I allowed two incidences on Sunday to change my mood from one of being very hopeful and God-focused to a feeling of deep disappointment and sadness. As an introvert, I process through quiet thought over time, but, sometimes my mood is still pretty poor while I am processing my feelings.

When I read this piece on Monday morning from Henri Nouwen’s daily devotional, it was a slap in the face to help me see how I had allowed myself to be controlled by what others say and do rather than living out of thankfulness for God’s grace and love in my life. I publicly apologize to Lisa for having to deal with my unpleasant mood on Sunday afternoon. Nouwen writes:

Are we condemned to be passive victims of our moods? Must we simply say: “I feel great today” or “I feel awful today,” and require others to live with our moods?

Although it is very hard to control our moods, we can gradually overcome them by living a well-disciplined spiritual life. This can prevent us from acting out of our moods. We might not “feel” like getting up in the morning because we “feel” that life is not worth living, that nobody loves us, and that our work is boring. But if we get up anyhow, to spend some time reading the Gospels, praying the Psalms, and thanking God for a new day, our moods may lose their power over us.

 Hopeful for change in my life and yours,

Cliff

CHURCH NEWS:

·        We welcome two new babies into the church family. Jude Sunny Allenbaugh born July 19 and Frederic Crocker Breese III born on July 22.

·        August 2 at 5:30pm is our summertime monthly Covered Dish dinner and C.S. Lewis night. Next week we will be watching The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian film starting at 6:00.pm  Join us!