Just Smile
and
Have a Good Day

Words shape your mindset, mindset shapes your perspective, and perspective shapes your outlook.

My wife has been and continues to be one of the greatest supports in my life and her ability to help me even when I don’t ask and without me even knowing she is helping me is truly a gift she has been given.

A number of years ago she made the shift of saying “get to” instead of “have to” for just about anything you can think of. You name a task she said, “I get to go to work, I get to clean the house, I get to pick up the yard.”

I was not as quick to pick up this word change but I noticed her mindset changed by simply changing the word she used. That mindset started to shape her perspective and her outlook from one of, task completion, to opportunities.

Ultimately the positivity that it brought the outlook of hope in all situations stuck with me and I’m forever grateful for that. She added a tattoo to her arm that simply says “hallelujah anyway” which is a line from a song of her favorite band Rend Collective. That simple outlook has changed the way I look at the world and drives my hope in Jesus even deeper.

Every day, every moment, every breath is a gift from God and I do not want to waste it.

As I purchased the last of my first semester books today at the book store, I said to the check out person, “I can not believe how much I have to, (stopped back the words up) get to read this semester.  Changing that one word helped me realize how blessed I am to be here and given this opportunity to grow in my faith and learn at a place that for over 150 years has been building up Christian men and women to Teach Truth and Love Well.

It got me thinking, how do we make sure that we keep the right outlook on life when life seems like it’s intent on making sure the bad and evil of this world are on the front page?  Turn on the news, pick up a paper or your phone and there is one evil thing after another that bombards us. It is very easy to take up a negative outlook on life. I have to go to work, I have to pay the bills, I have to etc, etc, etc.  That leads to a mindset that nothing good ever comes your way, which shapes your perspective and outlook to be negative.  I’ve been studying through the Psalms this summer and reading a book ‘Gettin There’ by Steven Farr where he uses the Psalms as a trail map to life.  I have in the last few years started using the line “Enjoy the Journey” particularly as it relates to my officiating journey.  Too many times I found myself focused simply on the outcome or the goal and when the end of the season rolled around and I didn’t work the last game of the year, I would get disappointed.  Step in my wife once again to remind me of all the cool things I got to do during a season simply through officiating.  That’s when I picked up the mantra of “Enjoy the Journey” every moment, every day, every month, and every season enjoy it. 

When I read through the Psalms with the mindset of using it as a trail map to my journey in life two things jump out of the book for me.  Praise to God, ALWAYS, in every circumstance, because He is faithful and gracious to us all every moment of every day.  We may not even feel that goodness, but we need to praise Him, why because He and He alone is worthy of praise simply because He is God.  Secondly, keep your mind on Him and He will guide your journey.  I am constantly quoting Psalm 119:37 “Turn my eyes from worthless things, and give me life in Your word.”  (NLT)  Further along in Psalm 119 verse 105 “Your word is a guide onto my feet, and a lamp onto my path.” (NLT)  

God has graciously given us His Word and when we spend time in it and with Him in prayer He will shape our mindset, perspective and outlook, because we are in His word.  The words we use and the words we study mean more than we think.  I hope and pray that you will take up a challenge to spend more time in His Word, give thanks to Him for all the goodness He gives you through the gift of His one and only Son Jesus who died for you.  Ask Him to turn your eyes from the worthless things in this life and give you life in His Word.

Thank you all for the tremendous support through this great journey we are on. I pray that each of you will find the peace and comfort that only God can provide when we keep our mind on Him.  Isaiah 26:3 “You will keep him in perfect peace, all who trust in You, all whose thoughts are fixed on You.” 

Keep your mind and thoughts FIXED on Jesus and then you can Smile and Enjoy the Journey.

• Gabe