In Tune

It seems God has been chipping away at my selfish, complaining attitude lately. From reading author Marla Taviano's blog post on selfishness/grumbling, to having a discussion with my son about his bad attitude. I listened to myself explain to him that even if bad things happen to us, we are in control of our attitude and reactions. We should focus on the good, not the bad. How prayer can help us turn our day around. (Yes, I distinctly felt God tugging my ear and saying "Hey! Pay attention to the words coming out of your own mouth!") :)
And while my selfish/grumbling attitude is a whole post unto itself, I wanted to grasp for the goodness of God this morning.

Do you know that God blesses us beyond what we deserve? I mean, besides the fact He sent His Son Jesus (John 3:16) so that we have the free gift of life. (Romans 6:23)

Do I believe God blesses me, or am I too busy worrying about what I don't have to see what God has already given me? As I was thinking about this post and then flipped open my Bible to read this morning, this is what the Lord had planned for me to read:
Genesis 22: 15-18 - in summation, it is God telling Abraham that he will be blessed and through his offspring, the whole world would be blessed. (This came after Abraham was obedient to go up and offer a sacrifice to God, even when he had no lamb and thought he would have to offer his only son Isaac. Turned out to be a test of faith and God provided the sacrificial ram on the mountain top.)

Oswald Chambers quote: God's revelation of himself to me is determined by my character, not by God's character.

I love that quote. God's Goodness is there. He loves us and wants to give us blessings (physical and spiritual), but too often I am bogged down in my selfish pity party to recognize them.

I'll give you an example how God totally blessed me beyond what I thought possible at this time.
I have always wanted to learn how to play piano. Therefore, I really want our kids to take piano lessons. (I know, projecting my lost childhood on my children) Anyway, we do not have a large house that could hold a grand piano, nor do we have several thousand dollars to spend on one. So in my limited thinking, I figured we would settle for a keyboard that would at least get the kids through 1-2 years of lessons. The basics. But God in His goodness had a bigger idea!
There was a piano clearance sale going on this past weekend. I just happened to see the ad in junk mail and Dan agreed to check it out. We ended up coming home the proud new owners of a digital piano. Basically this means its the size of a keyboard, but has all 88 keys and plays like a piano (touch sensitive keys and sustain peddle). And was amazingly within our budget.
Wow! Thank you God!
While God doesn't choose to bless me with pianos everyday, His goodness is still there everyday.
Like yesterday. Day one of getting up and reading my Bible before breakfast. I was not looking forward to the busy day full of obligations and a to-do list. But you know what? God is faithful and God is good. I managed to get done what needed done and spend some alone time with each of my 3 children. I know that was a blessing from God, because I haven't had a day so peacefully productive in a long while.

So, with a new piano from God as reminder, I'm getting my attitude in tune.
Thank you God for Your goodness. Thank you for blessing me with more than what I thought I could even have!

Interaction:
Are you looking for God's goodness in your life? What has He given/done for you lately?