Ten Minutes of Turbulence

Yesterday and today have not been great days for me. I've probably had worse, but I don't want to ever repeat these days again. With that said, I want to remind myself of a few things that make me happy at this moment because I am determined to not let misery get the best of me.

1. I'm super thankful that I am a child of God and I can always put my total faith and confidence in Him.

2. I'm so glad I'm married to the man I am and not anyone else. He is my best friend!

3. I have plenty of friends and family that I could call whenever I want.

4. I know others who are experiencing the same emotions that I am and it makes me feel less crazy.

5. I am glad that this Christmas my dog did not die. Really.

6. I am glad that I have a job I can tolerate on the bad days and love on the good days.

7. I am glad that I, and most everyone I know, have plenty of food, clothes, a home and general good health. 

8. I am extra glad that a lot of television shows I love are starting a new season this week and that I can also go watch the Oscar-nominated movies soon.

9. I am glad that I don't have to feel guilty about drinking so much sweat tea and eating Fish Filets from McDonalds.

Whenever I have an unusally bad day there is one special thing that I do. I like to watch a serman of Joel Osteen's that I have saved on my DVR. I have watched it probably close to ten time since early October. I guess only having ten terrible days in three months isn't so bad. Everytime I watch it I hear something new and I always feel like Joel is talking directly to me.

In the sermon, Joel makes a comparison of unexpected difficulties to being on a plane with turbulence. He says that in life we'll go through periods of unexpected difficulties that make us feel defeated and stressed out. But just like on an airplane, the turbulence will disappear. God would never let us go through something unless it was part of our divine plan, and nothing can happen to us without God's permission. In fact, if a certain problem could keep us from our destiny then God would not have allowed it to happen to us. When something bad happens instead of giving up and becoming upset or frustrated we must always trust that He is in control. I'm definitely in those ten minutes of turbulence right now, so obviously it makes me feel better to expect that God will step in and bring me unexpected blessings to replace these difficulties. I not only hope it for me, but for anyone who is going through something difficult today. Life is not easy, but trusting our worries with God makes it a lot better.

I know I've made you want to listen to the sermon now so here is the video. It's about twenty-five minutes long.