Complaining. . .

Do you have pet peeves? Well, I do. One of my pet peeves is a messy bed. I make the bed every morning before I leave the house, and I generally insist that Caleb make his bed too. When the bed is not made right or rumpled up, I will ALWAYS straighten it out, sometimes even going so far as to re-make it before I get in it to go to sleep. There have been times, when my DSH (Dear Sweet Husband) has gone to bed before me (and might even possibly be asleep before I come to bed) and I will make the bed over him just to get everything straightened out before I can get in! He's really good at putting up with me during those times!

Do you have little things in life that irritate the . . . well, irritate you a LOT? I do! People who tailgate me when I'm driving the speed limit - or faster - get on my nerves! People who insist on inflicting their opinions on me make me crazy (possibly because it conflicts with my own opinion!)

Do you find yourself venting to your friends about something that's really bugging you? I do! In fact, just this evening at church, I vented to a good friend about . . . well, about something that I probably shouldn't post on my blog for the whole world to see! Suffice it to say, that I was fairly animated in my description of this particular problem.

And then we went to our Wednesday night Bible study group - Cultivating Contentment. The focus of this evenings lesson was - yup! You you guessed it - COMPLAINING. It really hit me hard tonight. I've spent my entire day complaining - mostly to myself because I was stuck in my little office (which really isn't little at all) trying to get some things figured out. I even talked to myself today - frequently! And then I went to church, and continued to complain about things to my good friend, which could be considered 'inflicting my opinion on others. . . ' (see irritations mentioned above.) UGH!

And as we finished our lesson tonight, I suggested that we take time this week to be more grateful and content because things could be so much worse! If we take time to consider someone else's circumstances, we might find it easier and more gratifying if we attempt to lift another person up to the Lord, instead of complaining and whining because things don't seem to be going our way!

I'm thanking God tonight for a good outcome - a not guilty verdict - for a friends son whose been on trial this week. I'm thankful that God heard the prayers of many people on behalf of the England family. I'm very thankful that many people took the time to lift them up to our Heavenly Father, asking him to watch over them and to give them peace and comfort during these past tough weeks and months. I'm thankful for a great big wonderful God who loves us!

And I'm complaining less as I head off to my nice neat bed! Good night!!