serving up attitude

Many things in my house I would love to update...the carpet, the furniture, the kitchen cabinets...okay, probably everything...but there's one thing I'll never change...my fireplace.  It's circa 1965 so it's a wood burning one and has a huge opening giving off lots of heat when we load it up with wood.  I love building fires in it with good wood and offering up marshmellow roast for the boys on a cold winter night.  We had a night like that over thanksgiving break and I was sitting there, mentally being thankful for this fireplace...but my speech was peppered with what I was planning to do to the house.  My boys didn't even realize I was grateful for the fireplace because I was too busy "voicing" to hubby what I wanted to change about my house.  

The bible says "Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling."  We sometimes are in the midst of a blessing but don't see it because we're grumbling.  We sometimes are offering hospitality to another person, serving another person...but our attitude is so OFF that they can't see the love in the hospitality offered.  As we get ready to serve and be served during the holiday season...let's remember to do it without grumbling and complaining.  The next verse says "each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms."  I sure those forms don't include a bad attitude.  Regardless of your circumstances today...let's live and serve others with joy.