A Merry Heart

Do you ever have one of those days where you wake up in a negative manner? You don't want to do anything but stay in bed and sleep? You can't even function because your heart is so heavy and not at all where it should be? I am not having one of those days, but was thinking how often I do. I feel like I wasted a whole day because I was too busy feeling sorry for me. I tend to do that a lot. I don't always provide the best example for my children. I was looking for verses for Corrisa to study and went to my Created to Be a Help meet book for some verses to study. The second chapter is entitled. Having a Merry Heart.
Do you ever notice when you go at a project with a merry heart the job seems to be done quickly and didn't seem at all hard to finish. I try to sing or whistle while doing a job I don't particularly care to do. Then I find myself in a happy mood rather then complaining about having to do it. Sometimes, I find myself complaining about the simplest of tasks and look at it from my children's point of view and see what a bad example I am being. My mother always made everything seem like a burden. She complained about having to do anything for us kids or my dad for that matter.
I don't want to raise my children with a mother that acts that way. I try to do things differently, but sometimes it just happens to end in a negative manner.
"A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones" Proverbs 17:22 How true the Lord's words are. When you are happy you feel good, but when you wake in a negative manner it effects everything around you.
"A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken." Proverbs 15:13. How many times do we approach a task with bitterness and complaining? I tend to forget that it was God who blessed me with my husband and 6 kids. I forget that it was these precious gifts from God and I shouldn't complain about the things God gave me to take care of.
"Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the Lord He is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations." Psalm 100.
Again, if we approach everything with the taught that the Lord gave us the ability to do this task we can do it with a merry heart. He gave us health, we could be in a wheelchair and unable to do anything. We could be suffering from cancer and watching life go by from a bed. I know that it isn't always easy for me to be thankful for the work I have to do, but I do it.
My mother often questions me on why I have to get up to get my husband up and ready for work. I tell her that I was created to be Mark's help meet and that he wasn't created to take care of me, but me to take care of him. I was created to make his life easier. That was the purpose of my creation. Yes, he is old enough to get his self up and ready, but if this were to be his last day on earth I would want to know in my heart that I woke up and made his coffee and kissed him goodbye with a merry heart. I would hate to think that I complained and moaned about having to serve my husband who is going off to provide for my family so that I can stay home and raise my children. My husband works in the elements everyday and I can go back to bed, the least I can do is give him my loving attention before he walks out the door every morning.
I will try to remember these verses I have studied many times. I will try to remember my own words written here. I will try to have a merry heart in all I do.
Shelly