Who the Heck is Melchizedek?

If optimism does not come naturally in your world, you might view me as someone who is in denial about the realities of life.  You might consider me simple, naive, or deluded. " How can she think positively all the time?  That's just crazy!"

Well - here's the big revelation.  I'm not positive every minute of every day. (Sorry to disappoint you!)  There are times that circumstances start stacking up in my life, just like they do in everyone's life. I feel twinges of anxiety and then negative thoughts start flooding my brain. I guess the difference is that I don't allow myself to stay in that mind-set.  I decide to believe what God says about me instead of what the circumstances say about me.

One of the most common worries people have is about money - and boy, oh, boy - do I know about money worries!  I was a single mother for 8 years, putting myself through college working weekends at a hospital and relying on grants and loans to take care of my tuition and many of my living expenses.  Once I started teaching, I was only making $2000 a year more than I would have if I had stayed at the hospital doing secretarial work, plus there were student loans to pay.  After my husband and I were married and added another child to the mix, the two incomes didn't seem to make that much of a difference.  Everything I did to try to improve my financial situation seemed to be like pouring water into a bucket with a hole in it.  No matter how much money came in - more went out

"Un"reality Television

With all this time off for the holidays, I've been watching more television than usual and I've seen many previews of the various "reality shows".  I know these are not a new genre in television, but the longer these types of shows continue to be popular, the less I understand why.  There is no such thing as "reality" in a reality show. The minute you turn on a camera around a group of people, they cease to be themselves.  If you don't believe that - think about your childhood home movies with you and your siblings showing off - competing for air-time.

The theme of most of these so-called reality shows is how beastly people can be to each other.  The fighting, back-stabbing, scheming, hissy fits, name-calling, hysterics, and high drama is so over the top that I refuse to believe that this is the reality in which most people exist.

God is an Optimist!

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  - Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

If that's not an optimistic outlook, I don't know what is!  If we have a relationship with God, how can we ever be the voice of gloom and doom?  If we are His children, then we should think and talk as He does!