again. By setting their jump bar a little lower than when they peaked out, they are able to rebuild their momentum up and go higher than ever before.

He also talked about how we need to commit to love each other better, to love the least, to give answers to the confused, give hope to the hopeless and to be real with each other. We are given an operators manual (The Bible) and all we have to do is read it and follow it.

Our pastor challenged us - that if we feel overworked, stressed, frazzle – to step back, take a little break, lower our bar just a little and then start again.

I’ve been feeling really overwhelmed by so much lately. The thoughts/plans on adoption, a new house, a job responsibility change, trying to lose weight/get healthy, trying to organize/declutter our house……This message is really what I needed.

I’ve been letting the stress of my job give me a rotten attitude which has began to pour over to other areas of my life. I really feel like today God was telling me to step back, regroup, and then go again.

I’ve really have got to change my attitude about my work situation. I have got to quit letting others emotions feed mine. I’ve got to loose the negative attitude. So I pray for His strength and knowledge on how to handle situations and to provide me with the willpower to maintain a positive attitude. I know that through Christ all things are possible………

Our preacher ended with a quote from Ben Franklin “Some persons grumble because God placed thorns among roses. Why not thank God for placing roses among the thorns?”

I’ve been seeing more thorns instead of roses….its time to reset my thinking. What about you? What are you seeing more of?