DH has wanted an iPhone for so long now that it's been a daily topic of conversation for at least three months. With our two-year contract halfway completed, he went to the cell-provider's store to make his purchase as his birthday present. To make a long, complicated story short, he was told he couldn't get an iPhone for another 4 days. He went to another store, which not only confirmed that he couldn't get one that day, but said that according to the fine print, he'd have to wait until January 2010! Angry, frustrated, and disapointed, he returned home empty-handed.
He decided that he would return to that first store after four days to see if he could get his iPhone anyway. Those four days were miserable for the entire family. He could not hide his anger and frustration from dealing with incomprehensible policies. He had little expectation that the phone company would pull through, but he was going to try anyway just in case.
When my Bible study was interrupted by his triumphant phone call from his new iPhone, the first thing I (jokiningly) said was, "So you put yourself and the WHOLE family through this for nothing?!" After hanging up, I looked again at the focus verse.
"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." - Philippians 4:8"Of course," I thought smugly, "DH's whole outlook on life was brought down by his negative thinking. And his attitude affected all of us for days! How much better it would have been if he didn't expect the worst!" There was that phrase... my phrase... my advice. "Expect the worst; then you'll be pleasantly surprised." Okay, DH may have frustrated me for 4 days, but this has been my mantra for at least 15 years! How many others have I made miserable in that time? How many hours have I wasted bemoaning catastrophies that never came to pass? Think about these things...
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