Grateful for…………

Psalm 118:24 (click to read more)

This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Grateful for……………….. Jesus!

Grateful for………………. a GOD who is POWERFUL, TRUSTWORTHY, LOVING, HONEST, FORGIVING, ALL KNOWING, JUSTIFIER, REDEEMER, ADVOCATE AND MUCH MORE.

Grateful for…………. my husband. God had to have dropped him in my lap because if we’d gone to high school together, we would have been voted the “Most unlikely couple”. Couldn’t hardly get 2 more different types of people. And don’t get me wrong, just because God paired us up doesn’t mean it’s been like heaven on earth. Remember, there are 2 humans involved. But the 3 important things that God knew about both of us, is that we are loyal, determined and understand the definition of commitment. Love this man!

Grateful for ……………………my children and the love that their families are bringing me.

Grateful for ………………………friends. Old and New!

Grateful for………….. my church! Not only the building but the people. For the freedom I have to worship my Lord anytime on any day that I want to go there privately to pray or join in with a group of fellow Christians in Worship and Praise. No worries of persecution! Although every person in that building has hurts, bad habits and crazy hangups, I’m still grateful for them.

Ephesians 4:32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Grateful for …………….freedom. The list of freedoms that we have in this USA are countless. We may not always use the best judgement when exercising them but we still have them. The primary freedom that I’m grateful for is the ability to openly follow and love a great and mighty GOD!

Grateful for …………..my home. God has truly provided. A natural trait of mine is to want more. Just being honest, that is what comes natural to me but I am learning that God will provide exactly what I need and nothing more. Sometimes he will let me have more but he is not concerned with the “more” only with the “need”. If I work harder, sacrifice things and “go for it!”, I may have more but sometimes there are things we will loose just in the pursuit of having more. So we should weigh our choices carefully. Checking our “contentment scale” regularly for balance.

Grateful for……………. me. God made one unique person when he stitched me together and he has been molding me since day one. At 55 I can think back in wonderment of the experiences that I’ve had and see how God has used each one to create “ME”. He believes that I’m perfect just as I am so I will claim it too! Matthew 5:48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Grateful for………… bible. I have a place to go for all the answers.

Grateful for………… experiences. Good and Bad. Yes, I said bad! They made me who I am. Didn’t feel good during them but now, I’m grateful. God didn’t cause the bad but he did give me Grace through the Good and the Bad. Grateful!

Grateful for…….free speech. Like anything in this world, I pray that we will all use that freedom of speech a little wiser.

Grateful for…………..Universe. God gave us beauty every day , every minute and every place we look. There is not one thing He created that doesn’t have a purpose. Including me!

Grateful for ………………. the unexpected!

Sometimes we are strolling through life thinking that this is just how life is going to be and then God allows the unexpected to happen. That unexpected could be a good thing or a bad thing but there is always something to glean out of it. Something to learn!

James 4:13-14

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.

John 16:13

When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.

2 Peter 1:3

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,

Matthew 6:13

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

So don’t stroll through life missing the unexpected. It just may be in that unexpected moment that we’re able to see God more clearly.

Grateful for ……………..clean air and water. There are so many that live in areas where they don’t have such luxuries but yet I take them for granted on a daily basis. I pray that I will remember my blessings breathing and being filled each day.

Genesis 2:15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.

Grateful for…………. the ears of a friend and my own ears and God’s ears. Life is………… well………….just life. I love when I’m so happy that I could burst or when the pain is so great that my heart is breaking and I can call a friend. To have an ear to listen to my cries of joy or of pain is simply all that is needed at times. I have learned so much about hope and contentment from listening to others in their times of crying out. Those times have taught me to rejoice and to have compassion. Then there is God. The God of relationship. The one that is always listening for me to cry out to Him with my joys and my pain. He is my ultimate comforter.

John 10:27-28 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

Mark 4:24 And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you.

Psalm 25:4-5 Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.

1 John 5:14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.

Grateful for…………..God’s creation. Particularly animals today. As I sit and watch the birds out my window. He is a God of great imagination. Hundreds of different breads of animals but just in the bird species there are over 10,000 different types. They are amazing and sweet little creatures.They instinctively flutter around doing their daily chores seemingly without any question about what they should be doing. My favorite is the hummer, they are just so sweet and fragile but are fast as lightening. And even those little things have so many different characteristics. God, yes, He has the imagination. And He placed them all here for us to enjoy.

Grateful for……….. examples of Love. Love unconditionally! Exactly what does that mean? Well unconditional means “not limited in any way : complete and absolute”. So is that even possible. Jesus has shown that it is many times.

John 13:34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her

Leviticus 19:18 “‘Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.

I have to admit that there has been times when I have loved “myself” more than I love the other. I am convicted to Not live my life that way. I am to love as he has loved me, give myself up for the other and love as I love myself.

Grateful for…………. provisions. This is definitely a time of us getting our fill of provisions. I’m grateful that I’ve never felt the affects of not having food on my table. But there are those that do. Today and through the days ahead I pray that I don’t forgot those who need. I pray that I will look for ways to provide for others through the provisions that I have been given.

Grateful for…………… time. I have time today to rest. I’ll have time tomorrow to be busy. I’ve had time gone by to make memories. But I don’t know when my time will be gone. So I am going to make the most of the time I have right now to love others, right my wrongs, offer hope, give out kisses & tickles to my grand babies, make the most of family time, look at the stars in wonderment, soak in the sunshine, dance in the rain, wrap up in a warm blanket, help someone in need, lend a shoulder, an ear and a word of encouragement and share the word of God to those who need too hear it.

Grateful for……….. technology. I will be the first to say, “technology is the ruin of relationships”. Texting, emailing, internet searches, and the list could go on and on of the things that technology can do to harm our relationships. It’s like any other addiction. You have to walk away from it and not let it control you. But for me, technology is a way that I can feel close to those that I’m geographically far away from. To continue that connection with them in a way that I wouldn’t be able to if we did’t have it. Yes, we could still do snail mail or call them on my corded home phone but to be able to visually see them, makes a huge difference. Yes, I spend a lot of time on the computer but I pray that I’m reaching someone that I might not be able to reach otherwise and sharing the word of God with them. But as I was talking with a friend yesterday on the phone and as our phones were peeping from the incoming group texts & emails she said, “I had to put my phone away and pay attention to the people that were right in front of me”. That is sometimes where we lack. Going out with friends or with your spouse but spending more time on the phone than with the ones right in front of us. That is when the addiction is taking over. So I say, enjoy our technology, catch up and keep up with those who live away from us but when there is a “real” person in the room with you, put the technology down. God is a God of Relationships!

Grateful for……………. Sunshine! Warms my soul and a reminder from the Lord that even when there are stormy days he promises that the Sun will rise and a new day will come.

2 Corinthians 4:16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.

Luke 1:78-80 A new day will dawn on us from above because our God is loving and merciful. He will give light to those who live in the dark and in death’s shadow.

He will guide us into the way of peace.”

Grateful for…………. forgiveness. Christ was the perfect example of forgiveness. He was beat and slandered. His friends turned against him. But yet He died for me!

Grateful for………… Grace! For me the sinner! I try everyday by my own will and I fail everyday by my own will. But when I tap into the heart of Jesus daily, I may still fail but I’m covered by Grace. He covers it all, regardless of how great or how small the sin, it’s still sin but He knows my heart and He loves me in the middle of it.

Grateful for……….. Community! I love being by myself but I also love community. The feeling of togetherness. Doesn’t matter if it’s within the confounds of my home with my family, the confounds of the church, the confounds of my job, the confounds of a simple meal with a friend or the confounds of a celebration with many, there is just something about unified community. I’m grateful that the Lord blessed me with so many.

How about you?