In EVERYTHING – Give Thanks

I stopped by a friend’s home a few days ago. Understandably, she is distraught because her high-school-senior-son is missing out on his final year of baseball, as well as missing out on his Senior Prom. And she went on to feel sorry for those college students who are delayed in their graduations and other friends who are having to cancel or postpone their weddings. I get it. It’s a difficult and disappointing time for so many.

I responded to her by telling her about my morning “aha”. I know this is TMI (too much information), but it’s my truth. I say: “I am sitting on my toilet this morning. I am pooping. I say to God: ‘Thank you so much for my system working so good. Thank you for this toilet. Thank you for the water in this toilet. Thank you for this bathroom that has a door on it and it’s indoors. Thank you for water to drink. Thank you for my home. Thank you for my lights. Thank you for technology. Thank you for YOU, God – Who promises to never leave me or forsake me.’”

She got the picture. And, so do you. It’s expressing gratitude for what we do have. It’s seeing the bigger picture that this all will pass and we’ll be telling our grandchildren about the 2020 pandemic. We will talk about the faithfulness of God Who brought us through while telling them about those who got very sick and many who lost their lives. This time will go down in the history books.

Yes, we are inconvenienced. Yes, we are missing spending times with friends and family. Yes, we miss going to church and concerts and sports games and restaurants and previously planned events. Yes, we want to go back to “business as usual”. Yes, we want our “normal” to be normal again.

But, instead of what we don’t have or what we don’t get to do – let’s consider what we do have. So, what to do when we don’t know what to do? We count our blessings – even name them one by one. I mean it. Since you’re at home with your kiddos – why not play the “I am so blessed” game. “You have one minute to tell us what you’re thankful for!” I did the exercise. I gave myself one minute, using my phone app. Ready! Set! Go!

I heard my dishwasher running. I wrote down "dishwasher". My eyes went to my piano that Papa played, I play, and our grandson plays. I wrote down "piano". I was seeing -- I wrote down "my eyes", and hearing -- "my ears"; I was sitting in a comfy chair -- "my furniture"; I saw my computer -- I wrote down "computer and internet". I glanced over at my refrigerator -- I wrote down "refrigerator".

When we express gratitude, rather than being bugged and annoyed by this time when we can’t do anything about it in the natural, we can express to God how thankful we are for what we do have. A grateful heart sees each day as a gift. Thankful people focus less on what they lack and more on the privileges and blessings they have. The grateful heart is like a magnet that collects reasons for gratitude -- for the paper clip to hold those pages together; for the milk in our cereal; for the song that soothes us; for the clock we hear ticking; for the light that turns on; for the car that takes us to the OPEN grocery store. Thank you, Lord!

May this time of uncertainty and inconvenience, become a time of really being thankful people for what we do have. May we choose gratitude as a habit that we choose daily as a way of life – even after this crisis is over. May we be overwhelmed with the beauty and abundance of all God has given us!

Every Cloud Has a Silver Lining

It was the 3rd night of our Southern Caribbean cruise (it was our annual, romantic get-away), when, suddenly, the lights began to flicker and the engines came to a screeching halt. It was a dramatic sight as people ran to their cabins to get their life jackets. Fear consumed most of the passengers. We knew many were thinking "TITANIC!" We later learned the engine had caught on fire. Of course there was legitimate cause for anxiety and discouragement. But, Ron and I were completely calm since we were cruising veterans, and were led by our faith. We became the voice of reason to encourage and settle down passengers, and help the crew bring peace to the situation. The ship was towed to Montego Bay (150 miles away), and several 747 jets took the 1,500+ guests back to our home destinations. Many people were very upset about the inconvenience, and that their cruise had ended so abruptly, but Ron and I kept thinking "something good is going to come out of this". That’s the “thought” option we have always purposed to have when the surprises of life happen. We can join with the crowd that looks for the worst in any given situation, or, we can always believe “every cloud has a silver lining”.

And, indeed it did -- not only did we receive a full refund for that cruise, but we were given an 8-day cruise for free on the ship of our choice. And, when we took the next cruise, our flights were overbooked, so we received over $1,800 in flight dollars.

I’m not saying that every time we encounter a difficult situation, and we take the high road with optimistic thinking, that there will be such benefits at the other end, but I am saying that when “life happens”, it’s truly a waste of time, energy and emotions to stress out about it. This is what I know about God. My concerns are not a burden to Him -- neither are they a surprise to Him. Turning over my cares and worries to Him, is how I show Him that I truly trust Him, and His unwavering and undaunted love for me. And when I bring Him my attitude of praise and thanksgiving – regardless of the circumstance I’m in, He gives me peace to take me to the other side -- whether it's by boat, car, plane or bicycle. And in that case, I sincerely believe EVERY cloud really does have a silver lining.

Faith in God's Faithfulness

I'm a really strong chick -- not because life has been easy....I just got stronger with each challenge that came my way! As we get stronger, the struggles in life, that once were difficult -- are now a piece of cake. And no matter what our struggles are, God will never let it be too much for us to handle. Bottom line.....it's not OUR FAITH that gets the job done. It's our FAITH in God's faithfulness that gets it done! Now let's go bench press a hundred pounds!!