Pretty Attitude

I love a pretty/handsome attitude in a person. Arrogance is annoying and honestly, most people aren't enough to even behave that way. I have know my fair share of people, it seems as if there is a white wig in their pocket and they feel really great judging people - kicking them when they are down...needless to say, it irked me. So to reiterate to myself, the kinds of things that would better server mankind and myself, I am making a list...pretty is as pretty does (well maybe it is stupid is as stupid does but I'm remixing it)!

Behaviors I find becoming:

1. loving Jesus and your fellow man
2. humility
3. honest
4. kindness
5. purity and chastity
6. being well read
7. being broad minded
   
8. chivalry (without the chauvinism)
9. giving credit/compliments when/where they are due
10. helping the needy
11. good parenting
12. frugality - bragging about excess in uncertain financial times is unseemly
13. manners
14. poise
15. ethics
16. saving
17. choosing value not just a brand
18. modesty
19. self esteem and self respect
20. being happy for others despite your situation
21. friendship
22. laughing (not at coarse jokes/etc)
23. looking out for your neighbors kids
24. going the extra mile
25. good work ethic
26. ethics in general
27. knowing Scripture and using it to uplift and not tear down
28. revering the elderly
29. sharing
30. maintaining your health (vice chasing it once you have damaged it)
    

Lord help me to strive to embody more of these qualities than I currently do...and the ones that I may have, please increase them and help me to share them with others. Thank you Lord for showing me this...please help me to get past the negative feelings I currently have and to use them to make a lasting positive change. I want to be different than I always have been - not adopting attitudes because that is what my family or friends do...in the end, my aunt is right, it is either for You or not for You...I won't get it perfect until Heaven, please forgive my erring ways - but thank you for showing me something that I can do differently. And thank you for the thick skin You have helped me to develop over these last 10 years - and for the kind people You have sent into my life. Lord, I believe in your Providence and that all the events of my life are used to conform me to Your Son's image. Please forgive me for worrying and griping - and remind me when I start that both are futile. Please show me positive ways to respond to negative people and circumstances.

I have a pretty good idea on how I became so insensitive/etc - bad company, please help me to keep my child out of such environments. I remember being sweeter as a kid...I just don't know when it left me. Perhaps school age insecurity or years and years of being around certain kinds of people. It amazes me how my Grandmama, for the most part, was like a stone in the sea of perpetual mess - she didn't absorb much of it. I wish I had been serious at a younger age in reading my Bible and trying to apply it...thank You for the chance to correct that. Thank You for continually revealing new things to me as I read.

Please bless and keep my family, and my extended family. You are worthy to be praised. Even in my lack, I still feel immeasurably blessed. Thank You for our health, minds, salvation and family. Thank You for jobs - please bless those that are currently unemployed and under-employed.

Thank you for all of the Christians on facebook and the people with wise thoughts on Twitter. Please help me to become wise. I don't want to stay a fool. But I don't want to be arrogant about it either. Granny had a great way about her, as do most elderly - they can share wisdom without being ugly or harsh. The small things she said had so much impact. I miss her. Thank You for my friend Romeo and Brother Bill. Their kindness means much. You having send them means even more. You know me and love me - thank You...for Your love and Your precious Son.

And thank You for family that passed down the faith - my parents, grandmothers and even some unique aunts :) Lord, it bothers me how easily those in my family can be so awful despite their faith - myself included. You don't care about color/demographic, so why should we? I don't want to pass any of that on to my baby and any others You see fit to bless me with. Please help me there also...only You know if I won't be a part of the Johnson curse of one child feeling unfavored. My baby is so wonderful...I can't imagine doing anything that might hurt her in the long run. I know you will equip me as long as I see You in it...but Mama is godly and so is Daddy - please forgive me...this worry won't add a cubit to my height, please help me to remember that.

Please bless our finances to become more stable. Please bless all of my retired family to have enough to live as they like or close to it. Please bless our venture. Please bless me with talent/ideas/etc to bring it to fruition. Please help my man to seek you more and to see more value in getting involved at church. Thank you for our church family.

These and other blessings I ask in You Son's name, Amen. Love, Me.