"That's up to YOU!"

Emersyn with her doll from the Ukraine that her Great Grandparents sent her for her birthday. So special!

Thanks SO much everyone for your well wishes and concern over my sick little household. We're all doing much better. I am pretty much over my cold and so is Emersyn. Brett's feeling better and is back at work too!

Emersyn's little bestie Stella is here this afternoon while her parents go to the beach with our Young Adult's ministry (they are the pastors) and we will be driving down after nap time and after Brett gets off work to meet up with them. Should be a fun evening and I figured it's probably the last chance I'll get to see the beach while the weather is still nice(ish).

I have been reading Stormie Omartian's book, "The Power of a Praying Wife". I actually won this book on another blog and it's located within a 3 in 1 type book that has "The Power" of a praying wife, parent, and woman. I like the ideas of having prayers to kind of jump off of and to pray more intentionally. I know God doesn't care if we're eloquent in our prayers and sometimes we can just be silent before Him and He knows our hearts. However, I believe there is power in prayer and power in praying specifics.

I was reading the introduction to the praying wife section and almost skipped it. It kind of focused on praying for you husband, even when you don't want, even if he is being awful, etc. I felt urged to keep reading and didn't really understand why, I feel like my marriage and relationship is better then ever. However, as I was reading I came to a part that made me understand why I had needed to keep reading. The Lord is funny like that. He used a totally different subject to convey a message about another subject.

Stormie talks about a dialogue that a frustrated wife might have with the Lord regarding her husband. In the dialogue, she is basically complaining to the Lord about her husband and ultimately says, "help me have a good attitude about this Lord" to which the Lord bluntly says "that's up to you".

That's up to you.

This part really hit me like a ton of bricks. See, I have this thorn in my life. Remember my thorn post last year? We all have thorns of some kind in our lives, whether it be a relationship, person, situation, etc. The Lord gives us thorns to keep reminding of how much we need Him. I have been praying, "Lord, HELP me have a good attitude about this thorn" and I felt him gently slap me upside the head while reading and say, "that's up to YOU!".

I think too often we rely on the Lord to "help us" with our attitudes. But the problem with that is that attitude is part of our God given free will. He can't help us have a good attitude, that is our decision. When we spend time in prayer, our hearts are softened naturally and THAT can help change our attitude but again, that's because we CHOOSE to pray.

Last night I went out for a fun girls night. Often time girls nights become a place to chat and then chatting leads to venting. I vented about my thorn. And I shouldn't have. On my way home last night, I heard the Lord shaking His head disapprovingly, even making that little "tsk tsk" sound. I know better. I believe there is a time and a place to vent and seek guidance from our friends. But I wasn't venting about my thorn for any other reason then to vent, not seek guidance or counsel. Shame on me.

I am asking the Lord to change me this week in regards to my attitude about my attitude, ha! I am committed to spending time in prayer, not just for my thorn (which isn't NEARLY as prickly as it has been) but for my life in general. I want to abide in Him so that He can abide in me. And I CHOOSE to have a good attitude, I CHOOSE to let His light shine in me and that doesn't include complaining or thinking negatively.

I don't want to be one of those women who is always complaining about something. My life is far too blessed for such behavior. I want the fruits of the Spirit to be evident in my life and those include patience and love.

Ha ha, speaking of patience, Brett and I started "The Love Dare", have you heard of that book?? I got it for our anniversary and we just started day one on Tuesday night. We haven't read any more because of being sick but Tuesday night was all about patience and treating each other with respect and in a loving way. The Lord has a sense of humor. Shortly after reading about patience, I am stuck inside my house with a sick husband and baby for THREE days. There were many opportunities for patience, let me tell you. I am excited about this book, if you haven't heard of it you should check it out. I'll let you know how it's going. I really found myself stopping myself when I was getting frustrated and thinking, "am I being patient and kind?".

Anyways, just wanted to share my thoughts and encourage us all to CHOOSE to have joy, CHOOSE to have a good attitude. Life is just too darn short to live any other way I think!

Happy Sunday!!