Happy Hearts

Scripture

A happy heart makes the face cheerful,
   but heartache crushes the spirit.

~Proverbs 15:13, NIV

Quote

Ultimately, happiness is a choice.

~Van Leeuwen

Although circumstance have a huge influence on our demeanor, they do not control our emotions unless we allow them to do so. Some people choose to be unhappy regardless to the circumstances while others sing through the storms. Viktor Frankl said, “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms–to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” Although others may have the power to make our lives miserable; they do not have the power to control our response to the misery. This is why we see people in difficult circumstances that we want to pity and yet they are happy as a lark.

June and I meet a couple while we were in seminary at New Orleans. They lived in a trailer park in East New Orleans. The wife was one of our first converts at the little church I served in that neighborhood. The first time I meet her, she was angry and gave me a piece of her mind but then God convicted her and she was gloriously saved. Jesus put a smile on her face that time has not erased. I talked with her on the phone a couple of weeks ago. She is 93 and lives in the greater New Orleans area. Her husband was crude and rude, almost brutish. He bossed her around like she was a second class citizen. June and I marveled at her grace. She never lost her temper, never failed to comply with his demands. She waited on him hand and foot and seemed to enjoy it. This man would make me and Keith look like the “Husband of The Year.” When June and I would try to sympathize with her, she’d have no part of it, “O, he is just a big teddy bear, don’t let him fool you,” she would say. It was a classic case of “For better or for worse,” all we saw was the worse but she always saw the better. I never heard her complain or bemoan her circumstances. She may be the most cheerful person I’ve ever known.

Your circumstances are not the problem: your attitude is the problem. You cannot change the circumstances, not always but you can change your attitude. Franny Crosby was a happy cheerful soul and she was blind so do not blame the circumstances or another person. Get rightly related to Jesus and no human can make you unhappy.

This is day 35 of the Covid-19 Shut-down and I hope we are nearing the end. I bumped into an old fellow at DG yesterday [probably my age or younger] and I could tell, he was practicing the social distancing thing. We got to talking and I could tell that he was worried so I asks him, “How many people do you know personally who have the virus?” He said, “I don’t know anyone.” He then said, “All I know is what I hear on TV.” I am not making this up. I said, “That’s your problem, you need to stop watching TV.” They are talking heads and they do not know their back side from a hole in the ground. They are not discussing facts; they do not give real information. They are talking heads that who pretend to know the facts. It is like people who can’t read the bible through but read a news paper through every day. Here is what makes no sense. When you asks them if they believe the bible, they says ‘yes.’ Then you asks if they believe whats in the news paper and they say ‘no.’ Feed your faith [bible] and starve your doubt [TV].

I did something yesterday that I have not done in a while, I finished 4 yards of concrete by hand. I was down on my knees with two trowels. I am so sore today that I hurt every time I move. You can’t imagine how happy I am that the concrete job is history. So I don’t care if it rains so long as I am not finishing concrete.

Congratulations to Joe David, Many and the DBC feeding team: they delivered 80 pizza’s last night in less than 30 minutes. That’s 80 visits: wow!

GRACE POINT will be delivering meals today but to half that number above. Our team is having a ball! For many of us, it takes much more grace to receive than to give.

Have a great day!

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