Soli Deo Gloria

I’m just going to plunge right into blogging and skip some cliche introduction. For my Biblical Worldview: Personal Responsibility class I have to do these “exercises” every 4 days. The first one I had to do was praying honestly to God about how I’m doing, what’s on my mind, etc. It’s been a really interesting practice and has showed me how much I complain. Daily I have started having to remind myself that life could always be worse. My life is not really anything fantastic, but I look at the pain and anguish of some of the people in Japan who have not only lost everything, but have lost their loved ones and it breaks my heart. I have not lost someone close to me. I am not dying of cancer. I have food and clothing in abundance. I have a family that loves me. I have parents who are both Christians, still married and not divorced, who are a constant encouragement to me and provide me with wisdom. I have never been abused. I have never been forced to live on the streets. I have been provided with so much and yet I complain about how it’s cold and cloudy out (again!!!), how I’ve played a certain minor scale a million times and I still can’t quite get the fingering right, and how I wish I got more sleep. What does that even matter? This is the day the Lord has made! I should be rejoicing! So today I prayed that I would take joy in the little things and work on not sweating the small stuff because in the end it doesn’t matter. How can I live out Colossians 4:5-6 if I am not making the most of every opportunity in life. and letting my conversation always be full of grace?  We talked in this same class today about how we influence people. How can I be influencing people positively if I am being so negative? Plus, at the end of the day I just want to know how my family and friends are doing so I know how to be lifting them up in prayer. How can I do that if I am making myself the center of attention? My life could be so much worse.