enter His gates with thanksgiving, His courts with praise

when i first transferred to this office down in orange county, i was ecstatic.  i loved the location, i loved the atmosphere, i loved the people.



the bliss of the change stayed with me for quite a while and i’m not sure when it changed, but it did.  and only for one reason…

complainers.



i began to notice when i started leaving work feeling like the life been sucked right out of me.  i wondered what happened and figured i was just becoming comfortable in my surroundings and that was to be expected.

but then i started REALLY taking notice…when i was around a certain group of people--those who worked hard and took everything in stride with a good joke--i felt good.  but when i was around certain others…i could feel where my exhaustion was coming from.

complain, complain, complain.

these certain people complain about food and about gas prices and about co-workers and about customers sending their documents too soon and some customers calling too often and some customers not sending documents at all.  it is a never-ending discussion about everything that could possibly be wrong in life and the feeling of necessity to talk about it, whine about it, throw things about it (yes, there is one person i work with who throws tantrums.  it’s not pretty). 

in turn, i can feel my walls go up and my heart shut down.  and more and more over time, i can feel myself getting frustrated.  losing patience.  growing tired.  even just in thinking about, i can feel my shoulders tense up and the walls around my heart pressing tightly against my chest.

there is nothing wrong with these people.  they’re very nice, we get along, laugh together.  after all, i spend 40 hours a week with these people, which is more time than I spend with anyone else.  they are somewhat like family.

but the attitude, i have found, is destructive.  not only to them, but to those around them.

the saddest part of it all is the complaints are never about anything important.



you complain about customers, yet those are the people who pay for the life you lead…

you complain about food, yet you go to bed full.

you complain about gas, yet you have a car to take you almost anywhere you wish to go.

"We are seldom happy with what we now have, but would go to pieces if we lost any part of it."

--Mignon McLaughlin

even stranger are the people who actually have something to complain about are the ones who rarely do!  do you ever notice that?

my grandfather was diagnosed with liver cancer some time ago.  every 6 weeks, he goes through treatments which cause him to lose sleep, his appetite and have little energy to function as a normal human being.  yet every time I talk to him and ask him how he’s doing, “i’m good honey!!!” is what i hear through the receiver on my phone.

my sweet old grandpa is dying and yet he has a better attitude than most people i know.  if only we could all live life in that way…

i can honestly say that complaining is not really something i struggle with.  i think that came from how my mother raised us.  she never complains; in fact, she finds joy in the little things and always pushes through the hard times with an attitude of faith and thankfulness for what she does have.  it’s a beautiful and a wonderful example to everyone around her.

i am definitely not tooting my own horn.  on the contrary, processing these thoughts on a daily basis has made me realize, even more, that your words and attitude are a reflection of the heart.

and the verse at the end of this post has been something i have prayed would become even more part of who i am as time presses on.  to not waste my breath on the idiot driving in front of me, talking on his cell phone, drinking a latte and swerving all over the road at high speeds of 25 miles an hour.  to worry less about traffic and more about getting to my destination safely.  to realize that the world does not revolve around me and to halt my little “if only” whispers i mutter under my breath when things are not going the way i would hope.

ungratefulness comes so naturally to us humans.  but something about it is damaging to the soul.

i have found that a spirit of thanks, however, brings rains of mercy and blessings down upon my soul.  i know that because i feel it…in those moments when i stop to thank God for every little thing that He brings my way.

this past wednesday, it was a butterfly.  i was taking a walk on my break and i almost crushed her under my feet (i decided it was a she).  but she took off right as i came upon her and fluttered so close to my face before making her way up to touch the sky.  it was small and simple, but i loved it and i knew it was for me.  in turn, i couldn’t help but whispering, “thank you, Lord.”  all of a sudden, i was more than blessed.  the flowers seemed brighter, the grass greener, the day that much more beautiful.

and i know every day will not be like that.  there are days where i will feel the world upon my shoulders, crushing me with its weight.  but still, i must find the little moments of love and romance in those days.  still, i must not complain, but find a way to give thanks in the midst of it.

because even if we have the weight of the world on our shoulders, it will be the strength of our Savior who keeps it from crushing us and the adoration of our God who will leave us little love notes to remind us that He is still there, even when we can’t feel His presence.

and those are the things that will make me smile at the swerving driver in front of me,

knowing that i have the eyes to see them, legs and feet to press on the brake pedal, and the voice to belt out the songs on my car radio, in spite of everything.

but more than that even,

i have the Love of a Being who laughs at my impatience and cherishes me in spite of my sometimes ungrateful heart.

and that is more than enough to be thankful for.

“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}

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