National Day of Prayer

It seems that it couldn't have come at a more opportune time for Nashville and surrounding areas, but today was the National Day of Prayer.

There are so many things here locally to pray about -- so many hurting, needing and devastated by their losses, so many trying to recover from the flooding of last weekend.

And while I have certainly prayed about them, I think my focus today should be on my attitude which I have found is pretty stinky lately.

A speaker at church on Sunday indicated that we are either in the middle of brokenness (hurt/trying times, etc.) or about to go there. I suspect because there has been a quite a bit of drama in the last few years at our house (adoption and job loss to name a few), we are certainly celebrating being "out of the brokenness" cycle for right now. Which, of course, means ... But, I have always said that during times of goodness, we (humanity) tend to fall away from God. Crisis, unfortunate situations, illnesses -- all kinds of trouble bring us back to God. It's a shame that's the only way He can get our attention.

Because of this time of relative goodness in our lives, I think my attitude should be one of thankfulness, blessing and praise. Instead, I find myself complaining over the most meaningless things, about people that bother me, about issues that bother me -- just anything -- and I need to stop.

So today I am praying that God will help me become more positive, more uplifting, to praise more and complain less, to be more thankful and generous with myself and my words, to be more empathetic of what others are going through and less self-centered. Wow, that sounds familiar: to be more like Jesus.

I'm reminded (it's currently 'playing' through my head) of a song by Michael W. Smith called, "Draw Me Close" whose lyrics are:

Draw me close to you

Never let me go

I lay it all down again

To hear you say that I’m your friend

You are my desire

No one else will do

Cause nothing else can take your place

To feel the warmth of your embrace

Help me find the way

Bring me back to you.