Then Chris August Called....
Who knew a question from a complete stranger would have a great impact on the world (well, my world)? I encounter strangers (and strange people - for real. I have great strange people stories.) every day, but not one has had the impact on me that this person had (at least this far in my life).
"So, are you having a good day?" To which I gave an immediate and emphatic, "NO." Imagine abrupt laughter. I didn't think it was funny really, but they did. It's good to know that even when you're in a pitiful mood, you can still give joy to other people. God really does work in mysterious ways.
In a split second, before he could ask his next question, visions of flooded laundry room and kitchen sweep through my head. Oh, and I can't forget to add the three pieces of cake with Harmona's special icing - or the almost three pounds gained from it (that's it; I'm fasting cake for the rest of ... yeah, right) ....OR certain people taking pictures of things that could not POSSIBLY be my fault... OR the wonderful idea of NOT having the job I want or the place I want to live (mostly I just mean being stuck where I am trying my hardest to be faithful to what the Lord has told me to do). The past 24 hours have not been fun...except the part when I was asleep. That was okay.
So, I woke up this morning, and I kind of suspected that I was not in the best of moods. Everyday I wake up, and I turn on the TV to watch something on TBN. Now if it's my early days, I am watching Sid Roth (Mondays) or Andrew Womack (Tuesdays) and Joseph Prince (both days). But today was my normal day off, however, I was working and I had to be at work at my later time. So, I was watching Joyce Meyer and Creflo Dollar. They annoyed me this morning. Joyce ended with "If you aren't happy with your life, then do something about it." (Which made me want to write her and say, "WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT IT?") And then Creflo discussed agitations this morning. Believe it or not, both shows contradicted each other in regards to my situation. That annoyed me. I had a further suspicion that I did not wake up in the best of moods because I saw on my phone a notice that someone had tagged me in a picture. I didn't have a very good outlook about the picture. I've seen pics that people have posted of me on Facebook. It's like they ENJOY posting the ugliest picture of me they could find!
When I got to work, I knew it. This is why you should NEVER eat more than one piece of cake - especially if it has Harmona's special icing on it (and don't even TRY to tell me that you've never eaten more than one piece of cake. I know better.). The sugar crash alone is enough to make you want to hit someone... I mean someTHING. Yes, something. The blessing (to everyone else) is that I was working by myself. Except that, someone moved something that they shouldn't have after I ordered extra to go in that spot. I don't know who did it, but thank you, I now have overstock (not to mention that they put everything away in the wrong place). So, I QUIETLY rolled t-shirts, not saying anything except to customers that had questions. Yes, I was nice to the customers.
So, about 10:30, I picked up the phone to answer a phone call. Someone wanted to know how many Chris August cd's we had. I went to look, thinking, "Man, some youth pastor must really like Chris August. He has to be buying one for his entire youth group." And before you ask, it's not uncommon for a youth pastor of a small church to do this. So, I counted, and I reported back on the phone. It was Chris August himself. He was going to drop by and sign some cd's for us if that was okay.
Now, all afternoon people were asking me if Chris August had come yet. No, he hasn't. 1:30 passed....2:30 passed....3:30 passed. STOP asking me. He came in at 3:45. I had already put the cd's back on the shelf. Oops.
So, as he and his friend opened up the cd's, he asked, "So, are you having a good day?"
"No." (ensuing laughter. Ha ha ha.)
Here comes the ground breaking question: "How can it get better?" He asked next. Needless to say, I did not give him any ground breaking response. You know the ones that we imagine in our heads with which you want to impress everyone. But today, as I stood working again (two days later), I had to think. How can it get better? Because I encounter this attitude in some form or fashion every week, if not every day. It's either eating at someone around me, or it is gnawing at me.
So, how can it get better? At lunch today, I had to get out of the store. I had to get away from the drudgery of attitude that was bearing down on me once again. As I got in the car, I turned my radio on to hear Mark Hankins tell a story about an executive that had a sign on his door that read, "You have 10 seconds to get excited about this company..." I'm not sure if he named this executive or not; it doesn't matter. The point was that the executive expected the worker to be enthusiastic about the company before he/she walked through the door. And then it hit me.
It can get better if I become enthusiastic about what God is doing. I may not like my job; but God is working in my life. I may not agree with what people say around me, but God can use my words to change the world. I may not like any part of my life; but God ordained it, and He will use it for His glory. So, today during lunch I changed my words. Today at lunch I got a fresh revelation of what the Lord is wanting to accomplish - not only in me, but in my work place and in the people who are around me. I walked back in after lunch with a new attitude.
So, if you're dealing with a bad attitude, YOU have to change. It's not the situation that has to change. It's not the people around you that have to change. It's not even God that has to change. It's YOU! You have to change.
How to change your situation:
1) Change your words - stop grumbling and complaining - that's how the Israelites got stuck in the desert. It's not easy at first, but YOU CAN DO IT!
2) Read the Word - Jesus is the Word made flesh, and the Holy Spirit will always bring fresh revelation to you. Trust them.
3) Pray... pray... pray - it may seem boring, but really you're doing flesh surgery and allowing your spirit to become stronger. Do it.
4) Get away from the people that are grumbling and complaining around you. You don't need the negativity in your life. Negativity sucks you in every time. I'm pretty sure that the black holes in the universe are all of our negative thoughts and actions that have manifested into the whole of time and space....I'm kidding. Just get away from the negative people in your life.
5) Do something fun - after you've done all the rest of the ideas above (not instead of - you can't do this without God.) Get your mind off of what the problem is.
This week - change your negative thoughts and actions!!!!!!
Micale
"Do all things without complaining and disputing." Philippians 2:14
"So, are you having a good day?" To which I gave an immediate and emphatic, "NO." Imagine abrupt laughter. I didn't think it was funny really, but they did. It's good to know that even when you're in a pitiful mood, you can still give joy to other people. God really does work in mysterious ways.
In a split second, before he could ask his next question, visions of flooded laundry room and kitchen sweep through my head. Oh, and I can't forget to add the three pieces of cake with Harmona's special icing - or the almost three pounds gained from it (that's it; I'm fasting cake for the rest of ... yeah, right) ....OR certain people taking pictures of things that could not POSSIBLY be my fault... OR the wonderful idea of NOT having the job I want or the place I want to live (mostly I just mean being stuck where I am trying my hardest to be faithful to what the Lord has told me to do). The past 24 hours have not been fun...except the part when I was asleep. That was okay.
So, I woke up this morning, and I kind of suspected that I was not in the best of moods. Everyday I wake up, and I turn on the TV to watch something on TBN. Now if it's my early days, I am watching Sid Roth (Mondays) or Andrew Womack (Tuesdays) and Joseph Prince (both days). But today was my normal day off, however, I was working and I had to be at work at my later time. So, I was watching Joyce Meyer and Creflo Dollar. They annoyed me this morning. Joyce ended with "If you aren't happy with your life, then do something about it." (Which made me want to write her and say, "WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT IT?") And then Creflo discussed agitations this morning. Believe it or not, both shows contradicted each other in regards to my situation. That annoyed me. I had a further suspicion that I did not wake up in the best of moods because I saw on my phone a notice that someone had tagged me in a picture. I didn't have a very good outlook about the picture. I've seen pics that people have posted of me on Facebook. It's like they ENJOY posting the ugliest picture of me they could find!
When I got to work, I knew it. This is why you should NEVER eat more than one piece of cake - especially if it has Harmona's special icing on it (and don't even TRY to tell me that you've never eaten more than one piece of cake. I know better.). The sugar crash alone is enough to make you want to hit someone... I mean someTHING. Yes, something. The blessing (to everyone else) is that I was working by myself. Except that, someone moved something that they shouldn't have after I ordered extra to go in that spot. I don't know who did it, but thank you, I now have overstock (not to mention that they put everything away in the wrong place). So, I QUIETLY rolled t-shirts, not saying anything except to customers that had questions. Yes, I was nice to the customers.
So, about 10:30, I picked up the phone to answer a phone call. Someone wanted to know how many Chris August cd's we had. I went to look, thinking, "Man, some youth pastor must really like Chris August. He has to be buying one for his entire youth group." And before you ask, it's not uncommon for a youth pastor of a small church to do this. So, I counted, and I reported back on the phone. It was Chris August himself. He was going to drop by and sign some cd's for us if that was okay.
Now, all afternoon people were asking me if Chris August had come yet. No, he hasn't. 1:30 passed....2:30 passed....3:30 passed. STOP asking me. He came in at 3:45. I had already put the cd's back on the shelf. Oops.
So, as he and his friend opened up the cd's, he asked, "So, are you having a good day?"
"No." (ensuing laughter. Ha ha ha.)
Here comes the ground breaking question: "How can it get better?" He asked next. Needless to say, I did not give him any ground breaking response. You know the ones that we imagine in our heads with which you want to impress everyone. But today, as I stood working again (two days later), I had to think. How can it get better? Because I encounter this attitude in some form or fashion every week, if not every day. It's either eating at someone around me, or it is gnawing at me.
So, how can it get better? At lunch today, I had to get out of the store. I had to get away from the drudgery of attitude that was bearing down on me once again. As I got in the car, I turned my radio on to hear Mark Hankins tell a story about an executive that had a sign on his door that read, "You have 10 seconds to get excited about this company..." I'm not sure if he named this executive or not; it doesn't matter. The point was that the executive expected the worker to be enthusiastic about the company before he/she walked through the door. And then it hit me.
It can get better if I become enthusiastic about what God is doing. I may not like my job; but God is working in my life. I may not agree with what people say around me, but God can use my words to change the world. I may not like any part of my life; but God ordained it, and He will use it for His glory. So, today during lunch I changed my words. Today at lunch I got a fresh revelation of what the Lord is wanting to accomplish - not only in me, but in my work place and in the people who are around me. I walked back in after lunch with a new attitude.
So, if you're dealing with a bad attitude, YOU have to change. It's not the situation that has to change. It's not the people around you that have to change. It's not even God that has to change. It's YOU! You have to change.
How to change your situation:
1) Change your words - stop grumbling and complaining - that's how the Israelites got stuck in the desert. It's not easy at first, but YOU CAN DO IT!
2) Read the Word - Jesus is the Word made flesh, and the Holy Spirit will always bring fresh revelation to you. Trust them.
3) Pray... pray... pray - it may seem boring, but really you're doing flesh surgery and allowing your spirit to become stronger. Do it.
4) Get away from the people that are grumbling and complaining around you. You don't need the negativity in your life. Negativity sucks you in every time. I'm pretty sure that the black holes in the universe are all of our negative thoughts and actions that have manifested into the whole of time and space....I'm kidding. Just get away from the negative people in your life.
5) Do something fun - after you've done all the rest of the ideas above (not instead of - you can't do this without God.) Get your mind off of what the problem is.
This week - change your negative thoughts and actions!!!!!!
Micale
"Do all things without complaining and disputing." Philippians 2:14
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