STOP AND SMELL THE ROSES

Have you ever had what you would call ,"A bad hair day", or chronic complaints like, "Why didn't God give me straight hair instead of curly?" There are a myriad of complaints about our job, body, or even personality. You may be asking "personality"? I mean you catch yourself saying, "I am so loud why do I always have to be that way!"

Then it happens!
What happens, Elaine?

Let me explain what happened to my daughter, she is mid-twenties now, but back when she was 17, we were in a grocery store checking out and a girl bagging, about her age, says, "I just love your curly hair, I would love to have hair like that! You are so fortunate!" My daughter smiles! Let me back up. Just that day she was grumbling about her curly hair with the "why!" What a grin on my daughters face! It was priceless! To have a girl around her age make a compliment like that! What a gift! Which I pointed out to my daughter. "A gift!"

Do we look at compliments as a gift from above? I think it is powerful to receive the gift and believe in a small way God gave it to me. I had a friend that always says to be a "bucket filler". Taking each little experience and writing it on a piece of paper and before you know it your bucket will be begin to be full. Love! It connects me with the love of the Father.

I think it is hard to love without first really paying attention to the Father's love.

I have this happen more as I'm acknowledging the small happenings. Like one time I was dressing for a rehearsal dinner and felt unsure about my lipstick I chose, do you believe someone specifically said without any prompting on my part, "I love the lipstick color you chose!". I'll take it!

You know we race through life without joy and it's because we do NOT take the advice, "Take time to smell the roses!"

Now don't go around looking for compliments, what I am suggesting at the end of the day laying in your bed doing an inventory of your day, add circumstances like these. If you saw a cool butterfly and had a photo shoot with it (like I did today), count it as joy!

"Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace."Col. 3:15.