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The Pixel Punk Diaries |
The Bad Parts of Good Things
It’s been almost four months since we launched this website, Version2 of lifeteen.com. I spent the past two years fighting many battles to get this website together, and I am very thankful that God was faithful and this site is here today. The day that the site went live on the Internet was a dream come true for me, because that meant that I was through with all the pains of the old site.
Now that this site is booming with thousands of visitors each day, I have a whole new set of problems. And these new problems are much bigger than my old problems. How do I manage 55 contributing writers? How can I keep up with 3500 posts to Teen Talk each week? We’ll never be able to review all new movies and CDs, much less books and video games! There so many things to do on this website, I haven’t updated this page--my own section--in over a month.
I’m learning that every new adventure will involve new dramas. So my new mission is to love even the bad parts that come with good things. Because if you focus on everything that is wrong, you’ll forget everything that is right. Let me explain.
Thank you God for my problems! If you make it into the honors program at your high school, that’s going to mean more homework. You could despise your homework, or you could be thankful that you go to a good school and God gave you the brains to excel. Let’s say your parents buy you are car for your 16th birthday. If you complain about paying for gas money, you’ll eventually forget the car that they got for FREE. If you look around at your life, you’ll be surprised how many of your “problems” come from good things.
I’ve had twenty-four parties at my house since January. All my friends from church come over and watch “24” every Monday night. The entire street is lined with cars, and my house is packed with people. I end up spending a lot of money on snacks and drinks, and my carpet has become pretty stained and ugly. I’m usually groggy the next day at work, because I stayed up late laughing at my friends' stupid stories. But what a wonderful problem to have: too many friends having too good of a time. Thank you God for my problems!
You can see having the right attitude about life has practical advantages. But this idea of being thankful for all things in life isn’t just about having a good attitude, or about separating optimists and pessimists. It’s about opening your eyes to God’s blessings. He’s a loving Father who has given us much. When we can laugh at the problems in life and look up to Him, every experience takes on a new meaning. So what are you waiting on?
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Matt Smith is the Director of Internet Ministries for Life Teen, an international Catholic youth ministry based in Phoenix, Arizona. He is the creative force behind Life Teen's cluster of websites that receive nearly 2 million visits a year. Since staring on MTV's "Real World" and MTV's "Road Rules Challenge", Matt has traveled the country speaking at colleges, universities, schools, and Catholic parishes.
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