Joy in Everything!

The Sunday school class that Nate and I are a part of has just recently started small groups for the semester and we are going through a book called the 4:8 principle. It is based on Philippians 4:8 (Whatever is true, whatever is right.....praiseworthy...excellent...etc, think about such things) It talks about changing your way of thinking and recognizing God's hand and his promises in every aspect of your life. It talks about changing your negative thoughts into positive ones which is a huge issue for me and something that has weighed me down alot in life. I LOVE the group that meets every Wednesday and I LOVE the material. It all sounds so fabulous, but I had been secretly wondering if I would be strong enough to change my negative thinking through Christ's power, or if I would fail to even try, This morning I got my answer.

I forgot to set my alarm last night, so when I woke up as I normally do about 10 minutes before my alarm goes off, I rolled over and went back to sleep waiting for my alarm to go off... which it didn't. I've had this situation before and I wake up in a panic and spend my day worried, harried and just in a bad mood. This morning when I woke up an hour late, I looked at the clock and had a momentary sense of panic but before I could overreact, God in his grace reminded me of our discussions in small group from the night before. This wasn't a bad thing, waking up late..... it was an opportunity. I still got up quickly, but instead of rushing around fretting, I got ready calmly and surprisingly, smiling. I felt AMAZING! Just the extra hour had granted me so much rest.

In the car I decided to employ one of the book's tactics and list five things that were positive about waking up late. I came up with this~

1) I felt rested, joyful, and ready to start my day!
2) I got to drive to work with the sun shining which I love and never get to do.
3) I got to listen to an amazing Switchfoot song that reminds me every time that I (and my thoughts) are not of this world and that pointed me towards focusing on Heaven.
4) I didn't have to deal with the rush of cars in the parking garage in the morning. It usually stresses me out.
5) This is maybe a slight repeat of number two, but it was a beautiful morning and I got to experience it. I have always felt God's love and presence the most through nature and weather, so a morning like the one we had today makes me feel like God is raining down blessings upon me.

It was amazing, but the increased traffic didn't bother me, the multiple coworkers making fun of me for being late didn't bother me, being late in and of itself didn't bother me (which is HUGE), and even once at work, I found it easier to concentrate which is why it was hard to take my 15 min break and write this because I was so into work. I guess I am just so excited about the possibility of Christ giving me total freedom from negativity that I needed to write this. I can't wait to see what the coming weeks and months and years hold for me and I know that God has an amazing plan for my life!! I'm going to stop now though, cause I could keep going and going :)