To be thankful.

This hotel is...it's been an adjustment. 

I could pick apart what is negative. There are quite a few things. 

I am trying to frame this whole experience in a positive light. Especially because of the little ears listening. 
It's not like I am completely glossing over the rough patches. But I see them, feel them, and turn my complaint into thankfulness.

That's what we need to do. 

Not only as a transplant and adjusting to a new way of life here

but also as Christians. 

All things come from God. Although tainted by sin and decay, there is provision. 

Although not what I am used to, it still is. 

I am thankful the hotel takes out the trash for us. 

I am thankful they have a pool.

I am thankful for the ocean view.

I am thankful they provided a washer and dryer in unit.

I'm thankful for the pot, pan, and plates they did provide.

I am thankful the girls each have a bed. 

For running water.

For friends who invite us out. 

For the beauty all around us.

It is a willful choice to see the negative and dwell on that. It's also a willful choice to see the negative and redeem it to the positive, to gratefulness.

It's been hard to model this for the girls. I'm doing the best I can. And I'm not perfect.

When I try to rely on my own strength and willpower, I ultimately fail. I am not strong enough, or consistent enough. I am not enough. 

This, of course, is the struggle. The struggle to live according to the flesh (Romans 8, especially vs13) or to live by the Spirit. The spirit of strength, of peace, of life, power, and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7).  

We have everything we need for life and godliness in Him (2 Peter 1:3).

It's natural to want to wallow. To roll around in my own self pity. To "woe is me" while I stare in the mirror. 

It comes easy.

But.

This is not what we are called to. We are called to mortify those natural disobedient rebellious ways to live (Romans 8:13). To mortify is to subdue, to put to death.

We must turn from ourselves and turn to Christ. 

We must turn from the mirror and look at Christ.

To choose to read the bible when we feel like ignoring it.

To choose to pray and talk to God about our fears, our doubts, our struggles.

To choose to memorize scripture and repeat it to ourselves to strengthen in moments of fear.

To choose to reach out to another Christian to help us when we feel like giving up.

To choose to wake and go to church to experience fellowship and friendship with other believers as a means of encouragement and sharpening, especially if we are leaning toward wrong.

It's a choice. And it can be difficult. And exhausting. 

But God gives strength. Through Christ and the spirit within us, received when we yield our lives to Christ, we can overcome. 

Victory may not look like a complete devastation of the enemy with thousands of fallen soldiers on the field of battle. Victory may mean not giving in when we want to. It may mean choosing to pray rather than react in bitterness. Victory in Christ means we choose to glorify God over nurturing our own emotions and pity. 

With practice, it gets easier. And thank God, He gives me strength.