A Thankful Season

In November many of my friends posted one thing that they were thankful as their Facebook status.  I always find it an interesting thing. Some appreciate things like sleeping late while others take the time to thank God for just waking up. I always thought about doing it, but I don’t actually get in Facebook every day.  Yet I consider myself a pretty grateful person. I recognize that it is in Him that I have my being and without Him nothing is possible. But I also recognize that this can easily become church speak and empty rhetoric and not a way of life.

There is a time to love, hate, kill and hate (Ecclesiastes 3). I am a firm believer that however you feel it is ok to feel it.  The key is to remember that there is a season for negative emotions or elements, however they should not reside within us. Have the feeling, understand where it comes from, and take the necessary steps not cross that bridge again. One of the things that I have found helpful when I am in my lowest moments is to remind myself to be thankful.

I learned a long time ago that worry, a defeat, anger, and other negative feelings can’t exist when I am in a state of thankfulness. I choose to be thankful. This is no easy task, I remind myself daily and during the beginning, middle and end of every challenge to focus on saying thank you. I see it in the lives of my family, friends and coworkers and thanks to folks on cellphones I hear it from passersby. My response is always to thank God that the person is in my life even for that passing second. I do believe in intercessory prayer and I am thanking for those who have interceded on my behalf.

Many of us “say grace” because that’s what we were taught to do. The Bible commands us to pray without ceasing (I Thessalonians 5:17). Simply prayer is communication with God. God is not an ATM. So a part of prayer requires us to be thankful for who God is in our lives. We have to thank Him for being the I AM that I Am (Exodus 3:14).

Most of us do a good job at thanking God, but sometimes we can get forget how much we have to be thankful for.  We get caught up in our day and start eating without saying grace, the alarm doesn’t go off, we forget to thank Him for waking us up, busier at work and before we know it we have gone all day without talking to God. A day like this leaves us disconnected from the source of our life.

We have to remember to tap in. Praying is not about being seen or heard by others. Thankfully God is omnipresent and we can always talk to him. By saying thank you to Him we win. Thank you wipes away thoughts of depression, we start to realize all that God has done for us and all off the promises God has for our lives. Both the old and new testament (Deuteronomy 31:6 and Hebrews 13:5) make it clear that God is with us.  

On today I pray that you remember to be thankful!

Be Thankful!

Today I am especially thankful for Girlfriends Pray. Their daily posts are incredibly inspirational. I am also incredibly thankful for LaKeisha Rainey-Collins who runs Beauty for Ashes and LRC Editing. Today she posted a free guide that challenged me to remember why I started this blog.

Ooops, My Bad!

A few years ago the expression my bad became a part of America’s lexicon. When one says my bad the speaker adding insult to injury by acknowledging that s/he did something wrong while offering no real apology. Just as too many people insincerely say, I’m sorry. Apologies should be reserved for those instances when one is truly sorry, is acknowledging wants to ask forgiveness and does differently as appropriate.

I do love Wendy Williams. She says it like she means it and while there are times that I could staple her mouth shut; I get her and realize that she unapologetically expresses herself.  I don’t get to watch the show as often as I may like but I do enjoy the fashion and talk when I do catch it.  To that end I came up with a few things that I will not say I am sorry for:

·         My love for Christ

·         I am a Christian and I am not ashamed to admit and I am not sorry so I won’t apologize for it.  

·         If you ride in the car with me you are agree to listen to Christian music. You don’t have to listen as you don’t have to ride in my car.  

·         Seatbelts for all passengers in  my car and car seats for children under 8

·         How I opt to rear my children

·         They are indeed my children. I find mothers more than any other group tend to be the most judgmental of other mothers. My decision works for my family. It’s not an indicator that your choice isn’t a good one.

·         My love for all people

·         I really do love everyone. I dislike the ways of some people, but I do love them. See point one for why I love every

I have never apologized for these things. Apologizing should not be mistaken for a sign of weakness.  I do apologize as I do believe in being polite, courteous, and if I am wrong I like to fix the problem.

Roman 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ

Say it like you mean it!  What are you not apologizing for? Have you ever apologized for these thing(s)?

Be Thankful!

Be Unique

Earlier this evening I was thinking about a question that I was asked on Christmas. My daughter was playing with a group of children and her behavior left much to be desired. I called her out on it and encouraged her to think about what she was doing and not just follow the crowd. By the way, she is still a toddler.  I was later asked if I was minded if she played with the others.  The answer to that question was, is and will always be an unapologetic resounding YES.  I am her mother and I do mind who she is playing with whether she is in my presence or not I want her to make good sound decisions.

Simply neither of my children can do everything that other children are doing because it is family. I am their parent and as one of the two people who God has given a direct charge I won’t allow or encourage them to be destructive, behave poorly, be disrespectful or display any other ill behavior because I don’t want to offend someone.

The people that we are around, the music that we listen to all affect us. The things that we hear, see, feel, taste, smell all become a part of our fabric.  I implore you to guard your ears and eyes as you would guard those of a newborn. Don’t be fooled. You don’t have to go with the flow under the guise of being a peacekeeper if it means compromising your beliefs.  You can always demand change by removing yourself.

 

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

Be Thankful!

Evaluation

 

Now that we are in the twelfth month of yet another year I am taking inventory of my life. That includes this blog. To say that I am disappointed with my lack of writing is a bit of an understatement. I definitely enjoy bogging. However, I have been spending much of the time that I should be blogging reading other blogs. I have a blog roll which gives you a pretty good idea of what I enjoy reading.

 

I really want this to be a lifestyle blog and next year I am going to spend more time devoting to working on that. With that said Christ is very much the center of my life so I will always talk about God, but I am also a wife, mother, sister, friend, daughter, employee, student and oh so much more. I love fashion, entertainment, and enjoying reading a good book (not on an electronic device). I want this to evolve into a forum where we can give reviews and swap ideas.

 

Thanks for coming along for the ride. Hold on tight!

Be Thankful!

Beautifully wonderfully made

Every morning and evening my kids and I say our prayer. At their young ages I teach them thank God for protecting during the night and waking us. We focus on giving God praise and just giving God thanks.

As a doting mother I have emphatically declared that I have the most beautiful smartest four year-old and the most charismatic handsome two year-old too.  See, this isn’t just my opinion. They are fearfully and wonderfully made. It’s right there in the Bible. 

When I look at my own life, the lives of my friends and family members I believe that some of our issues are can be traced back to the fact that we often forget that we are indeed fearfully and wonderfully made. I mean we all believe that we put the twinkle into our parents’ eyes but the fact of the matter is that they too are fearfully and wonderfully made.

It is true that our brains and our hearts are designed by God, but he also created us in his image and carefully placed each eye lash protecting our eyes, the hair on your hair, and the length of your fingers each cell was designed by God. Although omniscient he definitely gives us choices and allows us reign over our bodies.  

Too many people allow others to tear them apart and declare them flawed. If we stop and truly appreciate what we are and whose think about how much better we would be.

Be Thankful!