Seven months ago our cat, Django, ran away. Coolest. Cat. Ever. Ultra-affectionate, but not pushy. Even-tempered, incredibly smart, but still a lot of fun. We'd only had him for about 8 months, but he bonded very strongly with everyone in the family.
But he loved going outside. And one day he didn't come back. Unfortunately he had wiggled out of his collar the day before and we hadn't been able to find it, so he was out with no ID on him at all. We drove the neighborhood, we put up flyers, we patrolled the pound, but there was no sign of him.
Every day, and I do mean every day, the kids would pray, "And Django please come home soon." After a few months I had lost hope, but the kids always kept saying it. And saying it. "Django please come home soon."
Today my wife found him. Sheri was walking the neighborhood next to ours a good ways from our house and saw a black cat just about to duck into the storm drain. She thought he looked familiar. The cat paused, looked at her, and trotted up, purring. Thinner, missing some fur, but definitely Django.
Seven months living on the lam has taken a toll on him. He's at the vet now getting examined. We're incredibly hopeful he'll be able to come home today. Then I suppose we'll see how he fits in with our new cat, Stevie Ray.
But that's a minor hurdle. The cat came back. And the kids saw an answer to prayer.
Even more reason for me to continue the prayers I'm tempted to abandon as hopeless. Even more reason to persevere.
-Paul
Attitude is everything. My sweet little five-year-old daughter often says, "I just love this day!" She is my little Pollyanna. To her life is a great big party. She bounces everywhere she goes and often runs around the house on her toes. I think God gave her to me to learn from her. I decided I was going to start saying, "I just love this day", even if I didn't feel like it. I also thought I could start saying things like, "I just love cleaning house, because it is so peaceful when it is clean." I know it may sound silly, but my mentor taught me that, "You need to fake it till you make it". I thought that sounded strange at first, but after I started to say, "I just love cleaning the house", I actually did enjoy cleaning the house more. Weird, I know, but it seemed to work. Here are some other things I thought I could say:
"I just love cooking dinner, because it gives my family something good to eat."
"I just love taking care of my family, because God has entrusted them to me."
"I just love cleaning my bathroom, because it is nice to not get the heebie jeebies when you use the restroom."
I just love doing laundry, because nothing says I love you like a clean pair of underwear!" I got that one from Flylady!
Right now we have the stomach bug visiting our house, I could say, " I just love cleaning up throw up, because...because...", hmm... I can't think of anything positive for that one. Oh well, I tried.
You get the idea. A good attitude is vital to having a happy home. John Maxwell said that he gives himself an attitude talk every morning. I can see it now...we can look in the bathroom mirror every morning and have a little chat with ourselves, "Okay self, you will not be a martyr today, you will love what you do and do it cheerfully!" I've heard that life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you respond to it. So let's Just Love This Day today!
Here are some books that I recommend about have a great attitude and controlling our thoughts: