Attitude

Excerpt from my new devotional coming out soon.

When my husband and I were attending the mission college which prepared us for cross-cultural life, we had to live on a very strict budget and in our quest for cheap meals, Paul and I discovered 99 cent lasagnas at a local supermarket. These little gems became our daily staple as they managed to fill our stomachs and match our budget. We would share one at lunchtime and take one home for dinner. We were a little embarrassed about eating our 99c lasagna in front of our hosts, so we always waited until they were well and truly finished with their own dinner and away from the dining table before we would go heat up our humble meal. 

We would often come home to their table laid out and dressed for their evening meal. What would it be tonight? Roast dinner, Italian spaghetti, sausages and vegetables or a hearty soup? Whatever they were serving up, it always smelled divine. Our stomachs would ache as our taste buds went into overdrive, screaming with desire for what they were having. Sometimes they would ask if we would like to dine with them, but we always declined, saying we had our own meal sorted. We would thank them before escaping to our bedroom. We could not afford a further one hundred dollars per week for this family to feed us, so we used the time they ate their meal to dive into our mission studies for the evening. After they had well and truly finished their dinner, we would take a break to ‘feast’ on our own special meal. 

As we arrived home one particular night, we walked through the front door with lasagna in hand as usual, and headed towards our bedroom. We had hardly reached the doorway when we were called to the kitchen. ‘We would like to invite you for dinner,’ our hosts said. We assumed they meant the usual, ‘we can feed you if you like’, but again, we thanked them and said we were OK, that we had something for dinner. However, tonight they weren’t buying our ‘we are ok’ story. ‘Paul and Deb, we are not asking you join us as boarders, but as our guests, no money. You can save your lasagna for another night.’ 

I wanted to cry. We had tried so hard to hide our little secret, but somehow they just knew. We thanked them profusely and for the first time, sat with our host family to enjoy the best meal we had had since arriving in Sydney, and this night was to become the first of many nights they would set a place for Paul and I, inviting us to join them. 

From that day on, we not only received free meals each day from our hosts, but they also welcomed our kids to stay with us for free. 

Attitude is everything. It comes back to the glass half full, or glass half empty perspective. We could have complained about the fact we were the only ones in our college course who had to survive on 99 cent meals each day. We could have complained that we only got to see our family occasionally. We could have complained that while others went to the movies, ate out at restaurants and bought things, we had to go straight home, and lock ourselves behind closed doors with our small meal. We could have complained about others getting benefits to help them get through college while we were not accepted for any allowance at all. But thank God, we chose the glass half full attitude, and praised Him for feeling full on our mini meals, for providing morning and afternoon tea free, and giving us a comfortable bed to sleep in each night. We stayed grateful to God for the willing friends who took care of our beautiful kids one hundred and sixty kilometres away so we could complete our studies, and remained humble as God showered unexpected provision on us in ways we could never have imagined. He turned up every day on this journey, paving the road each step of the way. 

Attitude will make or break you, but others also notice how you react or respond to situations in your life. It’s not just God who takes note of it, but those around you also. I believe keeping our attitude sweet was one of the reasons why our host family began to include us in their family life. 

Q: How is your attitude metre looking? It is easy to look at what others have while you are wading through muddy waters. Take another look. Change your ‘glasses’ and you will find that there is life in those streams. There is always something to be grateful for during those seasons? God rewards the grateful heart. Write down what you are grateful for in this season.

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WHAT DOES THE WORD OF GOD SAY?

Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for God has already approved what you do. Ecclesiastes 9:7 (NIV)

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Philippians 4: 8 (NIV)