As I was sitting in a restaurant for breakfast one day, I overheard an attendant ask a customer "How are you?" She replied, "Oh, the verdict's not in yet!" I wondered who is it that will give the verdict. The verdict doesn't come from out there, but from within.

We can choose our attitude in any given set of circumstances. Paul wrote, “I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:11-13).

One day a grade school boy fell at school and cut his head. Later he collided with another boy and got a couple of loose teeth and facial swelling. Later still he fell and badly hurt his arm. The principal decided to take him home before something else happened. As he was driving him home, the man noticed the boy was grasping something in his hand. When he asked him what it was, the boy showed him a shiny new quarter and said "I found it in the playground!" Then after a moment of silence he added, "You know, sir, I've never found a quarter before. This is my lucky day!"

Cut head, loose teeth, swollen mouth, hurt arm--still he says, "This is my lucky day!" He gave the verdict after focusing on the good. Let's choose the verdict of the psalmist who wrote "This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it" (Psalm 118:24). Let's choose to make this our lucky day as well! - Ken