Some of you know that our 5 month old German Shepherd pup, Sam, wandered off while playing out in our yard. We were so sad. We just loved her and she was such a great fit for our family.
Before she was gone, I had been getting quite frustrated with her. After all, she was a pup! She would chew on things that she wasn’t supposed to. She would make noise and wake Lauren. She would wake me up several times a night needing to go out. Basically, I was in a “your driving me nuts dog!” kind of attitude about her.
But then she was gone. Suddenly, I missed seeing her little face. I missed the way she greeted me when I walked in a room, so happy with her tail wagging. I missed having her snuggle up with me at night. My heart was broken, I wanted her back so much. We had all but given up hope when 11 days later the phone rang and the lady who had found her was calling because she saw my sign on the off-ramp.
Going to pick her up was one of the happiest times I can remember. The whole family breathed a collective sigh of relief that Sam was home, and we all slept better that night not wondering where she was.
I don’t mind all the silly and naughty little things she does anymore. I’m just so glad she’s home, I appreciate even the annoying things- like the way she literally follows me everywhere I go and I tend to trip over her several times a day.
What does that have to do with marriage? Well, it’s more about thankfulness and recognizing the things in life that we should appreciate.
I was stuck in a bad attitude about Sam until she was gone, and I realized that there was a lot more about her to love than there was to be irritated with.
Sometimes we live with an irritated attitude towards our spouse. We get our minds in a place that rarely, if ever, focus’ on being thankful.
Col 2:6-7 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him, 7 rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. NIV
It clearly tells us here that living in Christ involves an attitude of thankfulness. In fact, overflowing with thankfulness. Think of a cup of coffee. 🙂 You can have a cup of coffee, but if you have a cup of coffee that is overflowing…let’s just say that it’s making a bigger impression on your world!
Let’s be thankful and enjoy the gift of this day with our loved ones. I’m praying for our marriages.
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