Having a good attitude in the midst of a trying situation isn’t easy, and often we beat ourselves up for not instantly having the “right” attitude. But let’s be honest, sometimes having a good attitude is more than we can manage. We may know where we need to go, but it may take us some time to get there—and that’s okay. Making an attitude adjustment isn’t an easy process. Whenever I think of the ups and downs of that process, I remember a phone call I received early one morning after a fall blizzard blasted across the Front Range of Colorado.

“How much snow do you have?” my friend asked. Without waiting for an answer, she said, “I think we have nearly three feet!”

“That’s about what it looks like,” I answered. “Our husbands sure picked a great time to be hunting. I haven’t even started to dig out yet, and the weather report says they hardly got anything in the mountains.”

“Yeah, aren’t we lucky,” my friend said, “I’m going out to unbury my car now.”

About two hours later, she called back, and she was furious! “I have never been so angry at my husband before in my life!”

“Why? What did he do?”

“Not only did he take the four-wheel drive on his hunting trip, he took both shovels! So I had to dig my car out of three feet of snow with a dustpan!”

“Oh, that’s not fun,” I sympathized. “I bet your hands got really cold.”

“Wet and cold,” she corrected me. “But that’s not the worst of it. At the beginning of the week I started asking him to check the tires on my car before he left because I thought one of them might be low. He promised to do it. So I dug my car out of three feet of snow—with a dustpan, mind you—only to find that my back tire is flatter than flat! I am so angry at him! I’ve never been this angry. I know I need to pray about it, but do you know what I am doing?”

“I can’t imagine,” I replied hesitantly.

“I’m making a batch of chocolate chip cookies. And then, I am going to eat as many of them as I want to. And then, when I’m good and ready, I’ll pray about it!”

I laughed and, knowing that it wouldn’t take her too long to make an attitude adjustment, left my friend to her cookie making.

With honesty and humility, Dave Dravecky and four friends take you on their journeys through the valley of suffering, journeys that led each of them to the heart of hope. If you or a loved one find (more...)