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“Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy,” Psalm 126:2.
“Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy,” Psalm 126:2.
“A cheerful disposition is good for your health; gloom and doom leave you bone-tired,” Prov. 17:22.
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I love laughter. I’ve seen it cool tempers, relieve stress, reduce anxiety and slice through tension like butter around our home regularly. No studies needed here to prove the benefits of laughter to my family. Recently one of my sons asked, ‘Momma how do I be funny?’ Ahh, be still my heart! So when CBN makes an appearance around our house, I can feel the energy being drained from all of us. Affectionately known as Captain Bad News; “NO CBN” is our reminder phrase (injected with humor) that someone’s forgetting to look for the good.
When we are tempted to focus on the bad, complain we aren’t getting what we deserve, want or need, it’s easy to become the reporter of all that. The broadcast audience finds itself dowsed in a tension producing atmosphere. The focus has become internal, all about us, a sure fire way to multiply misery.
The Bible shouts all over the place---START WITH THANKSGIVNG! Is our obedience to this on ‘volunteer basis’ only? ‘Uh, we’re gonna have to send that clipboard back around again because we don’t have enough volunteers.’ Do we dismissively rationalize our ingratitude and complaining disobedience with excuses? “Well, my rights were trampled/my plans didn’t work out/my thing got ruined/my….” The list of reasons for our sourness could go on ad infinitum, but I’m already getting a little nauseous, so I’ll stop.
My family and I are far from having figured this out in the grind of the daily. We are taking strides towards having our hearts shaped in a way that allows us to see disappointments and disasters as God’s fertile soil for growing beauty in our lives. I see that God can profoundly lead us to wide open spaces to replace our little boxes crammed full of what we’ve decided our blessings should be. ‘No CBN’ is just our small reminder that helps us shift our focus to finding praise even when it’s hidden under a disaster that’s just begging for a complaint.
When we are tempted to focus on the bad, complain we aren’t getting what we deserve, want or need, it’s easy to become the reporter of all that. The broadcast audience finds itself dowsed in a tension producing atmosphere. The focus has become internal, all about us, a sure fire way to multiply misery.
The Bible shouts all over the place---START WITH THANKSGIVNG! Is our obedience to this on ‘volunteer basis’ only? ‘Uh, we’re gonna have to send that clipboard back around again because we don’t have enough volunteers.’ Do we dismissively rationalize our ingratitude and complaining disobedience with excuses? “Well, my rights were trampled/my plans didn’t work out/my thing got ruined/my….” The list of reasons for our sourness could go on ad infinitum, but I’m already getting a little nauseous, so I’ll stop.
My family and I are far from having figured this out in the grind of the daily. We are taking strides towards having our hearts shaped in a way that allows us to see disappointments and disasters as God’s fertile soil for growing beauty in our lives. I see that God can profoundly lead us to wide open spaces to replace our little boxes crammed full of what we’ve decided our blessings should be. ‘No CBN’ is just our small reminder that helps us shift our focus to finding praise even when it’s hidden under a disaster that’s just begging for a complaint.
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“Do all things without complaining and disputing…” Phil. 2:14, NIV.
“I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious---the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse,” Phil 4:8.
"Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live," 1 Thess. 5:16.
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