What's right with this picture...

Happy Sunday to all of you!

Well, I saw that Jake filled you in on our fun Saturday, so I will just say that the Bryn's party at "moms" house and Katelyn's friends, all beautifully dressed up, and their wonderful moms coming up to see me was the highlight of my week!! It was so fun to see everyone.  Bryn and I played with her new Cinderella and Bell dolls along with Prince Charming yesterday.  I loved listening to her dialog.  "May I have this dance"...to Belle. "I have a prince, the Beast"...to P.Charming. "Then I should not dance with you!"...to Belle, and then turning to Cinderella "May I have this dance." Quick moves Mr. P! I, for the life of me, cannot remember the song they dance to in the movie; does anyone know?  I keep singing "I know you, I walk with you once upon a time", which is from Sleeping Beauty! Still, it was a precious time of make believe fun.

Last night, I had some pretty severe back pain.  I would ask for prayer for this: that the pain would go away or controlled better with medicine. Thank you :)

Devotional for the day: When any "bad" situation happens in my life, or when I am in a very difficult or dark time, I am going to "Flip it".  I am going to ask myself "What is right with this picture?".  I find this to be an awesome thought.  As I began to write down some things in my life that seemingly have everything "wrong" with them, I was able to make a whole list of "rights"!  When I took off my tunnel vision glasses, I was able to find God at work in difficult situations.  My devotional makes mention of a friend that constantly talked negatively about another person that she refused to hear anything good.  No matter what she said, the person would twist a potential positive into a negative one.  Nothing can change her mind. Yet, seeing things from God's perspective and asking what's right with this picture, you counteract the tendency to feed jealousy, hatred, gossip, and prejudice.  Even little things can be flipped to find the "right" in them.  We are out of cereal because I could not get to the store...well, I never make eggs, here's a good opportunity for something yummy!  Bryn does not get to have her party on her birthday, which makes for a confused 5 year old.  I told her that now she gets to celebrate her birthday twice and she is elated.  So, I encourage to join with me to flip all negatives in your life to find at least one positive.  It might be hard with some very bleak situations, but if you ask, God will reveal them to you. And, you might have a long list like I did! I learn from this devotional book every day!!

Often when we pray, God answers our prayers in a different way than we expect.  I have a prayer for decreased back pain.  I expect God will take that away or give wisdom to doctors to get the right treatment plan.  That's my little plan.  But God might answer that in a completely different way.  So I need to be open to hearing God, even if it does not line up with my plan, with tunnel vision.  I need to ask "What's right with this picture?" and I might find my answer right there!  

I am always so blown away by your love and care, and prayers and support that I hear about daily.  I can always, in any hard situation that affects any part of my life, add you to my list of "what's right with this picture?".  

Much love,

Jess