It Shouldn't Take a Disaster to Thank Him!

How many times in our lives do we take for granted ordinary, mundane or seemingly trivial things?  Like for instance, your phone, the Internet, even the library.  Three different ways to get almost instant access to any kind of information that we want.  When was the last time that you thanked God for each of these things?  Better yet, lets get down to something that he directly made...you.  When was the last time you thanked God for your toes, eyes, nose, ears, internal organs?  I've begun to thank Him more for things that I can't see, like my heart, my lungs, and my kidneys.  Those are unsung heroes, until one of them fail to do their job.  Oh THEN we notice them. 

I would like to challenge anyone who reads this post to take some time today.  Think of things that you use without thinking.  Then think of what life would be like if they weren't there.  Don't forget to include body parts.  It will really open up your eyes to what we really should be thankful for.  I know it did mine. :)  God Bless you all.

Busy Doing Nothing

In my churches Prayer Life studies, a verse came up last week that really resonated with me.  The verse was Matthew 11: 29-30.  It says “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light”.  How many times in our lives have we felt like we are overburdened with life’s worries?  Like if one more thing is put on us we will break?  Why is it that we forget to unload all that to God?  We pray for His miraculous help in times of great crisis, but we forget that He is ALWAYS there.  If we truly believe that He can help us in our greatest hour of need, how then is He incapable of helping us to find a job, or to manage our budget, or find a good baby sitter?  God is in control.  We sing it, we say it, but we don’t act it.  We go through life only calling on His name when we feel like there is no other option.  God is the first answer, not the last choice.

I gave the title to this post “busy doing nothing” because I have found myself with lots of extra time since my Facebook fast started on Monday.  I had been letting my blog writing go by the wayside.  I have had more time to be detail oriented when cleaning the house.  More time to read God’s word.  So I'm not hating on the Facebook fast.  That was just something to keep me busy while doing nothing.

Thank you Lord, for you love, your presence and your conviction.  I give you thanks today for my breath, my intricately made body and my health.  You prove yourself as my constant Watcher, my Companion, my Rock and my Shield.  Thank you for the many facets of You Lord.  Thank you.

How Great Thou Art...

Then sings my soul, my Saviour God to Thee, How great Thou art, How Great Thou Art!

Today on this day, although it is not technically Thanksgiving, it is my Thanksgiving day.  And on this day, I reflect on all those members of my family that I would love to be able to hug and talk with.  My aunt Geneva, whom we always called Auntie but since we're from Kentucky, it always sounded like Annie with a long a.  How Great Thou Art was her favorite song, and I would love to be able to hear her sing it now.  My grandma Kelsie, we called lil' granny, man was she an awesome granny.  I spent almost every weekend there at her house.  My grandfathers Dan and Arthur whom I barely got to know and my grandmother Sadie who passed away long before I was born.  My most recent loss, my sweet nephew Jeffrey who was only 26 when he died would have been here eating me out of house and home! 

I give thanks to God for all the memories of these precious people and I also thank Him that he has given me one more day to be with those of us left.  My prayer for this day is that we love each other to the fullest, that we never take one second for granted and that we can all put little tiffs behind us and look forward. 

Thank you Lord for my family.

Share in the Abundance

When we look around us we will see a myriad of people of all economic backgrounds.  But here in the United States, even in the poorest of neighborhoods, when you look at our poor and impoverished, it is incomparable to those in areas that many of us could never thrive or even survive in.  Many children all over the world starve to death daily.  And when I say many I mean that every day approximately 16,000 children die every day from hunger-related causes.  That is astronomical!  Can we really say that we have it so bad when there are babies dieing because they are hungry?  That makes the everyday worries that we have seem trivial at best. 

What I say all this for is to get to this, while you are preparing for Thanksgiving, Christmas or birthdays, look around, I am sure that you can find a spare can of food you can take to your local food bank.  How many toys do your kids really need?  Donate your time and efforts to those children of God that will not get even one present or bite of food this holiday season.  Not only will your children get over it, they will love you for it later.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you and may God Bless you all.