Turning on a new lamp
I read something yesterday that inspired me to begin a journey of intentional gratitude. While I am not an ungrateful person, I think there is room to improve my perspective. I want to live a grateful, thankful life. It is very easy to let my thoughts drift to negative things. I worry about things. I get frustrated. There are days that my family is exhausting and my work is overwhelming and I am just spent......but I am old enough to know that this is how it has been and likely how it will always be. We will not get a break from the work of the day, the financial burden, the negativity in our home or in the world. Social injustice will continue to prevail...and the devil will stay busy. For a season.
If I raise my awareness of all that is good and joyful and worthy of thanks and praise, then my ability to navigate this world will happen with a beacon of light instead of a shadow of darkness. As the bible says in Luke 11:33, " No one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light."
I am hoping and will pray that when I write about gratitude, it can be a kind of lamp for anyone reading it, and for me. Ultimately, I write for an audience of two.....Jesus and me. If others happen to catch a post here or there and are also lifted up, well that's just an extra measure of blessing.
I am grateful for Thanksgiving holiday. On Tuesday night we watched Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. I love all things Charlie Brown and his Peanuts gang.....and we couldn't find the dvd I had purchased years ago so Roger graciously bought it (again) on our smart TV. There was a second movie that came on that was more educational but still had the Peanuts gang included and told the story of coming over on ships and landing on American soil and all the obstacles and hardships that were involved. I learned a lot, actually. One statement in the movie stood out to me. They said that America was the first country to make a holiday out of being thankful. I've never considered that before. I think its pretty cool.
Our country has a lot of flaws for sure.....but we declared a day to be Thankful. History and leadership of this great land carved out a day on the calendar every year, for families and friends to gather and to focus on being thankful. Yesterday I made sweet potatoes and cream corn and deviled eggs and we drove out to my cousins' home to gather with people we don't see very often, and share a meal and some laughs and reconnect. We came home and lit the fireplace and watched football. In the evening Roger and I strung the lights on the Christmas tree that we chopped down the day before with the kids.
I am so grateful for the people I do life with. I am grateful that they want to be with me on holidays and that we can settle in and just be present in the same place and feel at peace. The peace of Thanksgiving is, for me, a gift from the Lord.
If I raise my awareness of all that is good and joyful and worthy of thanks and praise, then my ability to navigate this world will happen with a beacon of light instead of a shadow of darkness. As the bible says in Luke 11:33, " No one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light."
I am hoping and will pray that when I write about gratitude, it can be a kind of lamp for anyone reading it, and for me. Ultimately, I write for an audience of two.....Jesus and me. If others happen to catch a post here or there and are also lifted up, well that's just an extra measure of blessing.
I am grateful for Thanksgiving holiday. On Tuesday night we watched Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. I love all things Charlie Brown and his Peanuts gang.....and we couldn't find the dvd I had purchased years ago so Roger graciously bought it (again) on our smart TV. There was a second movie that came on that was more educational but still had the Peanuts gang included and told the story of coming over on ships and landing on American soil and all the obstacles and hardships that were involved. I learned a lot, actually. One statement in the movie stood out to me. They said that America was the first country to make a holiday out of being thankful. I've never considered that before. I think its pretty cool.
Our country has a lot of flaws for sure.....but we declared a day to be Thankful. History and leadership of this great land carved out a day on the calendar every year, for families and friends to gather and to focus on being thankful. Yesterday I made sweet potatoes and cream corn and deviled eggs and we drove out to my cousins' home to gather with people we don't see very often, and share a meal and some laughs and reconnect. We came home and lit the fireplace and watched football. In the evening Roger and I strung the lights on the Christmas tree that we chopped down the day before with the kids.
I am so grateful for the people I do life with. I am grateful that they want to be with me on holidays and that we can settle in and just be present in the same place and feel at peace. The peace of Thanksgiving is, for me, a gift from the Lord.
Cherish those special people you do life with. They each are a blessing
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