Perspective

A man came into our office today. He was only there a few minutes, he was just dropping something off. But he said one sentence that just has stayed with me the entire day.

As he was passing my office, he said hello, and I said hi back. And then I said, "Did you have a nice weekend?". (This was the standard question I had pretty much been asking everyone all morning). As soon as I asked it, he stopped dead in his tracks, turned around, looked at me in the eyes and said, "Ma'am, I haven't had a bad weekend in 56 years".

It startled me. I said, "Well what a wonderful way to look at things!". He then added, "Haven't had a bad day in 56 years either. Things happen. But all in all, days are good, cause everyday is from God, isn't it?".

Ummmmmmmmmmmm convicted.

WOW. I mean that just floored me. Thinking back on it, I actually don't think I responded to him at all. He just walked out of my office and I kinda sat there and stared into space.

What a concept. Can you imagine if we all just operated under the assumption that we cannot have a bad day? I cannot even count how many times I have said something along the lines of "Oh, I'm just having a bad day" or "Today was not a good day". I can't make any promises, but I feel that today that man taught me that perhaps I should take out that phrase from my life entirely.

I was on the phone the other day with Katie, and we were discussing the power of a positive attitude and the impact it can have on your day, on your life. I have typically always been a generally optimistic person, I would say, but there are times I can reflect back on that I get into a pit and refuse to pull myself out.

One of my all time favorite passages is in one of my all time favorite books of the Bible- Philippians. These verses actually popped into my mind today when I started to make a mental list of complaints. I am making it my memory verse for the week! Whenever I start to feel like it is necessary to list all the "horrible" things going on at work, or the traffic, or if my dryer continues to take 3 hours to dry, whatever it is, I'll be saying THIS instead:

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again, Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me- put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you."- Philippians 4:4-9

Let's keep our minds on the great things, the good things. Let's praise our God for giving us so many blessings and let's not take them for granted. If you are having just a "horrible day", remember the salvation that was given to us and the mercy that was bestowed on us. I get to spend eternity with my Savior. That's a good day for me.