The first time I remember making it a heart-goal to teach our children appreciation began this way… At our son’s 6th birthday party, during the gift opening portion: Son: (wildly tearing at the paper) What is it? Oh it’s a battleship. My Grammy already got me this. Then, he opened the next gift. Son: (pulling off the bow and paper, tossing the card aside, unread): A Nerf gun! My Grammy got me one of these just last week. In front of all the parents and children watching, I wanted to die then and there on the spot. My son needed …
When Thanksgiving Gets Stuck in Your Throat
Not everyone will have had a happy Thanksgiving…especially this year. Many are out of work, have issues relating to health, children, or family. Some are facing the holiday season for the first time as they mourn the loss of a loved one or as a divorcee. So, what happens to their thanksgiving and praise when their peace disintegrates into chaos? As I go through trial after trial, circumstance after circumstance, what happens to my praise and thanksgiving? What happens when my day is darkened with a multitude of problems? Do I still sing to Him anyway? You bet! When my …
Happy Thanksgiving!
Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth. Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before Him with joyful singing. Know that the LORD Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving And His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name. For the LORD is good; His loving-kindness is everlasting And His faithfulness to all generations. -Psalm 100 Today I pray that you and your family will, “serve the LORD with gladness, and come before …
Giving Thanks A Challenge & The M.O.M. Initiative Monday Link Up!
“. . . give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18 My heart felt raw and prickly – as if somehow the circumstances of my life had ripped a layer of skin off my soul and left a raw pulsating mass. It wasn’t one big event, but the bumps and hard knocks of a multitude of tiny things that resulted in one irritated mass in the center of my chest. My refrigerator was on the blink, coursework weighed heavy, and my house was a disaster. I sat in front of …
A Holiday-Ready Heart
Maybe November and December are your two favorite months of the year. Perhaps preparing for, living through, and cleaning up after the holidays don’t phase you in the least. You may have your Christmas shopping all done, your cards ready to mail, and your menus completely planned. If these are true for you, then The PURSE-onality Challenge “A Holiday-Ready Heart” is not designed for you. (But please join us anyhow and give us your best advice!) However, if you… dread dragging out the holiday decorations… wonder how what should be “the best of times” often ends up …