The Frazzled Female Week 2

This week we have focused on keeping a positive attitude.

Oh, I'll admit, sometimes that is hard!

This past week a couple of things have happened that could very easily cause one to lose heart and be negative.

First, we had progress monitoring meetings at work. My meeting was set up on the second day. I had heard how horrible some of the other meetings had gone, that the teachers came out feeling attacked and worthless. I had a choice to make, I could either expect the worst and go in on the defensive, or I could go in with a positive attitude and roll with it.

I chose to go in with a positive attitude.

Now, I am not saying that the meeting was perfect and I was never attacked about my abilities as a teacher, but I was able to handle the situation and take it all in stride.  I didn't come away feeling disgusted and disappointed.

Now if I had gone in expecting the worst and having a clear dialogue as to how I would respond to negative comments, the meeting may have come out differently. I definitely would have come out feeling worse than I did!

The second thing that happened, didn't happen to me, but an elderly couple in our church.

Tuesday afternoon, severe weather struck our community.  We gathered our students in the hall until the all clear was given.  We thought everything was OK until I learned that a home in the county had been destroyed.  It was the home of Mr. Will and Mrs. Eleanor from our church.  Thank God they were not home, but in Nashville with Mr. Will's family.  However, rescue workers were searching for their bodies because both vehicles were home and the couple was no where to be found. 

When interviewed by the news stations, both Will and Eleanor were very positive and up beat about the situation.  Their church family and community friends had come to their aid, packing up what was not damaged and taking it to storage for them.  Mrs. Eleanor told us this afternoon that they have been offered 3 houses to rent while they rebuild.  She said, "Will and I are strong people, but this is all God. He is blessing us in so many ways. I don't know why this happened to us, but He does, and we just have to trust Him."

Now, this elderly couple has so much to feel negative about. We would almost expect them to with their home of 20 years and vehicles and so many personal items destroyed. But Will and Eleanor have chosen to be positive and see God at work through this.

My point is that we do have a choice. We can choose to be negative, or we can choose to be positive. Our attitude is a choice. 

Sometimes we feel entitled to our negativity, that so much has happened to us, and we are just so pitiful and don't deserve all that we have laid out before us.  I think we all have moments like that. If we do, that is fine, but we must move pass that....quickly.  We have to choose to see the beauty in the midst of darkness, the flowers among the weeds, the love behind the hurt. 

It is hard, but possible. We can do anything through Christ.  We must ask for His help.  We must make having a positive attitude a daily choice until it becomes who we are. 

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I am so excited about meeting with our study group tomorrow night. I am so thankful I'm not sick anymore!  Most of the ladies should be there, although we had almost 20 last week, that wasn't the entire group. 

I do have a prayer request...

Please pray for our team of five (Brad and Brandy, Janice, Teresa, and Cindy), who will be leaving Saturday to help build an orphanage in Haiti. I am so excited for them.  Pray for their safety, health, and for lives to be changed!