Being Thankful On Purpose

There are times in everyone's lives when you just plain have a bad day.  Even if things are going well, and you're feeling good... sometimes you still have a crappy attitude. (And when I say "you" I mean "me" too!)  So I'm challenging myself, and you, to be thankful on purpose. I have SO much to be thankful for, that sometimes I need to remind myself. 

1. I am thankful that God's mercies are new every morning. NO matter how badly I screw up, He will forgive, truly forget, and start every new day with a clean slate. That needs to be number one on EVERYONE'S thankful list.

2. I am thankful that we have a wood burner, and don't have to pay almost $4.00 a gallon for fuel oil to heat our house. I'm thankful we have woods all around us and don't have to pay for wood. I am thankful that Doug is able to get all the wood we need for winter without paying someone else to get it. Praise God!

3. I am thankful that my husband is a Christian man, has a good job, is hard working, faithful, trustworthy, loving, a wonderful provider and a great dad. (He's awfully cute too!)

4. I am thankful I have a beautiful, healthy, smart, loving, busy, crazy, amazing, gregarious, precocious, full-of-life son, when I thought I never could. Miracles happen, folks.  I'm living proof.

5. I am thankful for the friends that I have that I know I can count on for WHATever, WHENever. Thank you for letting me know that I can depend on you, call you in the middle of the night (only for an emergency, I promise!)…I love you and appreciate you more than you can know.

6. I am thankful I have a computer, and internet, because it allows me to keep in touch with everyone I love.

7. I am thankful for music. It moves me like nothing else can.

8. I am thankful that although I have health issues, I can see and hear. I can walk, and talk, maybe not perfectly, but I can.  I'm so, so, so thankful for the IonCleanse.  It has given me my life back.  Thank you, Lord!!

9. I am thankful that this life is not all we have. That when the time comes, I will be in the presence of God Almighty, and I long to hear "Well done, good and faithful servant." I will be whole again. There will be no more night. No more pain. No more tears. Hallelujah! I will be reunited with those gone before, and meet fellow Christian friends I have not had the privilege to meet in this lifetime.

10. I am thankful for YOU, yes you!  The one who is taking the time to read my words.  I am thankful you read this, and I want you to know you are loved.

May we all find something we are thankful for today. I'd love to hear what YOU'RE thankful for...leave a comment!

¹ Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord;
    let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
² Let us come before him with thanksgiving
    and extol him with music and song.

³ For the Lord is the great God,
    the great King above all gods.

Psalm 95:1-3

Do YOU Like Jigsaw Puzzles?

I don't. I hate them. (Remember the whole "passion" post?) Yah. I hate them with a passion. I do NOT understand how people can do like 1000 piece puzzles and stay sane. Honestly. I do not have the patience for them. (See previous post!) : ) I can barely do the 100 piece ones that I do with Jacob. (Why, yes, he is only 3, and yes, he IS a genuis!) Anyway, back to the point. Jigsaw puzzles, hatred of them, and impatience regarding them.

A wonderful college friend, Mary had this quote on her blog this morning: (You really need to hear her story!!)

"When we face struggles, we often wonder, "Why?" Years from now, though, we may realize that it was those struggles that taught us something we could not have otherwise learned - that there was purpose in our pain. God's purpose is greater than your pain, and He has a greater purpose than your problems."
Max Lucado Daily: Everyday Blessings

Whoo! Halellujah for that!!!

I was once again struck by the jigsaw analogy...which is, in my humble opinion, the only thing they are good for! Oh, that or you can glue the really, really pretty ones together and frame them. I digress...

I think that sometimes we get so overwhelmed (I know I do!) with it all we forget that we only see an itty, bitty part of the BIG picture. We are but one piece in the entire jigsaw puzzle of millions of pieces....only God sees the finished product, and how they all fit together!

This can be awfully hard to fathom. So many times I have been so encased in my own pain and suffering that I can't even imagine how anyone could benefit from it, let alone me...how ANYTHING good could come of suffering. Then I really stop and think about it. How I handle what happens to me is a reflection of God in me.
Do you see what I mean? If I am going through a tough time, and I complain and whine and shake my fist at God (Not that I haven't done that, because, BELIEVE me I have!!), what does that say about MY GOD? On the other hand, if I can muster up the courage to praise Him?

In the New Testament, Paul praised God when he was in chains, literally standing in running, raw sewage up to his knees. He is a better man than I! Standing in poop. Chained up. Praising God. Whoa. Oh, to be that committed, that in love, that dedicated, that full of belief and peace in God! Truly my heart's desire.

I see SUCH a pathetically small picture of my life. If I could rise above, and just see how it fits into all the other pieces, and how THEY fit into others'. But I guess that's why we have to have faith, and trust that God knows what He's doing.

Do you? Do you trust that God has YOUR best interests at heart? He does, ya know. I may not know why, but if I know ANYTHING, I know that the Bible is God's Word, and His Word is infallible and perfect. It is complete. And it tells us that He works ALL THINGS together for GOOD for those who love Him. He never said it would be easy, but He said He would work it all out. Rest in that today!!