Stay Positive and Have A Beautiful Day
Jamie Grace sings the song Beautiful Day in the YouTube video below. This is such a sweet song sung by such an inspiring young lady with a bubbly, angelic voice. I think it will lift your spirits if you're down and make you even happier if you're already having a great day. After you listen to it, I hope you will read the rest of my blog post below the video.
Since December 12, 2017, it seems like one problem after another has occurred that was until I turned those problems into gifts. Mind you, I don't have time to sit around and sulk about so-called problems. I just deal with issues that arise the best I can and move on.
The gift thought came to mind after I decided last Tuesday to finally start memorizing many parts of the book of James. James 1:2 tells us that we can have great joy when problems come our way. God actually started pointing out to me what this scripture means that very afternoon when my husband reported that one of his tires was low. He dropped by the local repair shop he uses to get the tire patched. Because of the location of the [what was then discovered] nail, he found out that by law they aren't allowed to patch that area of a tire. He had been wanting to replace that old set of tires anyway, so we decided to go ahead and get a whole new set of tires instead of replacing only one. The other set was at least five years old and was starting to show quite a bit of wear. That was just over $700 for a whole new set. Only a couple of weeks earlier, the air conditioner went out in his vehicle so we spent $1300 for a new one.
To appreciate where I'm going with this, you need the brief backstory of the past 10 months of our lives. Most of you know that my husband had cancer removed on December 14, 2017, after a trip to the ER with major pain on December 12. That one week in the hospital claimed our entire $6000 annual out of pocket with our health insurance (on top of the monthly premiums he pays). Because that happened at the end of the year, our out of pocket expenses started over on January 1, 2018. So we've had to spend another $2000 so far this year for those ongoing doctor's visits to make sure the cancer doesn't come back.
We also had to have a new heat pump and air handler installed in our home this year and my husband needed some extensive dental work, so there's another $6000 plus this year for that stuff. Now, I'm not complaining. I'm just painting the picture for you. All of this expense is on top of the money we spent on braces for my teeth that are supposed to fix my dental issues and other car repairs (about $8000) prior to the surgery near the end of last year. Anyway, his friends were telling him what lousy luck we've been having. And suddenly it hit me how lucky we actually are. You're going to love this.
I told my husband that all of these are gifts from God. The money was available for all of this stuff. Yes, from a loan. But the money was there! So God gave my husband his life, is fixing our dental issues, wanted us to have a new heat pump/air handler for our home, and wanted him to have a new air conditioner and tires for his car. When you turn this stuff into a positive, it's easier to handle, don't you think? God has truly blessed us. I have an incredible disposition for being positive. It's almost annoying for many people. However, the gift thought helps put everything into a new and positive perspective for negative thinkers.
So if you can turn your "problems" into gifts instead, you'll understand James 1:2 much better. And you'll appreciate God more too! Life is beautiful. Love life; love God.
Blessings in Christ, Patricia
Since December 12, 2017, it seems like one problem after another has occurred that was until I turned those problems into gifts. Mind you, I don't have time to sit around and sulk about so-called problems. I just deal with issues that arise the best I can and move on.
The gift thought came to mind after I decided last Tuesday to finally start memorizing many parts of the book of James. James 1:2 tells us that we can have great joy when problems come our way. God actually started pointing out to me what this scripture means that very afternoon when my husband reported that one of his tires was low. He dropped by the local repair shop he uses to get the tire patched. Because of the location of the [what was then discovered] nail, he found out that by law they aren't allowed to patch that area of a tire. He had been wanting to replace that old set of tires anyway, so we decided to go ahead and get a whole new set of tires instead of replacing only one. The other set was at least five years old and was starting to show quite a bit of wear. That was just over $700 for a whole new set. Only a couple of weeks earlier, the air conditioner went out in his vehicle so we spent $1300 for a new one.
To appreciate where I'm going with this, you need the brief backstory of the past 10 months of our lives. Most of you know that my husband had cancer removed on December 14, 2017, after a trip to the ER with major pain on December 12. That one week in the hospital claimed our entire $6000 annual out of pocket with our health insurance (on top of the monthly premiums he pays). Because that happened at the end of the year, our out of pocket expenses started over on January 1, 2018. So we've had to spend another $2000 so far this year for those ongoing doctor's visits to make sure the cancer doesn't come back.
We also had to have a new heat pump and air handler installed in our home this year and my husband needed some extensive dental work, so there's another $6000 plus this year for that stuff. Now, I'm not complaining. I'm just painting the picture for you. All of this expense is on top of the money we spent on braces for my teeth that are supposed to fix my dental issues and other car repairs (about $8000) prior to the surgery near the end of last year. Anyway, his friends were telling him what lousy luck we've been having. And suddenly it hit me how lucky we actually are. You're going to love this.
I told my husband that all of these are gifts from God. The money was available for all of this stuff. Yes, from a loan. But the money was there! So God gave my husband his life, is fixing our dental issues, wanted us to have a new heat pump/air handler for our home, and wanted him to have a new air conditioner and tires for his car. When you turn this stuff into a positive, it's easier to handle, don't you think? God has truly blessed us. I have an incredible disposition for being positive. It's almost annoying for many people. However, the gift thought helps put everything into a new and positive perspective for negative thinkers.
So if you can turn your "problems" into gifts instead, you'll understand James 1:2 much better. And you'll appreciate God more too! Life is beautiful. Love life; love God.
Blessings in Christ, Patricia
Comments
Post a Comment
Hi! Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us.