We have been listening to the audio bibles Ann Voskamp mentioned some time back from Faith Comes by Hearing.  They are AWESOME recordings.  All dramatized and each person is represented by a different voice.  They are complete with wind and waves and music in the backgrounds. I have been totally captivated and am choosing this over the music on the ipod now. Time and again I think that I have never heard a verse put that way. This is probably because I have literally not HEARD the verse that way.  

To make it even easier they now offer both the OT and NT as an iphone app.  No iphone? You can listen on Facebook too, which is probably a heckuva lot better than most of the other things a person could be doing on FB.  Way cool. 

Yesterday I was listening to the exhortation in Philippians 2:14 to 'do all things without murmuring or disputing" sometimes translated as 'grumbling' and 'complaining.'  Basically a biblical command to be cheerful and cooperative IN ALL THINGS.  Tall order, but one that is repeated several places. I had recently printed out Wise Woman's essay She Delights Him based on the Botkins Sisters words and placed it on my fridge as a reminder of what "bringing him goodness and not harm" looks like in daily life. It seems more and more that it all begins with attitude.  Choosing to be grateful vs resentful, choosing to be joyful vs brooding, choosing to be positive vs critical. 

I printed Phil 2:14 for the fridge as well because it applies to all members of the family. How much strife could be avoided if we just followed this direction and went on with our work?  I mentioned back in lent a discussion at the dinner table when we heard about a frustration Zach had.  He just smiled and said he had given up complaining for lent. And then refused to vent about it.  It made a big impression on me and I was reminded of this yesterday. The bible makes it clear we are not to grumble – period. The commentary linked points out that protest and complaining is 

"sometimes prominently displayed in the countenance."

Oh yes, it is. Even when we button our lips and press on we often make it clear we are not happy about a thing and our faces complain when our voices do not. So this is my challenge currently. Am I bemoaning my circumstances? Snapping over petty frustrations. Or doing ALL things without complaining? I figure the best way to bless my husband AND my children right now is to be a smiling wife and mother. To be diligent is admirable as well. But the 'how' of it often impacts more than the what of it all. So smile. : )  It's all happening for a reason – to bless and not to curse.