Will I count it joy when John is later than I expected him to be from work? I can be thankful that he has a job, thankful that he is glad to come home, thankful that when he comes home, he loves on our girls and helps me clean up dinner - or, I can be bitter over 20 minutes and sour our entire evening. Really, it is my choice.
Will I be cranky when Lily is screaming and whining, again? Though I may not like the screaming (who does?), I can be thankful that it is better than it was, thankful that the discipline we have worked at over the past year and a half is leading to a softer spirit within her, thankful that she is healthy and with me, thankful that God is using the whining to teach me how my own heart sounds to him sometimes - or, I can be frustrated and drown in it. I have a choice.
When I look around at all the things in life that I don't understand, the hurting, the loss, the depravity, I can wonder why God has let things become the ways that they are. I can question his sovereignty. Or, I can pull my head up out of the sand and look at the good. He is good. I can thank him for that. I can thank him for his love and mercy that is new every morning. I can choose to believe him when he tells us that his ways are not our ways, nor are his thoughts our thoughts. And, I can be thankful that I know how it all will end - good triumphs over evil, and it is happening all the time, all around us. I have a choice of whether or not I look for it.
Oh, Lord, let me turn all things back to praise you. Give me a thankful heart - I think it just might turn my world inside out.
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