Sudden Problems, Sudden Change

As long as I can remember, I have not liked my reaction to sudden problems or sudden change. My long-term reaction has been fine, but it seems I had to "process" the problem or change before I could have an appropriate reaction. Sometimes my immediate reaction has been intense anger. Recently, I once again took my problem to the Lord. I asked Him to help me have a better immediate reaction to problems. I knew the verse, "Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh." (Luke 6:45) I didn't like what I understood from that verse. If I was having negative or angry reactions, it meant my heart was full of negativity and anger. I cleansed my heart before the Lord, but I still didn't like my initial response to problems. The Lord helped me see that even while my heart was clear, I had acquired a learned response to problems. So I asked the Lord to teach me how to have a better response.
I remembered a story my friend Diana told of her little son Jimmy. One day she heard him use a "bad" word. She was shocked that such words could come out of the mouth of this innocent child. She explained to Jimmy that he needed to find a new word to express himself when he was upset, a word that was more acceptable in their home. Shortly she was able to observe her son in an upsetting situation, and she heard him express his unhappiness with "Oh, chocolate doughnuts!
I was thinking of Jimmy as I asked the Lord for a new response. "Oops" came to me. Have you ever tried to say "Oops" without smiling or giggling? I think it is impossible. We have had several "Oops" moments in the past week, and the negative reactions still rear their ugly head occasionally, but "Oops" is beginning to take hold. There have been times when one "Oops" wouldn't do and I have heard myself say, "Oops, oops, oops," but the climate is shifting in our home.
How about you? What is your heart filled with? Do you need a cleansed heart or a new word? Ask and it will be given.

"Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that which he alloweth" (Romans 14:22).

Marilyn Heavilin