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WHEN LIFE IS HARD…COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS!: GIVING THANKS THAT WITH GOD, ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE!

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Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands!
2 Serve the Lord with gladness;
Come before His presence with singing.
3 Know that the Lord, He is God;
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
And into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
5 For the Lord is good;
His mercy is everlasting,
And His truth endures to all generations.
Psalm 100 (NKJV)

GIVING THANKS THAT WITH GOD, ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE!

 

On Thanksgiving Day I pray you and your family had a grand old time. I pray you counted your blessings to each other and to God.

Nativity-300x249Especially today in our seemingly self-sufficient world, we need to realize we need God. We need to understand we are dependent on Him for our daily lives. Whether we want to admit it or not, we simply cannot be all we need to be and do all we need to do without His help.

When we finally understand this fact, it will create in us a thankful heart. A thankful heart will produce the peace and joy we all crave. And Christmas is all about peace and joy!

I love holiday celebrations! As we head into the Christmas season, I pray we will remember to show a thankful and giving heart to the stressed and hurting around us. As we prepare to celebrate the birth of our Savior, let’s remember to show the joy of Jesus and His love on our faces and in our voices. People are in desperate need of it.

They will see that having joy in this season doesn’t revolve around how much money we spend or how many gifts we give or get.

It revolves around remembering the Reason for the season – Jesus – and sharing that Reason with those around us. LET THE HOLIDAY’S BEGIN!

Brenda

WHEN LIFE IS HARD…COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS!

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Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands!
2 Serve the Lord with gladness;
Come before His presence with singing.
3 Know that the Lord, He is God;
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
And into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
5 For the Lord is good;
His mercy is everlasting,
And His truth endures to all generations.
Psalm 100 (NKJV)
 

GIVING THANKS FOR THE BLESSING OF FAMILY

 

woman-on-phone-300x200The telephone rang. “Hello,” I answered. My daughter–in-law Leigh was on the other end of the call. “Nana, are you busy?” She always asks that question when she calls. Of course, I rarely answer her with the truth … I’m always busy. But, not too busy to talk to my girls. Girls. It took 25 years before a girl joined this testosterone, male dominated family of ours; 31 years to have a female born into it—our first granddaughter, Natalie.

But I digress…”Nana, are you busy on October 18th and 19th?” Leigh inquired. My thoughts ran wild as I tried to envision my calendar. “Whatever it is, I need to clear it,” I thought, “because I bet I’m about to be invited to keep my grandsons while Mom and Dad take an overnighter.”

Because of mission trips, writing deadlines and ministry business, I hadn’t been able to spend much time with the grandchildren for a couple of months. Lonely for them, I was afraid they were feeling like second fiddle—neglected for The Cause. That concern always brings conviction to my heart—that I’d let ministry duties get out of balance.

Mothers and Grandmothers do that sometimes. We get busy with Important Stuff. Good Stuff. Jobs, church work, ministry, volunteer causes, hobbies, walk-a-thons—whatever.  Before you know it, we’re over-committed. And tired. And cranky. And forgetful. And if we don’t stop the process, our family relationships will suffer.

Family. After our relationship with God, it’s our first priority. It’s our most important blessing. God meant family to be the foundation of our lives on earth, not a sideline thought. He created family to be the foundation—the glue of society. When we cease to put Him and Them first, our whole lives get out of whack.

So, I listened closely to Leigh to see if my suspicions were correct. Was I going to get an invitation to lay down my responsibilities in ministry to serve my family and fellowship with my precious grandsons, Asher and Mason? Ah, but wait! Serving our family and fellowshipping with them IS ministry! Our most important one!

Leigh’s voice came through the phone once more. “Can the boys stay with you that Wednesday and Thursday? Brady and I have to go out of town for his job …”

“Yes! Now, what will we do those days?” I thought.

Join us tomorrow as the planning, and the joy … begins!

Until tomorrow,

Your Traveling Companion,

Brenda