love like that ...: grrrrrr...umbling.

We are some serious complainers. It's almost like it's become our cultural norm. Sad, huh? We don't really even know how to talk to each other if we don't throw in a complaint ~~every so often~~ all the time. We complain about our day, about the weather, about food, people, distractions, traffic ... need I go on??? Sounds like some other folks I know ... you know, the ones who got miraculously saved from a life of slavery in Egypt ... yeh, them. They grumbled about how hard their trip was, about not having food or water, about not liking the food, or the water being bad. They even wished they could go back to Egypt. Man!!! And yup, we are every bit as bad!

This morning, in the "Me, Myself, and Lies" study we looked at how much grumbling we do ... and how destructive it is, even if it is just grumbling to ourselves.

And she made a good point in the study. Complaining really takes things and makes them all about ME! Never had thought about it that way, but that's exactly what it does. If when I complain it is generally because of one of two things: I want sympathy or I want people to think I am funny. But either way, it takes the attention and puts it on ME.

Paul reminds us,
Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky (Phil 2:14-15)

One day this week, Beth Moore posted to her blog a challenge to go a whole day without complaining. She knew that she was tired and that the day had the makings of a bad one, so she found a way to counteract that by challenging herself NOT to complain and putting it out there for others to join and hold her accountable. Well ... I read that blog late that day after the challenge was over ... and well, I found plenty to complain about the next couple of days. Today, after reading the truth about complaining in my study, I decided to take that challenge myself. I resisted the urge to complain about not getting a snow day ... and you know what, it's been a better day without complaining ... even not complaining in the traffic to GBC.

Gonna end this day with some things I am thankful for ... and a picture of the snowy day ...