My husband looked straight at me with concern in his eyes and said “You just have a grumpy look on your face.”  It was true. I was tired, short with the kids and my mood had been off the rails. I could not put my finger on what was happening.  I was grumpy, moody and not being kind. I was complaining about everything and praising nothing.

(Bella in a grumpy mood)

Saturday night rolled around and we went to church. It’s our ritual. One we do not take lightly. We enjoy our Saturday night church and Chick-fil-A dinner afterwards. It’s our routine.  I won’t lie, I had a busy Saturday day. I was tired and I didn’t want to go. Now, as I write, that thought  fills me with saddens. We begin to worship and it takes at least two songs for me to get into the songs but eventually it does. The songs begin to penetrate into my heart. The meanings and my grumpy look begins to fade. I am eager to listen to my pastor. He reminds me of a few things.  “A joyless Christian is a contradiction of terms.”  Basically, my grumpiness needed to go. This way of thinking needed to take a backseat and go.

He also said ” Make your tent bigger.” He was reading out of Isaiah 54: 1-10.  This was after the prophecy that Christ was coming in chapter 53. God was telling his people to stretch out their belongings and materials even further than they ever had.

Two things about this sermon hit home. One, I needed to praise God instead of being grumpy about  anything. Everything out of my mouth should start with a praise.  Second, Kenya is a what I should be doing. This mission trip was put in my path to make me stretch even more.

If you get one thing out of this blog post: Praise God with the start of every conversation. I am going to begin to try .