On purpose

I could not sleep last night for anything.  I woke up, for no apparent reason, at 2:22am, and laid there and laid there and laid there.  I very rarely have that problem.  I can usually fall asleep within seconds of my head hitting the pillow (or as my husband and children can attest, withing minutes of starting a movie at home regardless of what time it is or how interested I am in the movie).  So, I got up and read and messed around on the 'puter for a couple hours until I started getting tired again.  I did get back to sleep, but it was a restless sleep for the next couple hours until my alarm went off far too early.

As a result, I was quite tired today.  Normally this would cause me to be in less than a chipper mood for the day, and I would be struggling and feeling a little overwhelmed with everything all day long...

But not today.

Because of my new best friend, Joyce Meyer, I chose to have a good attitude!  I have been listening to some Joyce Meyer cd's loaned to me by a friend, and I have to tell you they are changing my life...more accurately God is changing my life through the messages she shares in them. 

The cd's are about attitudes...how to have a trusting and patient attitude, a hopeful attitude and a peaceful attitude, no matter what your situation.  They are about choosing to have these Godly attitudes, not only when things are going well, but when we go through trials.  Especially then. We can choose to have a good attitude on purpose, and not let the enemy of our souls tell us what kind of mood to be in all the time.  We so easily give up our peace when things don't go our way, or when we are struggling with things...big and small.  Joyce said "If you are already in a tough situation, it doesn't do any good to make it worse by having a bad attitude about it."

So I chose to have a good attitude today, despite the fact that I had only about 3 hours of uninterrupted sleep, and it was Monday, and my job requires alot of mental and physical energy.  Was I tired?  Yes.  But did I complain about it or let it determine how my day would go or what kind of mood I would be in?  Nope.  I believed that God would get me through the day in His strength, and He did. 

And I was happier, too.

So I have a feeling that this little lesson that I learned today is just a small building block for God to use to continue to build my character.  To make me more like His Son.  Yay, go me!  Yay, go Joyce!  Or rather...yay, Go God!!!

"Do everything without grumbling or arguing"  Philippians 2:14