James 1:2
"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,"
I don't know about you, but there are definitely those days where I can catch myself focusing on the bad, rather then the good. It is sometimes hard to see this "joy" James talks about when we face tough times. I've been realizing more and more though, that the choice is truly ours. It is a mindset. When those times and thoughts come, we can choose to focus on the positive, rather then the negative. We can choose to be joyful, rather then upset. We can choose to have a heart of thanksgiving, rather then a heart of bitterness. We can choose to trust the Lord, rather then trying to control the situation our self. Philippians 4:8 reminds us to focus on things that are "true, noble, right, pure, lovely, excellent and praiseworthy." I know easier said then done, but God has really been pressing on my heart lately to turn my negative thoughts into positive and truly trust Him with EVERYTHING. That includes, with life in general, with the unknowns we face in baseball, with our financial needs, with our hopes, with our aspirations, with absolutely everything.
When I think of all the Lord has done for us thus far, I think to myself, I have no reason to doubt. Yet I catch myself being fearful of the unknown still. I was having one of those "downer days" last week and was quickly put back in my place when God met us in such a personal way that went above and beyond our expectations. As I was venting my fears to my best friend through a text message and asking for prayer for the unknowns we face this offseason, Daniel came home with a letter and a gift from some dear friends of ours. It literally humbled us in a way I've never felt before, it was a picture, once again, of the Lord's faithfulness, provision and heart for us. There I was, doubting, yet it was almost as if the Lord Himself walked through our door and said "Here, I will take care of you ALWAYS, Don't doubt my willingness to take care of you." It really brought a fresh perspective, once again, that He is truly faithful!
This weekend, there was some family events going on back in California that we knew we wanted to be apart of. Daniel has Sundays off, so as soon as Daniel was out of baseball on Saturday, we left right away to make the four hour trek to Cali. Daniel's cousin, Max, was having a birthday party in Long Beach and all Daniel's family would be there. So as soon as we got to Cali, we headed in the car with his parents and made our way to Long Beach. We had such an amazing time catching up with family. The next day, Sunday, my Tutu (Grandma) was throwing a family get together at her place in Anaheim. So we were able to attend that as well. It was so nice to catch up with our "blessings" this weekend. We had to head back to Arizona right after because Daniel had to be at the field again early this morning. So although, it was a quick trip, it was productive and well worth it! And we were once again reminded of how loved and blessed we are. My challenge to you and myself today is: Count your blessings & choose to be positive :) You'll realize you're a lot more blessed then you may think sometimes.
PERSPECTIVE:
No comments:
Post a Comment