The “alarm cat” went off a little early this morning. Our cat, Flower, wakes me just about every morning requesting breakfast, usually shortly before the alarm clock goes off. He was about an hour early this morning. I told him so, scratched his head a little, and went back to sleep. Flower left me alone for about an hour before returning for his second effort to get breakfast. During that time, I had a couple of dreams.
In the first, I was preaching about giving thanks. I said, “The first word out of your mouth when you wake up in the morning should be, ‘Thank You.'” I contrasted that with some other options like: “I want to sleep,” “I ache [from yesterday’s yard work],” “Bleah.” Then I reiterated, “‘Thank You, Lord,’ should be the first words out of our mouths each morning.”
In the second dream, we had company. It was early morning and some of the kids were sitting on the day bed in the sewing room, visiting. I was going to take a shower. Still in my robe and pajamas, I reached in and turned on the water, and realized there were some paper bags of fabric on the floor of the shower stall. My wife had apparently put them there to get them out of the way. I tried to grab them quickly and toss them out before they could get too wet. As I did, I realized they were really getting soaked, and there were more there than I first noticed. I shut off the water, and angrily tossed the bundles on the floor. As I did, there just seemed to always be more. There were bags and random craft project pieces all around me. Then I realized I was standing in about an inch of water. I tried to brush it back into the shower stall, but the drain was clogged. I frantically searched the clutter for a plunger, finally finding it in a corner. It didn’t really fit the drain, but it worked and the water began going down. I was sure some had seeped under the door into our bedroom. I opened the door to see about a four foot wide swath of drenched carpet across our bedroom. I closed the door to shut out the scene, and stood there disheartened and frustrated.
About then, Flower returned and woke me up. It was one minute before the alarm was to go off. It is amazing how often he wakes me up within a couple of minutes before the clock does. How does he do that?
Anyway, as I got his breakfast I reflected on the dreams. The first was pretty cool, I thought. I would love more opportunities to preach and share the message of extreme thankfulness. And, it was a good reminder to start my own days with a thankful heart, and not grumbling. Then, I wondered about the second dream. As I thought it through, it struck me. In the dream, the more irritated and frustrated I got with the situation, the worse it got.
Isn’t that the truth? When we let our situations get us agitated and irritated, they usually get worse. The more upset we get, the more complex and messed up the situation gets.
The more I really grasp the value of being thankful for all things, the more often my first response to a frustrating situation is to say, “Thank You, Lord.” Sometimes, that is all it is, just saying it. That’s okay. Just saying it can start the process toward being it. However, the more often I do it, the more I see the power of it. My spirit is encouraged. My faith is strengthened. The more often I see the power of it, the more quickly I can say, “Thank You,” and truly be thankful.
As I see the power of expressing faith thru thankfulness, the more quickly I say 'Thank You, Lord' and am truly thankful Click To Tweet
When we respond with aggravation, situations usually get worse. When we respond with thankfulness, we get better even if the situation does not improve immediately.
