Tag Archives: Talk to God

Having a bad day?

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Are you having a bad day?
A terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day?

 

Someone recently commented on Facebook that they were ‘fed up’. One of their ‘friends’ replied, “Mondays are like that.”  We do get fed up, don’t we? What makes you sometimes ‘fed up’? Sometimes I get ‘fed up’ when I constantly forget things or make mistakes I have to correct.  Oh, I could probably make a long list and so could you. But let’s not, okay? Let’s hit the fast forward button to whatever situation bugs us today and see beyond it to another reality:

 

Are your kids complaining driving you crazy? It won’t be long before there is complete silence in the house and you’ll long for their presence.

 

Don’t like what you have to eat? Millions would love to have anything to feed their family!

 

Do your legs hurt? There is someone out there who would love to have legs! (I was convicted of this once as I was whining to myself about my thrombosis and came upon a man stumbling down the sidewalk with one leg and a crutch.)

 

Depressed about your retirement savings? Many people in the world have to work their entire life with little hope of rest.

 

You know, my mom used to say things like this. Probably yours did too. But it turns out mom was right! Of course, there are sometimes much more serious problems that make for a bad day or continuously bad years!

But regardless of the depth of our pain and sorrows we all have to ‘choose this day’ how we’re going to get through it. We can either curse the darkness or light a candle. One such light for not letting bad days defeat you is to find a reason to be thankful. You might be having a bad day, but at least you are having a day! Believe it or not, some would love to have your day. It might not be the day you wanted it to be, but it is your day to live. How this was confirmed in my journey through leukemia. You probably have seen people persist through severe pain and grief because they chose thankfulness and hope over resentment and despair.

 

The way we live out our bad days will either steal our joy and crush our spirit or it will strengthen us and encourage us with a reminder of what is good. It will either drive us to despair or help us to hope. And the way we live out our bad days affects others too. Grumpiness and thankfulness are both contagious. Don’t let your circumstances make it a bad day. Talk to God about it and choose a thankful alternative.

 

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” – Philippians 4:6

 

 

One dollar

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You’re invited to take an adventure with me to a different world! Anyone can take this trip, whether you are young or old, healthy or sick, and whether you consider yourself rich or poor. You don’t need to buy a ticket, sell your house, or quit your job.

 

The journey you will take is across the paths of your mind and the recesses of your heart. But it’s not merely an intellectual exercise. For some of you, this adventure will catch you off guard. It will knock you off-balance until you find your footing again. If you invite God to go with you, it has the potential to transform the way you see your life and the world around you. It may cause you to question the way things are and compelled by how they could be. Along the way you might feel both humbled and blessed, impoverished and enriched at the same time. In the end, I think you’ll be thankful for having walked the path and find your heart strengthened.

 

Let’s start right now!

 

Day one:
Take a one dollar bill. Put it where you will see it throughout the day, every day, like the bathroom mirror, the refrigerator, the TV or computer screen, wherever you will see it often.

 

Whenever you see this one dollar bill today, think about what that one dollar means to you. What could you buy with it? Start noticing how the transactions you make today. Plan to do this each day of this journey. When I first created this exercise for myself, I noticed the yogurt I ate for a snack cost me 50 cents, a tea bag 15 cents. I bought a pack of gum that cost nearly the whole dollar. A bottle of water, almost free at home, cost nearly two whole dollars at the convenience store. So did a can of pop and a candy bar. Don’t make judgments about your purchases. Simply take notice. Awareness is at the beginning of all change in the world, in our minds, and in our hearts.

 

Take a look at your checkbook and credit card statement for the last month. I’m not asking you to judge them, just take notice. Ponder how easy is it to get what you want when you have one dollar or a handful of dollars? How far do you have to travel to buy what you need or want? Is it readily available?

 

This may seem strange to you to think about one dollar and perhaps not much of an adventure. But ask yourself, “What if this one dollar was ALL I had to live on for one day, every day?” How would you feel if you lost your very last dollar? What would you do? Where would you turn for help?

 

At the end of the day, talk with God about what you’ve noticed about the one dollar in your life today. Ask Him to reveal more of Himself to you, even as you sleep.