Before You Complain…

Now, I’ve been known to complain and am just as prone to do it as y’all. However, it’s one of my least favorite topics of conversation to listen to.

Yesterday, I was blessed with the chance to poison all the lovely weeds that pop up this time of year for my uncle, who’s been facing battle after battle with his health. As I was finishing the spraying, he came out with one more little request. He wanted me to grab a hoe and a shovel real quick to fill in the holes in his yard left by the stump-grinder man.

The sun had almost completely set. I had only planned to do the spraying. I was hungry. I, I, I, I… in my head, plenty of complaints.

Regardless, I knew he’d really struggle to do the work himself, so I walked back out to the garage, grabbed the tools, and went to moving the dirt.

On the final hole, he said something that jerked my mind back on track like those grooves on the side of the highway that shout at you when your tires roll over them. As he stood there watching me pull the dirt back over the low spot, he said, “I sure wish I could still work like that.”

I just stopped for a minute and leaned on the hoe handle.

What in the world was I grumbling about? I’m healthy. Able-bodied. Arguably still young. Then, one of those old corrective flashbacks hit me right between the ears: “Phillip, you just need to hush your mouth!” (Even though I wasn’t technically speaking.)

I nodded slightly in affirmation to what he said and vigorously finished leveling the yard.

Perspective is important—and keeping it continuously is key if we don’t want to become complainers.

May we have two things today:

1. A continuous perspective of the good things we have.

2. A continual reminder that we don’t enjoy listening to others complain either.