As I sit down at my computer to write this morning, I’m speechless…or is that write-less?  I could complain and say I am super tired. Which I am. (I have been up since 1:00 because my knee hurt and I could not find a comfortable zone). I could say my brain is mush after a long day yesterday of preaching, interacting, building relationships, studying, and drinking one bottle too many of Dr. Pepper Zero. (At the most I drink one every other day or so. I drank two yesterday afternoon. I think I’ll think twice before I do that again). To top it off I have a whopper of a headache that I have just now taken some ibuprofen to take care of (I do that very sparingly). Then when I got to the office the young people decided to “decorate” my office. I think it took me almost 1/2 hour to get it cleared out.

So what do I do? I remember a book I read last week by Jon Gordon called The No Complaining Rule. I just hate it when something I read comes home to roost so quickly. Well…not really but I wanted to get that off my chest! 🙂 Jon likes to write Leadership Fables and this was in an office setting of a company that just had a disaster hit its product. It is well worth the time to read it. It is a  quick read of 120 pages with suggestions after the story. One of the solutions to complaining is what I needed to practice and see again this morning. It is called Five Things to Do Instead of Complaining. I decided to practice them and to share them with you:

1. Practice Gratitude. Counting our blessings changes our perspective and our attitude. I needed an AA (Attitude Adjustment) this morning to be thankful that I have wife and family who loves me; a church who is grateful for me and whom I love; for the two who made public confessions of their faith yesterday and then were baptized; and for another day vertical.
2. Praise Others. Part of my sleeplessness last night was doing just this: how can I thank the two at the YMCA who opened early for us to use the pool for our baptisms?
3. Focus on Success. We had a good day yesterday. Many pastors focus on numbers and I’ll admit I’m not immune to that (although I try to be). But from the very first note of our worship, I sensed God’s presence. I loved the songs we sang and one of our men did a bang up job (with help from his daughter and wife singing) on his Communion Meditation.
4. Let Go. Focus on things we have control over, not those we don’t.
5. Pray and Meditate. I will say Pray and Read Scripture. This morning I read Psalm 57 and 58, as well as Proverbs 27.  I triple dog dare you to read them. 🙂 

As I look this over, I have written more words than I thought I would. Guess that is what happens when you stop complaining!!