Core Scripture: “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)

Message: Once again, my prayer cards spoke to me.  I have a cup on my desk with numerous small strips of laminated paper.  I pull from it to give me a few prayer points to start my day.  One of the cards stood out to me. 

Positivity.

I smiled knowing that God would give me plenty of opportunities throughout my day to spin a negative into a positive.  The war was about to begin.  The choice was mine.  I could grumble and complain, allowing negativity to rule—or I could focus my heart on the good around me. 

Satan struck first, tempting me with an onslaught of frustrations to moan about with my 6^th grade team.  We had quite the vent session, and I was tempted to join in.  I might have even done so a few times until I realized what was happening. 

It was then that I tried an old trick I have used for ages, encouraging the team to pick something good to give a shoutout to.  They were small victories we shared, but they were needed.  Oh, were they needed!  I moved back to my room to prepare myself for the day in my plan hour.

Nothing that I reflected on could prepare me for what would happen next.  My first class arrived in rare form.  Let’s just say they were riding a sugar high from PE class when they biked up to Casey’s for breakfast.  Candy, donuts, Monster Energy drinks, coffee … their energy swept through my classroom like wildfire. 

Enter me.  The fireman.  I blasted the hose at all areas of the room, but nothing was working.  Talking.  Whining.  Laughter.  Rebellion.  I could feel that negativity stewing inside of me, but then I saw her.  The sweet girl right in the middle of the chaos.  She was serene and focused, clicking away on her journal entry.  I crouched next to her desk.

“I just want to thank you,” I smiled across at her.  “You are working so hard, and I appreciate that at least one person is focused.”

Class ended, and my new group injected fresh hope.  We celebrated the King of the Week, and I got my positive mojo back.  It continued into the next hour when I found a sweet, introverted girl and told her how the 6^th grade teachers were remarking about her phenomenal writing ability.  She glowed back at me. 

I read her journal later.  It absolutely blew my mind.  I had asked for a 7-10 sentence paragraph.  She gave me four paragraphs, all purposeful and well thought out.  I wonder if the encouraging words pushed her to really show her stuff.

We took a bit of a dip to end the day.  I allowed one disobedient kid to pollute my thoughts in one class, and the sheer Friday enthusiasm allowed another group to overwhelm me with their continual blurting out.  I hung on to that thought.  They were just jazzed for the weekend. 

I poured everything I had into my last two classes, fighting the entire time.  It was reminiscent of Rocky versus Apollo.  Punch after punch thrown until nothing was left.   My throat was parched.  My lower back was twisted, throbbing.  I wondered if I could make it home without falling asleep at the wheel.

I honed in on the one thing I could control: my thoughts.  They were definitely forced, but they were needed.  I listed out five positives from the day that stuck with me in an email to my 6^th grade colleagues.  Each one involved a different kid displaying a different gift.  It felt right.

God doesn’t want us to complain.  He wants us to discover His blessings and live in those moments throughout our day.  As David says in Psalm 27:13, “I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living!”  Find that good.  It is out there.  Sometimes you just need to search for it. 

Challenge: Choose to live in the positive.  Write these moments down.  Share them with others.  Give praise to God for them.  The more you think about the positive, the more positive your day will become. 

Bible study: Read Acts 16:16-40 and journal or discuss the following questions …

• What environment did Paul and Silas find in the jail?
• How did they respond to their troubles?
• What was the outcome of their positive outlook?
• How can we apply this to our lives?

Song application: “Counting My Blessings” by Steph Schlueter

God, I’m still counting my blessings
All that You’ve done in my life
The more that I look in the details
The more of Your goodness I find
Father on this side of Heaven
I know that I’ll run out of time
But I will keep counting my blessings
Knowing I can’t count that high

Prayer points: Lift up the following areas to the Lord …

• Praise God for the joyful moments He gives us throughout our day.
• Pray that we can focus our hearts on the good around us, not complaining.
• Pray that others will see our positivity and follow.

Just for fun: Teaching 6^th graders all day and coming home to my middle school boys has led me to truly understand the meaning of the word “bruh.”  As a matter of fact, I have come up with some ground rules for using the word below:

1. You may not start a sentence without beginning it with “bruh.”
2. You may begin AND end your sentence with “bruh.”  (Bruh, what are you doing, bruh?)
3. You will agitate adults if you ever use the word “bruh” to express your displeasure. 
4. There is no limit to the number of times you say “bruh.”  The more, the merrier.
5. You can use the word “bruh” to express joy (Bruh, school got cancelled!), exasperation (You really want me to set my alarm for 5:00 am, bruh?), and disbelief (Bruh, there is no way you ate all that pizza).

Prayer: Father, give me Your eyes to see the good around me.  Amen.