Sunday Lessons: Remember What’s Good

I don’t know how things are where you serve, but on any given Sunday at Cross Point things go wrong.  GASP!  Yes, it’s true.

In fact, a lot of things can go wrong… maybe not all of them are wrong per se but they certainly don’t always go the way we’ve planned.

It could be the gremlins in technology, it could be human error, it could be volunteers out sick, it could be a faulty alarm clock…

You name it, it’s likely to go wrong on Sunday – the day we need everything to operate perfectly.

Unfortunately I have a tendency to fixate on what’s not working.  I see all the little things that I wish had gone better and I fail to see what is good.

I’ve been feeling really challenged by this lately.

Not just at work/church but in my personal life and relationships.

Our society has taught us to be critics and some of us slip into that role easier than others.

But the constant critic loses hope and lacks joy.

The constant critic finishes the day feeling defeated and unsuccessful.

I’ve been challenged lately to really seek to find what’s good.

In fact, I’ve gotten into a habit of actually making myself write a “what’s good?” list every day.

My “what’s good” list reminds me of how God is at work in my life every single day.  Everything may not have gone the way that I thought it should go, but there are still so many things that are good.

I think this is a “grey” leadership tension that we all face.  We have to be aware of and manage what’s not working, but we can never lose site of what’s good.

So I want to challenge you to write a “what’s good” list today.  If you’re brave enough, share it with us in the comments.

Ok, GO!

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  • Christy Brown August 22, 2011  

    I love this post! I wrote about joy last week because I was thinking about some of the same things. I am such a “performer” that I often focus on my shortcomings also. This really ties in with Pete’s message yesterday as well. Seems to be a theme…God is so good. Thanks for the reminder!

    • Jenni Catron August 22, 2011  

      Christy, we have a lot in common… I’m so performance-driven too that it robs me of enjoying what’s good

  • Anonymous August 22, 2011  

    Just yesterday in the message, Pete said something that really hit me hard, “criticism is a cowardly form of self-praise.”  I am beginning to think that the Christian life is about balancing seemingly opposite things.  In this case balancing contentment with “righteous” discontentment.  

    • Jenni Catron August 22, 2011  

      Great thought… “balancing contentment with ‘righteous’ discontentment”

  • Therodneyholt August 22, 2011  

    Great Post and Great Advice! I do the same thing and need to focus on what is good because the the good out weighs the bad.

  • Bethany August 22, 2011  

    Thanks for sharing!! I had one of those moments last week. I was filling in on our welcome time for one service only. Before that service I saw a friend that had not been around in a long time. We were having a great conversation so I sat with her. As the band finished the opening song, the leader began looking around. You guessed it. I should have been on stage and in my excitement of seeing my friend totally forgot. In that moment I could have chosen to be critical of myself and forgetting. But instead I saw the laughter of people. The fact that they saw a very human side to our service and it broke down a lot of walls and allowed for freedom. It was a good moment. (But not one that I want to ever repeat.)

    • Jenni Catron August 22, 2011  

      Bethany, thanks for sharing that story. Love it!

  • Dee Wilcox August 22, 2011  

    I’m right there with you, Jenni! I’ve been writing a 3 Good Things list every day for the last few weeks to help train myself to see the positive & successful parts of the day, rather than the negative/failures. (Shawn Achor calls it the Tetris Effect — You see what you train yourself to see.) I’m blogging my top 3 Good Things on Sundays at deewilcox.com for social accountability. 🙂

    • Jenni Catron August 22, 2011  

      Dee, you can hold me accountable too 🙂

  • Hanna Koenig August 22, 2011  

    Hey Jenni!  Took your advice (even went all out and actually bought a journal;) to write down my things to ‘remember what’s good’.  I made my list yesterday.  Thanks for sharing your wisdom and reminding me to ‘never loose sight of what’s good’… even in the middle of lots of things needing lots of improving.   

  • Tamara Taylor August 22, 2011  

    One of my friends has a gratitude journal. He tries to write in it every day, even when he feels horrible about how things have gone. Over time I’ve seen him become a LOT less cynical about life because of it…
    In summary, I should start one.

    • Jenni Catron August 22, 2011  

      I love that. Start one Tamara!

  • Sarah Atkinson August 23, 2011  

    I have been doing this over the last few weeks as well. Reading back over my entries, I was surprised to see that I’d repeated some of the same “good things” on various days without realizing it . . . unconsciously revealing the things for which I’m most grateful.