How did you get so lucky?

Ever caught yourself wanting what someone else has in their life?  Things like wishing you had a marriage like theirs, or had so and so's body, or had a prayer life like him, or that your kids were well behaved like theirs.  For me it is often my friends that seem to have a flexible enough work schedule that everything is done between 9 and 3 including working out, having a quiet time and getting to hang out with people and then going home on time to spend quality time with their families.  (If you are thinking I might be referring to you, I probably am.)

A couple of thoughts about this.  First, what we really want is the results and not the work to get there.  You want a prayer life that is incredible, then you have to make the time to spend in prayer each day which may mean getting out of bed a couple hours earlier or staying up after everyone else has gone to bed.  You want a marriage that is still amazing after 20 years, then you do the hard things along the way and learn what selflessness looks like.  You want to be healthy, then you make it a priority to eat right and exercise often.  We see the results and think how lucky they are.  The truth is that it takes work and commitment over time.  We want the instant gratification without sacrificing anything to get there.

Another thing is that we often don't see the whole picture.  We see a marriage or a family that looks perfect, but the reality is that they have their off days as well.  Days when they choose selfishness instead of love.  Days when their kids are driving them crazy.  Days when they are stressed with bills, and schedules, and trying to figure out how to divide 24 hours among all of the things demanding their attention.  Days when they choose to sleep instead of getting out of bed to have some time with God.  A day where they get to end of the day and realize they haven't spent any time thinking about God.  A day when they choose the dessert instead of the salad.  A day when they decide to sit on the couch and watch a movie instead of working out.  Hope this doesn't burst your bubble, but none of us are perfect.  We strive for looking like Jesus and do our best each day.  Some days we look more like Him than others.  The key is that the next day we try again.  The things worth having usually require us to keep working at them.

Finally, for those things you want, don't be bitter that they have what you want.  Celebrate that they have an amazing marriage.  Tell them how awesome they look and that you respect their willpower in eating healthy and working out.  Ask them to pray for you and be happy that they are so madly in love with Jesus.  And learn from them.  When you see those qualities in someone elses life that you desire, ask them what they do to have them.  Figure out how that works in your life and then start doing them.  It won't happen over night, but after time it might be you that someone is looking at wondering how you got so lucky.