OTHER people's lives.

I am a HUGE TV watcher. I have a weekly schedule all set out and ready to go on my PVR and it's true that when watching TV we all associate with the characters on certain shows and enjoy watching the mishaps in their lives. It's real easy to feel good about yourself when looking at someone who has many flaws and bad things going on in their life... but don't we all? Isn't there someone out there looking at us and thinking they have it pretty good compared to us? My bet is there is. We need to put what is happening to us at the time into perspective. No matter what is happening to you... there is always something or somebody who's got it worse. I know you can't live your life like that, thinking you've got it pretty good at the expense of someone who has got it worse or that you need to keep your chin up because there's somebody worse off, because what is happening to you matters - you just have to keep it in perspective. What recently changed in my mind (and by recently I mean about 10 minutes ago) is that rather than focusing on the bad guy who will always make you feel better, why not focus on the good guy who will make you strive to DO better? We're always going to have bad days or moments, but He has a plan for everything that happens in our lives and we need to trust in that.

I was reading an article in Thriving Family this morning and just had to post this. It was written from the standpoint of a guy... but it could have been written by me, including leaving the note on the car... and yes, my own husband would have stopped that in it's tracks too! So, other than attending church early in my married life (or really any part of my life prior to 3 years ago for that matter) and loving the cooking show, which I do like, but don't go out of my way to watch... here you go! All credits go to Thriving Family Magazine and David Meurer.

Fast Cars and Furious Chefs by David Meurer

I like a TV show that features and enraged, spittle-emitting chef screaming at his cooks and hurling pans across the kitchen. The guy is one part culinary genius and one part crazed badger. True, I have my owon struggles with anger, but cmopared to that screaming chef, I am Saint Francis of Assisi spreading serenity through a forest of grateful woodland creatures. I think this is why I keep turning in. The guy makes me look good. Comparisons can let you cut yourself a lot of slack. If you set the bar low enough and only compare yourself with people who are spectacularly worse than you are, you can feel awesome about yourself without having to do the hard work of actually changing. I know this is a ridiculous rationalization on my part. The fact that I have not resorted to fits of kitchen-destroying rage does not diminish the times when I am surly because things aren't going my way. Early in my married life I was a fanatic about being on time. If we were one minute late for church, my jaw would be clenched for hours. I think God gave me kids who are prone to misplace their shoes to guarantee I would be late - a lot - and thus be forced to confront my inner jerk. Because my standard is Jesus, not some pan-hurling chef, I continue to work on my tendency towards anger. The bar is set high. So high, in fact, that I need God's help to reach it. My attempts are sometimes less than graceful. I recently found myself in a parking lot, scribbling a helpful note to the apprently blind driver of a bright red Corvette who had taken two parking spaces. My wife asked to see the note, which I reluctantly handed over. "Hmm," she mused. "I'm just not picturing Jesus using a term like blithering moron with the navigational skills of a diseased armadillo." Long pause. I really wanted to slap the note on the windshield of that car. And I would have set a really bad example for my wife and kids. Grudgingly, I tore up the note. Jesus set the standard. So each day I asked God for the power to be the husband and father He wants me to be.

* Thriving Family Magazine is published by Focus on the Family and will help you introduce Christian aspects into your everyday family life. If you would like to check it out and subscribe, please click HERE. Copies can also be found in the Power Hour Lobby at Lakeview Church.