Jar of Optimism

I have a jar of optimism on the table beside my bed.  What's a jar of optimism, you ask?  Well, a jar of optimism is a place to put thoughts that run contrary to one's natural thinking processes, especially if one is not naturally an optimist. I write my optimistic thoughts on little pieces of scrapbook paper, date them and stick 'em in the jar for all the world to see.  Or just for me.  They're my proof to myself that I do, in fact, trust God.  You do trust God, Shawna.  See, the proof's in the paper.  If you dug through my scraps, you'd find very determined statements like, "God will take care of me" and "He is working out everything in my life for good."

Some people are better at trusting God than others. But just because you're not good at something doesn't mean you'll never be good at it, right?  If I build my relationship with Him, trust will develop.  It's the natural progression of life with God.  Every time I open up part of myself to Him, hope or fear or love, and He comes through for me, which He always, always does in one way or another, trust grows.  I'm finding that I don't need to work so hard at it these days.       

I started filling up my jar in January of this year, right after I quit my desk job and stepped out on the ledge that's currently beneath me.  And I'm happy to report that at this very moment, my jar of optimism is almost half full.