As with all of you, the Wagar family has their ups and downs.  Here's a small example:

Ups:

-        We are children of the one true God – Jesus Christ

-        We’ve been blessed with good health

-        I’ve been blessed with a very good job at Eli Lilly & Company

-        We been blessed with a great home with acreage

-        We have been blessed with 4 and soon to be 5 spectacular children

-        We’ve had the opportunity to raise or own food source (Chickens and Eggs)

-        We’re blessed to have the best inner circle of friends

-        We’re blessed to be able to homeschool our children

-        I’m blessed with the ability to go back to school (seminary)

Downs:

-        Jennifer’s digital camera broke during our last vacation

-        Our furnace was shut off due to malfunctions and needs to be replaced.

-        At times it seems as though we are running around like chickens with our heads cut off

-        We are all running on different cylinders and so want to be on the same one.

-        Families that we’ve been close with, in the past, are divorcing and it’s heartbreaking to see it happen.

-        There doesn’t seem to be enough hours in the day to get everything done.

 

Are you like us?  I hope so, otherwise it’s just us which means that we’re weird or something…Well I’m sure we are but you know what I mean….

Anyway, these are examples of the ups and downs of our life, yours may be similar or different, but none the less you have them to.   What do you do when you begin to think about them?  Have you ever written them down?  I can tell you from doing this blog today that writing them down is therapeutic and helpful.  It helps to put into perspective those things that are on your downs list.  Did you notice them.. Most of them are worldly.. Do you remember what it says in Romans 12:2?  It says, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”  What does it mean to be on an Up?  Did you notice mine?  What was the key word in all of mine?  Blessed, we’re all blessed when we’re in the will of God.. So when are we in the will of God?  By not conforming to this world (i.e. Downs) but instead transforming our lives through the reviewing of our minds (i.e. focusing on the ups)

So what have we chosen?  In all honesty, it’s real easy for me to focus on the downs, I have tendencies for pessimism, just ask Jennifer… But we are called to something else, we’re called to be transformed by thinking like God.  So God, thank you…. Thank you for all of the blessings on our lives and may we not be conformed to this world but may we be transfored through the renewing of our minds so that we may prove what Your will is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.  AMEN!