"Make It A Good Day"

"Make it a good day," is a phrase that is often used by a local morning news anchor.  When I first heard him say it, I thought that surely that was a fluke.  But then I heard him saying it on several different mornings as his news broadcast would come to a close.  Then I thought about how not everyone watching the news program that morning are having a good day.  Some veiwers, like me about two years ago, are having anything but a good day.  And actually perhaps like we had, they were having a string of several bad days. 

Sometimes life has trials and situations that appear anything but good--illness, death, a broken heart, etc.  Sometimes you just can't control your day, so how could he say "Make it a good day?"  Because you can control your thoughts.  And even though I have no idea what his faith is, his words have spoken to me as he does know a key part in living.  You can control the day by controlling your thoughts and mind.

And I know I have probably repeated this topic on several occasions, but I am feeling led that someone out their still needs to hear it and be reminded of it.  In order to live a more joy filled life (and I am not talking about the giddy kind of joy, but the joy that consists of love and hope and forgiveness that only God can bring), you have to begin with being thankful.

Even in the darkest situations, find whatever positives you can find and thank God for them no matter how simple they may be "Thank you Lord, for the autumn leaves.  They are pretty." For Example.  Even thank God as you clean the toilet.  Thank Him for your family or even for the house He has helped provide for you.

You see it wasn't until I started finding the positives during Skye's illness that I realized God was in the midst by taking the time to notice what God was providing us and how he was equipping us.  At one point, we just thanked God that Skye's fevers of almost 3 weeks were only spiking to a 102 F now and not to 104 F anymore.  Once I started focusing on the good, the days were not as daunting to me in many regards anymore.

And it doesn't have to be a big situation either.  You can make a day that could have sent you into the pit of discouragement and sin into one of a good day where God was made known to you.  For instance this week, I found myself becoming very angry with someone.  And although I may have had a reason or two to be upset, the real person with the problem was me.  Becoming angry made me only think of the negatives instead of the positives and I began to have a grumbling spirit, which was catapulting my day into a dark place.  As I was dwelling in the negatives, I ran over something with my vacuum cleaner and caused it to be temporarily "out of order."  I went straight to more angry thoughts when I was reminded of my devotion that I had not yet read that morning.  I used to just keep going with my task at hand while telling myself "You can read the Word later."  Now I am yearn to have that refreshment of God's sweet words and blessings, so I ran upstairs to do my devotion.  I did my devotion and started to point out every positive that I could find, and I saw my day start to turn right around. 

You see, my situation and circumstances didn't change (although I did fix my vacuum), but my attitude did.  The Holy Spirit prompted me to refocus and I obeyed making the day a better one.  So I think my morning news anchor is on to something and now I look forward to him saying it because it is a great reminder for me.  So with that said "Make it a good day!"