It is always possible to be thankful for what is given rather than to complain about what is not given. One or the other becomes a habit of life. There are, of course, complaints that are legitimate—as, for example, when services have been paid for which have not been rendered—but the gifts of God are in an altogether different category.
My second husband once said that a wife, if she is very generous, may allow that her husband lives up to eighty percent of her expectations. There is always the other twenty percent that she would like to change, and she may chip away at it for the whole of their married life without reducing it very much. She may, on the other hand, simply decide to enjoy the eighty percent, and both of them will be happy. It’s a down-to-earth illustration of a principle: Accept, positively and actively, what is given to you. Let thanksgiving be the habit of your life.
From my book, Love Has a Price Tag
**Excerpt originally published in The Elisabeth Elliot Newsletter September/October 2002