Earlier this week was a short-lived white carpet. One person said, “Ole man winter is coming!” To which someone else grumbled, “it’s too soon,” and another pipped up, “I’m not ready!” Negative attitude from others affects our own approach to thinking. Do we know people who criticize, complain, murmur, or whine? When we boil it down, negativity is just discontentment and (in some cases) envy. But underneath that discontentment and envy is an even deeper issue – we’ve got a problem with God. We’re mad at God because we think He was better to someone else than He was to us. Jesus told a parable about a story of a farmer in Matthew 20 who was hiring workers. We may think, when we look at our life, that we are getting justice while someone else is getting all the grace. But before we start any negativity, first let’s thank God for our blessings. The Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 5:18, “Give thanks in every circumstance… for this is the will of God…” How much better to say, “I don’t like this situation I am in, but I thank you God for the good things that will come out of it. I will praise you through it, in it, and ever after it!”