Finding the good, choosing the beautiful

A word from Coach Leslie:

 “He who seeks good finds goodwill, but evil comes to him who searches for it.”  Proverbs 11:27 

Have you ever noticed that you find what you’re looking for? Maybe not every item you misplace, but you do find the thing that your heart looks for. This is true in many areas of life. God used this concept in my life to curb my habit of complaining. Here's what happened…

Just as I was processing this concept my family and I went on our first family vacation. At this time, we just had two babies (who are now 20 and 17!). We knew it wouldn’t be a “vacation” for my husband and me, per se because after all, our boys were little and still required all the care and energy given at home, now we were just taking it all to another location. Yet, we were hopeful that it would still be a nice getaway to do something different with our young boys.

The plan was to stay with my husband’s grandparents for a few days in south Alabama within 30 min. of the beach. They had recently moved to their land down there and were in the middle of building their home, but in the meantime, living in a trailer. They were also the owners of a bird and an unruly dog. Both, very noisy. Although we love spending time with his grandparents I just wasn't very optimistic about having a restful, peaceful, or relaxing time.

Before we even left I was filling my mind with all of the things that would make this an unpleasant getaway, wishing we could afford a nice condo on the beach as if that would make everything perfect. I was succumbing to a heart of complaining before anything even happened! Have you ever done that or is it just me?

Sure enough, the new environment, the smaller bed, and the bright light coming through the sheer curtains at night, all made for restless sleep. The barking dog, the squawking bird, and the hot trailer were all present and accounted for during our stay. Our boys were going to bed later, getting up earlier, and were extra rambunctious. None of it spoke to restful, peaceful, or relaxing. 

But God spoke to my heart before we left. 

He showed me ahead of time that I had a choice in how things would go down for me and my family. Would I enter into this trip with a cloud of irritation covering my whole outlook, expecting the worst? Or would I, could I go into this situation with a new outlook? He made it clear to me that I would indeed find what I was looking for, and I got to choose what that was.

He invited me to look for Him in it all, to see the good and beautiful.

He showed me that I could decide beforehand to overlook the differences, embrace the adventure, and not complain. I accepted his invitation and released my negative outlook.

Do you ever find yourself borrowing anxiety from the future? Are you dreading something because you are only looking at the hard, the hurt, or the potential friction? What if there's a different way? What if God is inviting you to look for him too, to seek the good and beautiful?

Can you choose to find the good in your circumstances and not even allow your thoughts to complain? After all, what starts in our minds ends up in our hearts and out of our mouths either speaking life or death. So how can you notice the good and beautiful in your life? Imagine how things might turn out if you try.

My sweet little family ended up having a fantastic time, and I had a blast. And best of all, I did find what I was looking for, a wonderful first family vacation. 

Leslie is a Trim Healthy Mama coach and works as an assistant coach at Get Your Trim On with Head Coach Kris Honeycutt.