Magical

Monday

And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

Philippians 4:8

When I was a child everything was magical.  Our family wasn’t perfect, but we were happy.  I thought every family was like ours, two parents at home, going on vacations, Mom in the kitchen, Dad at work.  Life.  Was.  Wonderful.   I really had no indication that bad things happened in life, until one summer, a friend of ours little 3 year old boy died of pneumonia.   

Five years after the death of that small child, Mom and Dad started to argue and almost got divorced.  It was around that time that I figured out life wasn’t always easy and I had to look for the good.    Mom told me to read the book Pollyanna, about an orphan who lived with her Aunt and tried to find the good in all things.

Later on in life when I was an orphaned teenager living with my Aunt, I was fortunate enough to go through the Zig Ziglar “See you at the Top” workshop.   I’ve had many, many lessons in “looking for the good in life”, practical real applications as well as reading about it.  

There are many times when I feel like giving up and moping around regarding the circumstances in my life.  However, now that I have two little boys looking to me for guidance, I feel compelled to pass on the positive thinking ways that my mother and father started in me. 

I always have two ways of looking at just about everything.  Generally, it’s about 50% good or 50% bad; it’s my choice which side to look at.

Lord, please give me the wisdom to see the good in each situation and the patience to continue seeing it and concentrating on it.

Amen.