This morning in my daily devotions I was reading the book Having a Mary Spirit by Joanna Weaver. I was challenged to pick three things from a list of struggles and not give into the temptation to do the specific three things of my choice. One of the things on the list that I was really convicted of was complaining, so I determined with God’s help, to not complain all day.
We happen to be in Estes Park, CO right now ministering at the YMCA Conference Center. It’s beautiful and breathtaking (literally, you should see us Kansas girls huff and puff up the mountain on our walk up to breakfast). While I walked, I determined that I would not complain about the lack of oxygen. I kept my mouth shut (I know what you’re thinking, “That must have been really hard for her.” You have no idea). Usually, when we come to Estes, we all have a little bit of altitude sickness so food (for once) is not one of our favorite friends. However, I was not going to complain…
We were scheduled to go White Water Rafting later that morning so we found ourselves riding through Big Thompson Canyon in a big yellow school bus surrounded by massive mountains going around hairpin turns… I get really claustrophobic when I can’t see sky, car sickness sets in after that, need I say more. Still I was not going to complain. When we finally arrived at the river things went much better! The sun was shining, the water was rushing by and we were prepared for a day full of fun! Our guide, Ben, told us that the river is the highest it’s been in eleven years and was running really fast. As I stepped into the raft, my foot went instantly numb. The water temperature was just above freezing (mid-30′s) and felt colder than ice. The sun was suddenly not hot enough. Thankfully, I was sitting in that back of the boat and didn’t have to face each rapid head on since there we several people in front of me to break the water. Near the end of our adventure down river things were going great. While everyone in front of me was totally soaked, I was mostly dry from the stomach up. With only a few minutes left on the raft, Ben told everyone to stroke so that the back of the boat was turning right into a rapid full of freezing cold water. the next thing I know I’m completely drenched in deathly icy water… Apparently Ben didn’t want me to miss out on all the “fun”. I really wanted to complain. I can’t remember whether I did or not…
As I look back on the events of the day, one thing that sticks in my mind is how negativity naturally flows from my mouth. I never realized that nearly everything I say comes in the form of a complaint. I have so much to be thankful for and yet all I would do is constantly whine or grumble. I have learned a lesson, now the hard part will be living it…