Humbly Grateful or Grumbly Hateful?
4 Ways to make being humbly grateful easy ~
1. Look Up – The King of the world is still on the throne. Times may be tough but He’s promised to be here with us and will see us through. He is good, He is love, and He is faithful. Remember who you are and Whose you are.
2. Look Back – He’s brought you this far – what makes you think He’s going to stop now? Pray and ask Him to help you gain a Romans 8:28 perspective on your life. “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.”
3. Look around – Instead of seeing everything that’s wrong – look for everything that’s right. One of the best cures for grumpiness is doing something for someone else. The poor, needy and hurting are everywhere. Something as simple as your smile can make all the difference in the life of someone else. Pray and ask God to give you His eyes to see everything that you’ve been missing.
4. Look forward – The grace of God gives us strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow. It’s gonna be okay. You’re not alone, and somebody cares about you.
Kids Corner
Missy muskrat was feeling grumpy. She didn’t want to swim in the pond or eat her water lily snack. She didn’t want to play catch-me-if-you-can or see what the beavers were doing. Missy sat in a miserable, grumpy hump and didn’t want to move.
Fern wanted to help her friend feel better.
“What you need,” she said, “is a whatever.”
“A whatever?” Missy asked with a grumpy frown. What’s that?”
“You never know what it will be. But if we look together, I’m sure we can find one.”
“Whatever,” Missy said with a loud grumpy sigh and crossed her arms.
“Come on,” said Fern, “Please? For me?”
“Okay,” she said, slowly following Fern to the grassy marsh.
After a while, they came to a quiet place near a creek. “This is boring. I’m tired of looking for a whatever,” complained Missy. “I’m going home.”
“Wait!” Fern said and pointed to a ray of sunshine breaking through the clouds. “There’s one now.”
“That? Missy said, looking up. “That’s just some old sunshine.”
“Oh, it’s much more than that,” Fern said. That’s a whatever is lovely. It’s one of the best whatevers to find. See how it lights up the marsh and makes the water sparkle?”
“I guess so,” Missy said, the grumpy frown on her face beginning to fade.
Just then, two butterflies danced by and landed on a cattail.
“Did you see that?” Missy said.
“Uh-huh, and thinking about how lovely they are makes me happy.”
“Me too,” Missy said as her lips curved into a smile.
“There are lots of other whatervers to think about too.”
“There are?”
“Yes, Fern said, twirling a piece of grass in her fingers.
Whatever is right. Thinking about being honest and telling the truth when it’s the hard thing to do.
Whatever is admirable. Thinking about being the kind of person others look up to.
Missy and Fern sat on a rock, warming in the sun, thinking about how lovely the marsh was. Missy didn’t feel grumpy anymore, and Fern was happy too.
Sometimes we get grumpy too, and that’s okay—if it’s just for a little while. But if we hold onto our grumps, they can make us cranky. Then cranky leads to crabby, and no one likes to hang around crabby crabs.
What lovely things will you think about today?
My Best Holiday Meal Hacks
Keep mashed potatoes warm in a crock pot.
Keep gravy warm in a thermos
Keep food warm in a cooler
