A Mother's Exercise of Faith
"But Godliness with contentment is great gain." 1 Timothy
6:6 (NIV)
Sharon sat in her women's Bible study group, listening and
laughing with the other mothers, as they vented their
frustration over the drudgery of daily errands, and
household chores.
One woman told the group, "I use to vacuum my carpet, and
wash my floors as I fumed to myself, how much I hated
cleaning and picking up after everybody."
Sharon could identify with the complaints of the other women
in the group. However, they all left on a positive note
saying they would change their negativity around and serve
others— including their family— with a positive attitude.
As Sharon opened the front door to her home, her eyes
immediately met with a trail of shredded papers, empty
containers, and an assortment of garbage strewn across her
floor. While she was gone, her dog had ripped apart the
trash. Greeted by this unexpected disaster, she met her
first challenge to stay positive.
After cleaning up the mess, she went to the gym for her
work-out. Upon entering the locker room she discovered she
had forgotten her change of clothing. She could feel the
frustration start to rise within her. Keeping in mind what
she had learned that morning, she got back in her car and
turned on some upbeat music. She was determined to keep a
positive attitude, as she drove all the way home, and back.
After exercising her muscles, Sharon got another exercise of
faith. She had forgotten about an important doctor's
appointment for her son, and was already 45 minutes late.
"That office runs flawlessly on a strict time schedule," she
muttered to herself, as she drove to the office wondering
how she would get in for the appointment.
Approaching the reception desk, she was tempted to give the
receptionist a lame excuse as to why she was late. But she
admitted that she simply forgot about it. Amazingly they
ushered her son in for his appointment.
Sharon found the benefits of staying positive no matter
what. She realized putting God's Word into practice really
did make a difference in the outcome of her day. Instead of
the usual feeling of dissatisfaction, she ended her day
feeling happy and content.
Annettee Budzban is freelance writer and newspaper religion
columnist. She has been multi-published on the Internet and
Christian magazines. Her stories also appear in many popular
anthologies, and devotional books. You can contact her at
ahrtwrites2u@aol.com.