The Venus Tick Trap

           
            Last week, my daughter got a venus fly trap. We talked about what we'd feed it if it was an inside plant...it needs to eat insects to live. After brainstorming,  we thought maybe it'd eat the ticks we keep finding on each other and the dog. Apparently, tick season is upon us. On my worst non-perfect 24 hour period, we found more than ten! I hate the thought of getting sick with a disease from these nasty critters, so the thought of them being slowly disolved sounds like justice to me.  One of the people helping in the gift shop for Shedd Aquarium confirmed that it would eat them.  My daughter has happily fed it each time a leaf opens up.
           This morning I was having a negative thought fest despite that there were lots of great things to think on. Today, we went to Chuck E. Cheese to spend the tokens from my daughter's Christmas present. It was lots of fun, but I was tempted to dwell on the thoughts about different possibilities of temporary living...none of them quite as appealing as our current home. I was tempted to feel frustrated about being woken up at 5:45am and not getting to return to sleep again before we needed to get up. Today was our actual last day of school, but I was tempted to feel irritated about trying to keep the girls on task after having a fun morning playing. There is a mountain of laundry waiting for me upstairs. One child smacked into her sibling who was balancing on an exercise ball (who cried out, "I almost hit my head and could've died!"). The youngest is happily sleeping on me after filling his belly, with the occasional snort due to the cold he is suffering from. I found pee and green pus on the carpet today, both of which I've dutifully cleaned up. One of my girls has poisin ivy, and continues to itch despite her medication for it. It would be easy to look at the negative things about this day and feel discouraged.
             Ok, so it's time to apply the "venus fly trap" of 2 Corinthians 10:5 which says, "We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." It is easier to dwell on the positive when I choose to be mindful that Christ is with me, moment by moment...and that I can choose what to dwell on.  God wants us to experience a great (not necessarily easy, mind you) life with Him leading every step of the way. Today,  I was encouraged in 2 Corinthians 2:14 about how "In the Messiah, in Christ, God leads us from place to place in one perpetual victory parade." I love a good parade, but I've never pictured my life as being a perpetual victory parade. That brought a smile to my face. God came through in amazing way last year...is there another victory around the corner? Every day, God can make our life amazing, victorious even, because of His power to work all things together for good. I would encourange you to give those negative thoughts to Christ, let Him trap them and devour them.