Smack my other cheek why don't ya

Ya know its only been about 24 hours since I was preaching about keeping joy in Christmas ( I also plan to preach on this topic for the next 3 Sundays) and here I am letting a gentleman in Texas steal my joy. I ordered something on ebay. I paid for it and everything. It has now been a month and no stuff has come. I have tried to contact the person in a nice way. But now I'm starting to get really miffed. I found myself saying "Don't even try to mess with me bud" this morning.
The Joy sucking has begun!!!!

Practicing what you preach is really hard sometimes.

I read a devotional on the web this morning reminding me that Jesus told us to "turn the other cheek" Matthew 5:39. That's a nice thought but really! Yes really! Sometimes we feel like someone else has kicked all four of our cheeks and so turning another just doesn't seem possible. We'll lets think about what Jesus is trying to get across to us. In this chapter of Matthew (please go read it today) Jesus has given what we call the be-attitudes. Or the attitudes we need to be havin. The cool thing is that Jesus lived them out. But Jesus was a person who stood for character and principles too. He was a man's man. Remember the time He cleared out the temple! Not a whipping boy kind of activity!

So how do I put this altogether? Well let me tell you what I think I need to do. I need to spend as much time praying for this guy in Texas as I do emailing him. I need to pray that God would bless him and that He would have an opportunity to hear about Jesus (not for God to kill him off) I know that having a life changing experience with Jesus is the only thing that can really change folks hearts. I will file the appropriate claims on ebay and paypal but I won't let it eat me up. God says that vengence is His. He'll take care of it. I'll do my best to leave it in His hands. But I'm going to be actively looking around me at all that God has blessed me with. I have so much - a wonderful family, incredible job, terrific friends, two cars, a warm home! WoW! Can my life and Joy be sucked away by $40? Gosh I hope not!
So pray for me. I am learning this lesson. Pray that I'm not real dense!

Be blessed - find Joy!
Trent