Easy to be Negative

I'm sitting here on a Saturday morning....in quite a bit of pain (head and neck), with a clay mixture rubbed onto my neck (to pull out inflamation, etc)...my family is cleaning while I sit and do nothing...after 6 years I of battling this stupid neck pain...it continues and is as bad as it has been in several years. My husband and kids have to take the brunt of me being in pain and do everything around the house.  My sister-in-law is awaiting results and a plan to deal with a serious medical issue...it has been a horrible waiting and stressful process for her and her family to say the least...My dear friend is still struggling through grief and pain...My student at school is still battling brain cancer (although her last MRI results were great)...A student at school on Thursday told me that his dad was in jail for beating on his mom, right in front of him and his siblings....Hence the title of my blog...EASY TO BE NEGATIVE...how easy is it to be negative?  Junk surrounds us or those we love all of the time.  Why doesn't God take all the junk away and let us live happy, carefree lives for serving Him?  Well....it just doesn't work that way.  Throughout scripture it tells us over and over that we WILL suffer, go through hardships, and face persecution....and it also tells us in that to rejoice and praise Him in it all.  Do I feel like it?  Not always if I'm honest.  But I'm learning to CHOOSE to rejoice and find the things to praise him for...Like...Thank you Jesus that I'm able to be out of bed with the pain...Thank you Jesus that my husband (and kids) are so incredible and pour out love on me and are so willing to take up my slack right now...Thank you Jesus that sister-in-law knows you, trusts in you, and is glorifying you in the process of her medical issues....Thank you Jesus that my student, Keri, is not scared of the cancer but is standing up to fight it and at the same time encouraging others and best of all, praising and glorifying you in the process.  Thank you that it led her to be baptized and her relationship is growing in you.  Thank you Jesus that the little boy who watched his mom be beaten feels safe enough at school to share that with us and give us the opportunity to share Jesus with him...and that he was kept safe in the midst of the fighting.  Thank you Jesus that my dear friend is learning in this process of grief that You never leave her and that it is okay to be angry and tell you how she is feeling.  Thank you that she is learning to be real with You and listen for your voice....

So, does life stink sometimes?  Absolutely!  Life isn't fair and doesn't go the way that we want it....But PRAISE GOD...He is there for us in all situations, good and bad, and will not leave us for a moment.  Praise God that there is ALWAYS something to be positive about and praise Him for...I'm learning so much right now in my women's study (The Frazzled Female) and through scripture...Would I be learning so much if I wasn't in trial?  I doubt it...So thank you for the negative God, because it helps me seek out the positive and seek out YOU in the process.

As I look at this picture...it reminds me that the leaves have to change colors and die to be so beautiful and to renew life later on...it is much the same with us, isn't it?  We have to change and die to ourselves before God can truly work in us...and I think that trials and pain and yucky things are what get us there.  So...praise God today, even through the junk....maybe even BECAUSE of the junk!