Do you find yourself, like I do, caught in the middle of the end of November, and the beginning of December?

This week feels a bit like “limbo” to me. Are Thanksgiving and Fall over? Do I take down the Fall decor and decorate for Christmas? Do I have enough energy, creativity, time and money to do it right? I want my house to look a certain way, but isn’t that exactly how I felt about the last season? I want my tree to be perfect. I want to serve freshly baked cookies to my guests, not store bought ones. I want each gift bought with care and concern, and wrapped with that persons favorite paper. I want to keep every tradition, be at every function and , Oh Yes, I want to look spectacular as well!

I’m exhausted just writing this! Are you exhausted reading it?

The bible tells me that,

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens…”
Ecclesiastes 3:1

But was the writer of this Old Testament verse aware of life in the 21st century?
I mean seriously, the demands, the pressures, the EXPECTATIONS!

WAIT A MINUTE, The Bible is TRUTH, GOD knows ALL things, and if He said it, it is TRUE!

So, if the issue is not with God, or my culture, it must be with ME!

My search for Perfection in “DOING” is my Issue!

As I was pondering and praying about what to write this Blog on, which falls in the “LIMBO” place of after Thanksgiving and before Christmas. I found myself all consumed with the dilemma of being sought between having the “Perfect” Thanksgiving and the “Perfect” Christmas. As I was asking God to help me, I was handed this beautiful children’s story book by the third grade teacher I am working with this year. She said it was her favorite Christmas story.

I had never read it before! As I turned each beautifully illustrated page, I quickly realized God was speaking to me!

In this lovely book written by Richard H. Schneider, the tale is told of the search for the “PERFECT” Christmas tree. As the Queen enters the forest to select her “PERFECT” tree, she discovers that the “IMPERFECTIONS” she sees in the small Pine are marks of the evidence of the tree living for others and not itself.

The moral of the story is:
“Living for the sake of others makes us most beautiful in the eyes of God.”

I realized through this simple tale, that it is not my decorations that people care about, it is my heart to open up my home to them. It is not the fact that I slaved over baking fresh cookies that makes others want to be in my home, it is the fact that I cared enough to serve them something. And it certainly is not the way I look in my fashionable outfit that makes people want to spend time with me, but the fact that I care, I listen, I make the time and I love them.

TRUTH BOMB

IMPERFECTION IS PERFECTION IN CHRIST

When I love others, do things for others and not myself, and love with the love of Jesus Christ, I AM MADE PERFECT IN HIM!

Speak Truth Love

Today is a very special day in my life! Twenty eight years ago today, my baby boy was born. He has been a gift from God since the day he was born, and he continues to be. It is easy on a day like today for me to be “THANKFUL!” It’s also the week that our Nation sets aside an entire day to “GIVE THANKS!” WE gather together around tables loaded with our favorite foods and desserts and eat, laugh, love and give thanks with our nearest and dearest family and friends. This day is also easy for me to “GIVE THANKS.”

But what about the other days of my week? What about the days when I miss my boy, my girl, my grand babies and feel like my family and friends are far away and loneliness sets in. What about the days leading up to the Grand Thanksgiving Day Feast, and I am shopping and feeling stressed about spending too much money, I am fighting the crazy, busy traffic and praying for a parking spot, and I am tired and fatigued from cleaning my house and preparing my food. What about then? What about the “in-between” times when the “GIVING THANKS” is not so easy?

It is in these times, the “in-between” and not so easy times, that Psalm 105:1 gives me perspective and direction.

“Give thanks to The Lord and proclaim His greatness. Let the whole world know what He has done.”  Psalm 105:1

Today as I focus on giving thanks to God because He DESERVES it, and not because it is easy to do, or a day set aside to do so. I am thankful for Thanksgiving and very thankful that America still observes a Day to Give Thanks! I am truly thankful for my son and his birthday and for his sister who was born two and a half years before he was. But as thankful as I feel about these obvious ways to be thankful and to give thanks, the true reason I give thanks is because my God is GREAT, and the whole world needs to know it!!!

TRUTH BOMB

“GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD AND PROCLAIM HIS GREATNESS. LET THE WHOLE WORLD KNOW WHAT HE HAS DONE.”  PSALM 105:1

That’s right, God’s Truth is my TRUTH BOMB this week, because there is NO GREATER REASON TO GIVE THANKS!!!

So this Thanksgiving Day when I wear my ‘GRATEFUL, THANKFUL, BLESSED’ tee, and sit down with my family and friends to eat way more than I should at our Thanksgiving table, I give thanks to The Lord and proclaim His greatness!  And, as I go out into my community, church, and school the days that follow, and I fight the traffic, fight the fatigue, fight the frustration and fight every little thing that comes with living this life, “I will let the whole world know what He has done!” I will do my best to thank God in the middle of the fight, so that my attitude toward the traffic, fatigue, and frustration of life turns from negative to positive and quietly, even silently, proclaims “to the whole world what God has done for me!”

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!

May we continue to GIVE THANKS to our Lord each and every day and therefore proclaim his greatness. And may we live an attitude of thanks, so that the whole world will know what He has done!

Speak Truth Love

“Give thanks to the Lord for He is good! His faithful love endures forever.”
Psalm 118:1

The Thankful Challenge Week One has come to an end. How did you do? Did you thank God each day this week before you asked Him for something? Not an easy practice, is it?

Practice is exactly what it takes. Specialists tell us that in order for anything to become a habit, we must do it over and over again, at least 7 times or more! The more we do it, the better we become at it. Professionals who work with memorization and brain function say that repeating something 7 or more times to yourself out loud helps it stay in your memory.

We see in scripture the Israelites practicing this discipline as they lift their thanks to God through thick and thin.

The scripture I shared above in Psalm 118, is repeated throughout the old Testament again and again.

“Give thanks to The Lord for He is good! His faithful love endures forever.”
Psalm 118:1
1 Chronicles 16:34
Psalm 106:1
Psalm 107:1
Psalm 118:29
Psalm 136:1…

God’s people knew that when they were pleasing Him and even when they were not, they were to give thanks to The Lord.

Is it any different for you and I today?

Is God any different for you and I today?
NO and NO!
God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow, and His faithful Love endures forever!

If the Israelites needed to thank God over and over, SO DO WE!

So let’s keep it up friends! Let’s continue to thank God for who He Is, what He has done, and what He will do!

After all,

Truth Bomb

“God’s Faithful Love Endures Forever!”

I’ll start off the Thankful Challenge for Week Two!

I am Thankful for God’s LOVE! His Love is complete and perfect! In God’s Love I am made whole! God’s Love is not an aspect or piece of who He is, It is ALL HE IS! GOD IS LOVE!

I am Thankful that God Loves ME!

God Loves you too Friends!
Share your Thanks in the comments below and we will all continue to be blessed by each other!

Praying you feel God’s GREAT LOVE for you this week!
I am thankful for all of you!

Speak Truth Love

 

“GIVE THANKS WITH A GRATEFUL HEART, GIVE THANKS TO THE HOLY ONE, GIVE THANKS BECAUSE HE’S GIVEN JESUS CHRIST, HIS SON!”

Is there any greater reason to Give Thanks to God? God has given us His most treasured possession, His Son, Jesus Christ!

To give thanks is defined in the dictionary as: “expressing gratitude, appreciation, or acknowledgement.”

Does this not describe the attitude of our hearts and spirits as we take in the full awareness of what God has done for us?

I mean, seriously, I can have as many complaints, needs and wants as the next person. However, when I pause, and take in the reality of what God has given me and done for me, I AM IN AWE!

I have Jesus! I have a Savior who has conquered death and conquered the enemy! I have Hope that sustains me even when the tragedies of life discourage me and do not make sense! I have forgiveness when I do not deserve it. I have a new morning to wake up to, knowing that no matter how badly I blew it the day before, “This is the day the Lord has made, I can rejoice and be glad in it!” And most of all, I have eternal life with God forever and ever! Whatever becomes of this life here on earth, I will finally be going HOME someday, and that HOME is perfect and has no end!

In the book of Colossians it puts it this way,

“Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom He gives. Sing Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with THANKFUL HEARTS. And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, GIVING THANKS through Him to God The Father.”
Colossians 3:16-17

We are to Give Thanks to God for what He has done for us by giving us Jesus Christ. We are to be His representatives to everyone who sees us, knows us, or encounters us here on this earth. “In whatever you do or say, represent The Lord Jesus, and GIVE THANKS through Him to God The Father!”

So, do you want to take a CHALLENGE with me? A GIVING THANKS CHALLENGE!

The month of November always reminds me to be thankful! I mean after all, it is when we celebrate THANKSGIVING!

I would like to challenge all of us to GIVE THANKS TO GOD EACH AND EVERY DAY OF NOVEMBER!
Before you ask God for anything, thank Him! If you cannot think of anything to thank Him for (which I find very hard to believe), then thank Him each and everyday for Jesus!

Truth Bomb

Giving thanks lightens our hearts!

We will not only be practicing faithfulness to God by doing this, but I think we will all be surprised at how quickly our hearts will become lighter, our spirits will be lifted, and smiles will start to spread across our faces. Then we will be “representing Him to others around us.” They will see the evidence of Him in our lives though the way we look and act!

I am going to share one BIG thing I am thankful for, each week here on the blog through the month of November. I also challenge you to do the same! Put what you are most thankful for each week in the comments. I have a smile on my face just thinking about the happiness we will all bring each other by “giving thanks together!”

With so much pain and sorrow in the world around us, it’s about time we started GIVING THANKS TO THE ONE WHO IS SO DESERVING!

GIVING THANKS CHALLENGE: Week One!
I am thankful for our SERVE DAY AT SEBASTOPOL CHRISTIAN CHURCH. I am thankful for the over 60 people who showed up early on a Saturday morning to serve their community in the name of Jesus! I am thankful to our loving, giving friends who donated our t-shirts so we could all go out, unified, and lift up the name of Jesus as we served our community. I am thankful for the feeling of working hard side-by-side to bless someone else. I am thankful for the health God gave to each one who participated. GOD IS GOOD!

I look forward to reading THANKS AFTER THANKS as each of us turn our hearts toward God and give Him the thanks He is due!

HAPPY ‘GIVING THANKS SEASON’ EVERYONE! I AM TRULY THANKFUL FOR EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU!

Speak Truth Love