What a Question!

                                                      Fall scenes from 2011 and 2012

A good title catches your eye. A good song lyric stays in your head. A good caption speaks volumes.

And that's what happen to me as I was reading through the November issues of Home Life and Mature Living. "What if This is as Good as it Gets?" caught my eye as well as "When the Rain Falls . . . Things Begin to Grow."

As a writer I was trained to create catchy titles because that's what draws the eye. Some of the titles I've created and had published are: "Are you Afraid of a Divorced Person?" "A Life Changing Truck" "My Melody of Words" "Out of Tune" and "Is The Answer Reverence." Titles get you thinking, and that's just what I did!

"What if This is as Good as it Gets? . . . Are You Ok With that?" For me. For my personal life. Here we are one week from celebrating Thanksgiving - a time of giving thanks for God's blessings. Am I truly thankful for my life and all the joy and sadness I've been through? Wow. That's a doozy of a question.

The truth is, we all have our stories of life, the joys, the disappointments, the weaknesses. There's always something we wish could be rewritten and have a happier ending. Many times I voice David's words in Psalm 55:6: "Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest --."

Accepting all that has happened to me doesn't mean I like everything, or I'm happy about everything. It means I've accepted my life and trust God. Whether it's good or bad, God picks up the pieces and continues to work in my life. He continues to work. He continues to work. Thankfully, He continues to work.

All that my life is, God has provided and directed, and I trust Him to bring me safely home to Him.

"When the Rain Falls . . . Things Begin to Grow." When I accept God's control over all the things that happen in my life, patience grows, understanding grows, humility grows, compassion grows, acceptance grows. Of course, if I don't accept God's control, bitterness grows, anger grows, indifference grows, hate grows, dissatisfaction grows.

 

Life sure is a journey. As I age, accepting God's control in my life and letting Him work, gets easier. It sure helps my day-to-day living when I accept His way. But, I'm not perfect yet and still have a ways to go before my growing season is up.

On my pastor' blog last week, he shared a quote by Melody Beattie that seems appropriate here:

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.
It turns what we have into enough, and more.
It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order,
and confusion into clarity. It turns a meal into a feast,
a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.
Gratitude makes sense out of our past,
brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow."

I believe I have accepted the course of my life, definitely not liking everything, but I can say: "Yes, I'm ok with it as long as God is in control."  Farther down in Psalm 55 my heart is expressed completely: "But as for me, I trust in you." And that's definitely a reason to celebrate this Thanksgiving!

Two little titles brought quite a discussion in my mind. What about you? What if this is as good as it gets? Are you ok with it? I think it's worth your time to consider as you prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas.

God is the giver of all good things. "Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt His name together."