Gratitude Part 6

Let me put it another way…God has used gratitude–something that many of us roll our eyes about and say “yeah yeah…tell me something NEW” over…to make me my natural God-given size! SO THERE! How is that for a sales pitch? 🙂 Over the top? Here is the continued message (transcript sort of) that I shared on retreat with ladies from my church. They weren’t all Thin Within’ers so I am modifying it for those that may visit this blog…
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This takes me to the “Tale of Two Grandmas.”

Grandma #1 was in her 80s, she had a leg amuptated, moved to a nursing home to live the rest of her days (and she knew it at the time), but she consistently chose to focus on the Lord and what HE had in mind for this situation.

She chose, moment by moment to MAGNIFY God. To make HIM the biggest thing in her life. She knew that God still had a plan for her in her new situation. Rather than magnify her physical pain, the fact that her husband lived elsewhere, how hard it was to learn to get around without two legs, the hollering of a patient in a nearby room or the smells from across the hall, she chose to ask the Lord what HE wanted her mission on this earth to be. God wasn’t done with her yet and she knew it and relished it!

So, she chose to learn Spanish! She wanted a way of connecting with the employees and many of them were Spanish speaking–they would help her learn Spanish and she would, in turn, teach them about the love of her Savior through her words, actions, and attitudes. People loved being with Grandma #1…all her days. She magnified the Lord and others saw him through her.

Grandma #2 is also in her 80s. She is in relatively good health–both legs in tact. But she has made the opposite choice–like I did on those Sundays at church and like Korah–to magnify everything that isn’t “perfect” in her estimation. The food isn’t tasty enough where she lives, there aren’t enough special speakers and events to stimulate her mind, and there are too many inconveniences. She magnifies these things and this leads to depression. She is convinced that moving is the only solution.

Sometimes…catch this one…bad choices happen all because of things we focus on. What we magnify often motivates actions…My husband and I wanted to move, get a new job, change churches…the truth was, nothing was wrong with any of those things…or not enough to make a huge decision! We were magnifying things that bothered us and allowing them to get bigger and bigger until they were reason enough for making life changing decisions! Just like Grandma #2. Just like Korah–the course of his life was changed by allowing rebellious thoughts to become rebellious actions…

Discontentment, allowed to breed unhindered in our lives, results in actions that we regret…maybe immediately, maybe over the long haul.

To be continued…