Counting My Blessings

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

God bless you my dear friends and family!

May your day be blessed with joy, praise, and thankfulness!

Oh, give thanks to the Lord!

A Dozen Thoughts on Gratitude

I was taught as a very young child the importance of expressing gratitude for blessings received. That being said, I truly believe that having an attitude of gratitude has blessed me more than than it could possibly have blessed anyone else. So, today I simply want to share the definition of gratitude and thanks and add a dozen quotes for further thought.

Gratitude - thanks: a feeling of being thankful to someone for doing something. Appreciation.

Thanks - an expression of gratitude

A Dozen Quotes:

1. Silent gratitude isn't much use to anyone. ~G.B. Stern

Live to Testify

When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father,
the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, He will testify about me.
And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning. John 15:26-27

Where's the Baby?

Yesterday Rev and I previewed a Rick Warren Bible Study called, The Purpose of Christmas. The first session reminded us that the calendar itself acknowledges the birth of Christ; that Jesus came to show - God's love for us, God's presence with us, and His desires for us.

Our world is starving for the joy, peace, hope, comfort, and love that Jesus came to give us. All of those blessings are ours, and yet so many people look for them outside of a relationship with God through Jesus.

What a day in contrasts we experienced yesterday! We spent our evening at Tilles Park, in StL. They have a wonderful light display every year and on opening night they allow visitors to walk around the display rather than the normal drive through. It is beautiful, filled with color and movement, and last night the weather was perfect.

However, we still found ourselves just a little sad that the baby was no where to be found. Truthfully, I knew He wouldn't be there. We've been before, I get the whole Public Park thing . . . we certainly wouldn't want to offend anyone. I just can't help but wonder if we aren't offending Jesus - "The Purpose of Christmas" by being politically correct. Can you imagine if everyone celebrated your birthday by partying and exchanging gifts, but people were discouraged from actually wishing you a "Happy Birthday!"

Five Favorites - C.S. Lewis Quotes

I thought we might look at a few of the quotes of C.S. Lewis today. I am not a scholar of his writing, although I would like to be. Please sit back, relax, and ponder just five quotes which touched my hear.

God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself,
because it is not there. There is no such thing.

I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen:
not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.

Joshua 23 - God Keeps His Promises

We have almost come to the end of the book of Joshua. We are ten chapters from the first reading of "Joshua was old, and near the end of his life." He certainly has accomplished a great deal in the past ten chapters, and that's only what was recorded. In spite of our age or our circumstances may we always remember that God is able to use us. If He gives us the gift of a new day there is a purpose in it.

Take a couple of minutes and read Joshua 23, it only contains 16 short verses.

The heading in my Bible reads: "A Reminder to Follow Moses' Teachings." We so often refer to Moses Teachings as the Law, but I believe this chapter directs the Children of Israel in much the same we are directed as children of the Gospel.

Verse 3 reads: You have seen for yourselves everything the Lord your God did to all those nations. The Lord your God fought for you! When we live our lives in response to those things which the Lord has already done for us - that's Gospel. It is our love response to His reaching out to us in love. 1 John 4:19 reads: We love because He first loved us.

Wednesday Word - Listen

 
The dictionary defines listen as:
1. to make a conscious effort to hear
2. to pay attention to something and take it into account

I continue to make an effort to be a better listener. It is possible I was born talking! LOL I have always had something to say. Just ask anyone who knows me. An enthusiastic talker has to work a little harder at being an effective listener, because listening involves more than simple hearing.

What does it mean to really listen?

Love is: Saying You're Sorry

I woke up this morning to the realization that I had unintentionally hurt a friend. It was my fault. I absentmindedly let a date slip by without an RSVP.

It is something others have done to me. I don't like it! So, I feel terrible for having done the same to one of my friends. I wanted to let her know that I felt bad for letting her down, and sent her an apology.

Do you remember the movie - Love Story? I cried for days after it! Many of us remember the line, "Love is never having to say your sorry."

There has probably been as much discussion over that one sentence as any other taken from movie dialog. In fact, I Googled those words and found 158,000,000 hits!!

The Wonders of His Grace

While working at my computer, I suddenly heard someone or something tapping at our back window. It was just Woody Woodpecker letting me know that they were out of bird seed. I so enjoy the variety of critters that can be seen just by looking out my windows.

I am so often awed by the immense amount of variety God has placed in His world. Last Friday morning, my Friday Friends Bible Study watched a video segment of Beth Moore's study, "When Godly People Do Ungodly Things."

She shared her thoughts concerning the reason people are dissatisfied with the things of the Lord. I found myself resonating to her words. So often we look around us and think that God asks us to settle for boredom, when excitement is "out there" somewhere. We are the ones who are settling for so much less, when we fail to see His wonders all around us. She compared it to only eating apples and bananas when we could be enjoying papaya, berries, and melon. Then we blame God because we are only eating apples and bananas.

Five Favorites - Organization

I am taking a break from organizing a few dresser drawers. Being organized is something for which I strive; therefore, organization efforts are continuous. It seems there is always a closet, box, drawer, or shelf to be sorted, labeled, or de-junked. (Is that a word?)

Although, I'm still working on my attitude about cleaning; I rather enjoy organizing. I like the feeling I get after I have purged an area of clutter. I thought it might be fun to come up with some reasons why  organization is satisfying.

5. Less stress - I have finally accepted the fact that less stuff equals less stress. I don't know why it often takes years and piles of junk for us to grasp that idea.  The truth is stuff needs a home. It needs to be cleaned and repaired. If I own it, it requires thought. Less to think about - less stress. Yeah!!