ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING.....

Jerry was the kind of guy you love to hate. He was always in a good mood and always had something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, "If I were any better, I would be twins!"

He was a unique manager because he had several waiters who had followed him around from restaurant to restaurant. The reason the waiters followed Jerry was because of his attitude. He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, Jerry was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.

Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Jerry and asked him, "I don't get it! You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?"

Jerry replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, 'Jerry, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or you can choose to be in a bad mood.' I choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life."

"Yeah, right, it's not that easy," I protested.

"Yes it is," Jerry said. "Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people will affect your mood. You choose to be in a good or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your choice how you live life."

I reflected on what Jerry said. Soon thereafter, I left the restaurant industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it. Several years later, I heard that Jerry did something you are never supposed to do in a restaurant business: he left the back door open one morning and was held up at gunpoint by three armed robbers.

While trying to open the safe, his hand, shaking from nervousness, slipped off the combination. The robbers panicked and shot him. Luckily, Jerry was found relatively quickly and rushed to the local trauma center.

After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Jerry was released from the hospital with fragments of the bullets still in his body.

I saw Jerry about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he replied, "If I were any better, I'd be twins. Wanna see my scars?"

I declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had gone through his mind as the robbery took place.

"The first thing that went through my mind was that I should have locked the back door," Jerry replied. "Then, as I lay on the floor, remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live, or I could choose to die. I chose to live."

"Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?" I asked. Jerry continued, "The paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the emergency room and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read, 'He's a dead man.' I knew I needed to take action."

"What did you do?" I asked.

"Well, there was a big, burly nurse shouting questions at me," said Jerry. "She asked if I was allergic to anything. 'Yes,' I replied. The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, 'Bullets!' Over their laughter, I told them, 'I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead."

Jerry lived thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude. I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully.

Attitude, after all, is everything.

I Asked God, And He Said No.......

I asked God to take away my pride and God said, "No."
He said it was not for Him to take it away, but for me to give it up.

I asked God to heal my disease and God said, "No."
He said, "Your spirit is whole, your body is only temporary.
Through your afflictions you will learn to help others who also suffer."

I asked God to grant me patience and God said, "No."
He said that patience is a by-product of tribulation.
It isn't granted; it's earned.

I asked God to give me happiness and God said, "No."
He said that He gives blessings; happiness is up to me.

I asked God to spare me pain and God said, "No."
He said, "Suffering draws you apart from worldly cares
and brings you closer to me."

I asked God to make my spirit grow and God said, "No."
He said that I must grow on my own,
but He will prune me to make me fruitful.

I asked God if He loved me and God said, "Yes."
He said, "I gave my only Son who died for you.
You will be in heaven someday because you believe."

I asked God to help me love others as much as He loves me and God said,
"Ah...Finally you understand..."

Keep Your Fork.........

There was a woman who had been diagnosed with cancer and had been given 3 months to live. Her doctor told her to start making preparations to die (something we all should be doing all the time). So, she contacted her pastor and had him come to her house to discuss certain aspects of her final wishes. She told him which songs she wanted sung at the service, what scriptures she would like read, and what she wanted to be wearing. The woman also told her pastor that she wanted to be buried with her favorite bible.

Everything was in order and the pastor was preparing to leave when the woman suddenly remembered something very important to her. "There's one more thing," she said excitedly.

"What's that?" came the pastor's reply.

"This is very important", the woman continued. "I want to be buried with a fork in my right hand." The pastor stood looking at the woman not knowing quite what to say. "That shocks you doesn't it?" the woman asked.

"Well, to be honest, I'm puzzled by the request" said the pastor.

The woman explained, "In all my years of attending church socials and functions where food was involved (and let's be honest, food is an important part of any church event, spiritual or otherwise), my favorite part was when whoever was cleaning away the dishes of the main course would lean over and say, 'You can keep your fork.' It was my favorite part because I knew something better was coming, when they told me to keep my fork. I knew that something great was about to be given to me. It wasn't Jell-O or pudding. It was cake or pie something with substance. So I just want people to see me there in that casket with a fork in my hand and I want them to wonder, ' What's with the fork?' Then I want you to tell them: Something better is coming so keep your fork too."

The pastor's eyes were welled up with tears of joy as he hugged the woman goodbye. He knew this would be one of the last times he would see her before her death. But he also knew that that woman had a better grasp on heaven than he did. She KNEW that something better was coming.

At the funeral people walked by the woman's casket and they saw the pretty dress she was wearing and her favorite bible and the fork placed in her right hand. Over and over the pastor heard the question, what's with the fork? And over and over he smiled. During his message, the pastor told the people of the conversation he had with the woman shortly before she died. He also told them about the fork and told them about what it symbolized to her. The pastor told the people how he could not stop thinking about the fork and told them that they would probably not be able to stop thinking about it either. He was right.

So, the next time you reach down for your fork, let it remind you, oh so gently, that there is something better coming!

Daddy Is Driving........

A speaker once shared his experience:

While his family and he were in Europe, there was once that they need to drive 3 days continuously, day and night, to get to Germany. So, they all got into the car -- he, his wife, and his 3 years old daughter.

His little daughter has never traveled at night before. She was scared the first night in the car, with deep darkness outside.
"Where are we going, Daddy?" "To your uncle's house, in Germany."
"Have you been to his house before?" "No."
"Then, do you know the way?" "Maybe, we can read the map."
Short pause. "Do you know how to read the map?" "Yes, we will get there safely."
Another pause. "Where are we going to eat if we get hungry before arriving?" "We can stop by restaurants if we are hungry."
"Do you know if there are restaurants on the way?" "Yes, there are."
"Do you know where?" "No, but we will be able to find some."

The same dialogue repeated a few times within the first night, and also the second night. But on the third night, his daughter was quiet. The speaker thought that she might have fallen asleep, but when he looked into the mirror, he saw that she was awake and was just looking around calmly. He couldn't help wondering why she was not asking the questions anymore --
"Dear, do you know where we are going?" "Germany, Uncle's house."
"Do you know how we are getting there?" "No."
"Then why aren't you asking anymore?" "Because Daddy is driving."

Because Daddy is driving. This answer from a 3 years' old girl has then become the strength and help for this speaker for the many years follow whenever he has questions and fears on his journey with the Lord. Yes, our Father is driving. We may know the destination (and sometimes we may just know it like the little girl -- "Germany", without understanding where or what it really is). We do not know the way, we do not know how to read the map, we do not know if we can find restaurants along the way. But the little girl knew the most important thing -- Daddy is driving -- and so she is safe and secure. She knows that her Daddy will provide all that she needs.

Do you know your Daddy, the Great Shepherd, is driving today? What are your behavior and response as a passenger, His child?

You may have asked many questions before, but can you like the little girl, starts to realize the most important focus should be "Daddy is driving?"