Crabby Patty

Mike and I are on vacation in Charleston, South Carolina and I should be having fun. We decided to forego the touristy atmosphere of downtown for the quieter suburb of James Island.

But it just hasn't been my night. My back hurts, my feet are swollen and the gift shop I wanted to go into is closed. I chose the restaurant, but the food was simply not good. Mike bought me ice cream afterward, and I promptly informed him that what I really wanted was FUDGE from the street vendor on the pier!

Even I didn't even want to be around me! I think if Mike had offered to hang me with a new rope, I'd have probably found something wrong with it. Instead, he simply smiled and called me crabby.

Complaining. Some say it's the number one reason relationships fall apart.

Friends get tired of hearing about our faulty car engines, bad hair cuts, or lazy co-workers.

Husbands don't want to come in from work every day and hear that the kitchen sink is leaking again, the dog dug out from under the fence and is now busy eating the flowerbeds in the front yard, or the baby put a box of crayons into the dryer with a load of white dress shirts and then turned it on.

Wives can't stand constant grumbling about the car's gas tank being empty, dinner not being ready at 5:30, or that they forgot to pick up the dry cleaning.

Children can go one day without being told that beds aren't made, their muddy shoes are still on the front porch, or the dishwasher didn't get unloaded before lunch.

Yes, the bible says we are to bear one another's burdens. But ask yourself..."Is it really a burden, or just a burr under my saddle?"

Grumbling and complaining goes all the way back to the Old Testament. The Israelites were pros at it. Look at Numbers 21:4 "There's no bread! There's no water! We hate this food! Why did you bring us here to die?" In other words: What? These can't go in the microwave? Who drank all the Coke!! Why can't we go to McDonald's? I'm starving to death!

They had forgotten all that God had brought them through up to that point. They had witnessed miracles in the parting of the Red Sea. They had been protected from the plagues that had come upon the Egyptians. The Lord had even used Moses to lead them out of slavery.

It's easy to praise God when things are going good, but hard to continue to sing praises when they are not going our way.

In Deuteronomy 4:9, God gave the Israelites some advice that we can still use today: "Only be careful and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen."

So tonight when you realize at 6:00 that you're out of milk, bread and eggs, you hit every traffic light as its turning red on the way to the store, and then the lines are long and slow at Wal-Mart; don't complain. Take the extra few minutes to remember all the good things that God has done for you today!