Skip to main content

Attitude Does Make a Difference

This past weekend, I had the privilege of having a long time good friend in one of my services...and then enjoyed lunch with her and her family. 

She's dealt with brain cancer for the past two years....it's been tough, even with her usual "positive spin" on the days and nights since getting the news and prognosis, I knew these had been some of her hardest times ever. 

 I wonder why her emails to me don't leave me depressed and feeling hopeless in thinking about my future?  Why didn't I "feel sorry for her" as we reminisced over lunch on Sunday?  I did want to cry in seeing that there are limitations as to what she can do and not do yet, and her gorgeous long hair isn't there as it once was, though she had made what she had to be the cutest "do". 

I know, I think, why I love to hear from her, why I run to her Facebook page to hear what she's doing with this day, knowing some of what she's dealing with.  She refuses to allow her challenges be a dark cloud for anybody else, if she can at all  help it.  She believes in hope...she knows her God well, and is loved by an amazing family.

 But, most of all....she made a choice a long time ago to maintain an attitude of thankfulness for what she DOES have and not dwell too much on what she DOESN'T have.  ATTITUDE DOES MAKE A DIFFERENCE.  I experienced it again with my friend, Susan, last Sunday. 

Comments

  1. UnknownAugust 8, 2013 at 8:27 PM

    How true. Attitude is very important. I read the book, "Attitude Is Your Paintbrush", and that pushes a very positive attitude at all times. What a joy for you to have a friend who has this kind of attitude. As I read, I found it very inspiring.
    Paulrrr

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

From here to there

A lot of you are familiar with or at least know of my only niece, Scarlett (or Sweet Scarlett, as I often refer to her). A brilliant gal in the prime of her life and career was involved in a horrible car accident at the age of 36, leaving her with a severe brain injury. God has brought her so far….so many accomplishments that she wasn’t “supposed” to ever achieve. A couple of years ago while she was going through a particularly hard struggle, she said to me, “Aunt Ann, I know I’m gonna make it, but right now I’m in that in between place”. I knew exactly what she was saying…and I’d imagine you do, too, right? We believe that God’s gonna walk with us and get us to the other side…however, sometimes it just seems like a longggggg way from here to there, doesn’t it? We’re gonna make it..but there are times we sure do need a hand to hold or place to rest on the journey….’cause we aren’t “there” yet…and we need to hear from somebody, who actually cares where we are struggling, that w...
6 comments
Read more

God The Modern Father

   These are hard days.  It's tough for ministries.  It's tough for churches.  It's tough for parents.  It's tough for men, and it's tough for women.  It's tough to know who you can trust and who you can't.  It's tough to weed out fact from a preponderance of fiction.  In general, life is hard.    Did you know the Bible promises that life will be hard?  In a recent conversation with Ann about the overall decline of the church... why congregations take off and then systematically shrink and ultimately dissolve... I believe the Lord dropped a relevant truth into my heart.  It's not anything I haven't said before, but it is in a different context.    I'm seeing a trend in making converts without discipleship.  And, in the cases where discipling does take place, I fear there is some error in the teaching which could, in very large part, be responsible for the decline of the American church. ...
3 comments
Read more

Courageous Non-pursuit

I’ve always appreciated the story of the prodigal son, the wonderful story of promise that God never gives up on the wayward children.   Recently, the scripture grabbed me from a different perspective. Did you ever think about this…there is no account that says the father went out looking for his son who had made the decision to leave and go do his own thing?   Surely the father was brokenhearted, most likely prayed every waking minute of every day for his boy whom he loved dearly, BUT, he stayed home.   I believe God has shown me that the father in the story had faith that He (God) would return the son to his senses and restore him to the family.   The earthly father didn’t have to go begging, making deals, blurring all kinds of boundaries by trying to do God’s work.   He just knew the Heavenly Father would be pursuing and could be trusted to do a work that would be eternal. So what’s the big deal, Ann?   Well, for me (maybe for some of you, too), it ...
4 comments
Read more