Stop and Give Me Ten

Stop and Give Me Ten Wednesday, November 12, 2014 by June Hunt My road manager, Sharon, and I have come up with a simple game when we're traveling for when one of us notices that the other is especially grumpy or negative. We call it the "Stop and Give Me Ten" game, and I assure you that in spite of the title, it has nothing to do with push-ups. (If I attempted ten push-ups in a row in my current out-of-shape state, I might break my nose when collapsing to the floor.) The "ten" in the title refers to all the fingers on two hands worth of things we're grateful for. For instance, recently after a long day of delayed flights we got to our destination airport only to discover that the car rental company had given away the SUV Sharon had confirmed with a credit card and only had compact cars left. So after breaking two nails trying to cram all of our luggage and several heavy cases of books into the petitemobile, I climbed into the passenger's seat with a huff. Then I began to complain about all the inconveniences—the delays, disgusting airport food, tiny seats, etc.—that we'd had to endure in the span of eight hours. After listening to my whiney chorus for a while, she turned to face me and commanded in her best impression of a Master Army Sergeant: "STOP AND GIVE ME TEN!" So I stopped, partly because she was driving in Dallas traffic and I was afraid she was going to rear-end the car in front of us, and partly because I'd been on a really good griping roll! But then I submitted, held my hands up, and raised all ten fingers in quick succession: I'm thankful our flights were only delayed and not canceled. I'm thankful we're in a car instead of on foot. I'm thankful I make enough money on the road to pay my mortgage. I'm thankful I get to see women launch themselves into the arms of Jesus for the first time almost every weekend. I'm thankful I got to make it home in time to be with Dad one last time before he passed away. I'm thankful he and mom forgave each other and developed such a sweet friendship before he died. I'm thankful I have family and friends who've experienced my long list of shortcomings and yet still love me. I'm thankful God is so strong when I'm being such a weenie baby. I'm thankful He's slow to anger and rich in compassion. I'm thankful we're staying at a decent hotel tonight. And it's amazing how just thirty-six seconds of practicing gratitude totally changed my mood. I went from Eeyore to Tigger in less than a minute. I know it's a much more difficult thing to practice gratitude when your husband walks away, your baby dies, your cancer returns, or your company is downsized and you find yourself out of a job. But I promise it still works. Granted, it's more of a stretch, but extending past the pain of life to reach for the joy God promises is so very, very worth it. From Overextended...and Loving Most of It. © 2013 Lisa Harper (Thomas Nelson, Inc.) Used by permission. All rights reserved.