DWA

                For years when people have asked me what they could pray for me, I answered "my 'tude," because I can guarantee that the first thing to go bad in any situation is my attitude. Let things go the way I don't want them to and I go with the tried and true: fight or flight. Let things actually go the way I want them to and I'll get cocky and - well, pushy. After all, if I got my way or was right about that, mustn't it go without saying that I should get my way or be right about this, too? I'm not asking for some Pollyanna perspective. I don't want rose-colored glasses. When I say, "Pray for my 'tude" I'm asking to see things clearly and deal with them appropriately, without being more overwhelmed by what's going on inside my head than I am by what's going on around me.

                Starting in July, that prayer request changed to "Direction, wisdom, and attitude" and I have mentioned it often enough that one friend has wisely started abbreviating it "DWA. In a way, the three are the same thing. If I have wisdom, my attitude will be what it should be. If I have direction, my attitude will either be what it should be or it will be really bad, in which case I need prayer for my attitude.

                This past week has brought some answers to that prayer, and makes the need for it even greater. Dad seems to be losing his way at the same time that I am trying to find mine. In fact, it is in his loss of his way that I have the opportunity to seek mine. Interestingly, mine seems to be focusing on the word "story." One project I've been trying to work on is a story about a woman who becomes part of a group of storytellers. Another project involves stories being told in our society. I've thought for a long time that the groups of people with whom I associate don't tend to communicate their perspective well. They don't tell their stories well and therefore, they are seen in the way that others depict them in their stories - stories designed to make them look bad.

 I'm starting to look at social issues with at least these two questions in mind: What is the real situation? What is the positive response that a Biblical perspective brings to it?

                This isn't the direction I thought I would take. It's not the direction I want to take because it's  overwhelming. But I've learned that taking the road I did not want makes all the difference, so I come back to my prayer request: DWA.