Do all things...

A few days ago, I came across the following verses in Psalms: As for me, I shall call upon GOd, and the Lord will save me. Evening and morning and at noon, I will complain and murmur, and He will hear my voice. Psalm 55:16-17

And my first thought was, "Now there's some grumbling and complaining I could put up with!" :-P

You see, we have recently cracked down on grumbling and complaining in our house. We've never allowed a lot of it, but after hearing two godly young women (16 & 18) speak this summer on what they felt like their parents had done right (as the oldest one was leaving to go to college) and what they were grateful for parents doing well when they babysat and what they saw their friends struggling with (without naming any names or being in any way specific) due to ways they'd been raised differently, and one of the top things was "Don't allow whining," we took a good look at what we were allowing and started calling a spade a spade. No huge punishment crackdown. Occasionally there's punishment, but mostly it's just pointing out that someone's grumbling, complaining, or whining and that it's not allowed.

As per Philippians 2:14-15a (I used to hate it when people truncated verses that way, until I realized that it's not like the numbers were put there from the beginning or anything. :-): Do everything without finding fault or arguing. 15 Then you will be pure and without blame. You will be children of God without fault in a sinful and evil world.

And, of course, the Steve Green song (which was apparently a paraphrase, since I can't find a version that says exactly that): Do all things without grumbling or complaining. And prove yourselves to be blameless children of God.

So, when I read that verse, it made me smile at first, but I also realized I should help them to make their requests known to Him (as well as their thanks).