Driver picks the tunes

While driving with our large family, there was often disagreement about what music to play:   the radio station, the CD, even the genre.  To break the logjam, my husband always commented, "Driver picks the tunes."

And as I found, quite literally in the car, in our home, in our relationships with impossible people, I have a responsibility as a mom to set the tone.  I can't expect stellar behaviors in others when I am the one with what we used to call a "bad-itude."

What tune have I chosen?  What demeanor am I playing?  How am I responding to what is swirling around me?  Have I listened to what I just said?

It may not be everyone else who is out of sorts, out of tune, not with the program.
But me.

We moved a lot as a family.  We are currently living in our eleventh location since we were married 38 years ago.  Particularly with moving school-age children, I realized that my attitude and outlook had a tremendous impact on our daughters.  These moves were hard -- and I acknowledged those feelings -- but I also knew that I could blend in a sweet attitude into it.  New friends, a new room, a new neighborhood -- all things that could be daunting were also a fresh opportunity.  I could let my own fears and "bad-itude" flavor the move, or I could a different spin on it.

Whether a new destination
        or an unexpected direction,
   every day, God leads us to a different place.
I don't want my own selfishness
      -- ok, call it sin --
to take me down a wrong path.
Words are non-returnable.
And kindness is never random.

All these memories and feelings swept over me as I read this verse this morning (which I also posted on my blog www.worddujour.blogspot.com.)

I hold back my feet
    from every evil way,
in order to keep Your Word.

                            Psalm 119. 101

In thought,
  in word,
  in deed,
    and particularly in attitude.
Beware the two red warning flags:
    when I justify how I am acting,
    and when others are the problem.

God's Word changes my heart.
And through Him,
   He grants me the power to compose
     a fresh tone, a new tune,
                   and a very different tempo.
     Even in this.
The literal translation of
                "Don't go there,"
  means exactly that.

Do I realize the impact of my heart on so many others around me?

Can I practice grace today
        in my very own impossible situation?

God gives me a different song of His faithfulness.
     Is that the one I choose to sing into this day?

Bringing hope and compassion and grace.
A fresh tone,
a new tune,
and a very different tempo.