Gratitude

In June I became more mindful of gratitude. To note items in a journal didn’t work for me, but when a friend suggested an app, I got on board. During June and July, I made entries 33% of the days. That was good for me! Since then, I’ve only updated the app twice.

As I reviewed my entries, I found a recurring theme—I love sunshine! Additional items I noted more than once included God’s peace and blessings, spending time with my husband and family, and good health. Other things I was grateful for included lunch with friends, my church, worship music, and being appreciated.

As Thanksgiving draws near, I’d like to share a few other blessings I am grateful for in my life.

• My Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I cannot imagine my life without God.

•  My husband’s love and commitment to the Lord, our family, and me. I am a blessed woman.

This year’s blessings include the following:

• My eldest daughter and her excitement over my first two books along with the love we share for hiking trails and photography. I’ve enjoyed our time together.

• My son and his love for family games, even though he likes some games that I think are odd. I enjoy playing them with him and his family.

• My youngest daughter who cons me into buying her stuff she doesn’t need and teaches me new dance steps that I cannot do well. I enjoy spending time with her, anyway.

• The ladies in my Bible study group who pray for me and bless me.

• My writing critique partners and first readers of my novel who have encouraged me and given me honest feedback to improve my story.

• Those who have subscribed to my website’s email list and those who enjoy my blog posts and leave comments or share my posts on Social Media.

• Two devotions accepted this year for online publishing. One posted on christiandevotions.us in September, and one is scheduled to post on www.cbn.com on November 23. Also, I was a guest blogger on Suite T-The Author’s Blog.

• A recent blessing—I am thankful to have signed a contract for a three-book series with Winged Publications, Forget Me Not Romances. Book 1 is coming soon!

I am grateful for many things, although I don’t write them down as I should. I do thank God for them all.

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.

(Psalm 118:1, NIV)

Do you keep a gratitude journal? Please share something for which you are thankful.

Who Does God Say I Am?

As I prepared this blog post, I became emotional. I am moved by who God’s Word says I am. These are wonderful reminders to all of us regarding our position in Christ.

I am God’s friend

Not only is Jesus my friend, but I’m His friend too. I can tell him anything in confidence. I mean, who’s He going to tell? And He’s confided in me through His Word.

I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know

his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends,

for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.

John 15:15

I am a child of God

My dad passed away ten years ago. But my Father is alive, and I am His beloved daughter. I believe in Him and received Him into my heart and life.

Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name,

he gave the right to become children of God.

John 1:12

I am loved, alive with Christ, and saved by His grace

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,

made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—

it is by grace you have been saved.

Ephesians 2:4-5

I am a citizen of heaven

Earth is my temporary dwelling place. I await my eternal home.

But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await

a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Philippians 3:20

I am God’s coworker

Working side by side with Christ to be a light in the darkness, to love and encourage others, and to spread the Good News.

As God’s co-workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain.

2 Corinthians 6:1

I am God’s workmanship

I am His work of art. He created and designed me for a purpose—to do good works.

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works,

which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Ephesians 2:10

I am strong in Christ

He strengthens me with power, courage, and wisdom. Equips me with whatever I need so I can do what He’s called me to do. Christ is enough.

I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

Philippians 4:13 

If you know Christ Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, these “I am” statements are yours too.

Be blessed today knowing how important you are to Him.

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All scripture is from the New International Version.

Photo by Pawel Czerwinski - Unsplash

Whose Advice Do You Seek?

In the book of Isaiah, God’s people did not seek the Lord’s advice regarding the Assyrian nation. Instead, they turned to Egypt for protection. God spoke these words to His people.

In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it (Isaiah 30:15, NIV).

How guilty have I been? Seeking advice from those I trust is not a bad thing. But I should go to God first. After I’ve sought wise counsel from others, I need to return to the Lord and rely upon Him to guide me to make the right decisions.

The leaders of Judah trusted in horses, chariots, and a nation that could not help them. They would have suffered less had they understood their deliverance would come from confidence in the Lord.

How many times would I have struggled less had I called upon God? Instead, I followed the crowd or agreed to an idea or advice without questioning it.  

But our God is gracious. His mercy is available to each of us. Verse 18 describes God’s mercy toward his people.

Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him (NIV)!

When I wait on the Lord and seek His wisdom, He’ll speak if I’m willing to listen. God whispers in my ear. It’s up to me to pay attention.

Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it” (Isaiah 30:21, NIV).

Often, I pray first. After I seek advice from others, I’ll follow up with research of my own. I usually pray again about the situation. Waiting is my biggest challenge. By the time I get there, I think I’ve got it all figured out. I need to slow down and wait on God.

My life’s journey will be easier to travel when I learn to be still and rest in God’s strength for everything. I need to trust Him from the first prayer through the wait.

Which part of the advice process is most challenging for you?

Language of Love

Are you familiar with The 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman?

Our daughter barged into our bedroom after we turned in for the night. “Mom. We had to take an online assessment for work to learn our love language. Have you heard of it?” Before I could answer, she said, “Let me tell you mine.”

By now I was wide awake. I lifted my hand. “Wait. Stop. Let me tell you.”

My daughter asked, “What’s my number one?”

“Quality time.”

“How did you know?”

“Mom. Do this with me.” “Mom. Go here with me.” “Mom. Watch this TV show with me.”

“Oh, yeah. I did that didn’t I.”

My son’s love language is also quality time, and our oldest daughter’s is physical touch. She takes after Kenn.

I’m the odd one in the family. Although I’ve known my number one love language for many years, I was curious to find out how the other four love languages rated. I took the online assessment and found it accurate. My highest score was a nine and my lowest a one.

No surprise with my lowest score. Receiving gifts. There are people who love to buy gifts for others and receive them too. I’m at a loss when I shop for birthdays, Christmas, or special occasions. I’m thankful there’s no one in my family whose love language is receiving gifts, or I would have messed them up for life. I enjoy gifts, but I don’t need them to feel loved and appreciated.

Once when Kenn gave me a bouquet, I scolded him. We couldn’t afford flowers. I told him that one rose or carnation said, “I love you.” No need for a dozen.

The way to show me your love and appreciation is by doing acts of service. Not only would I rather have a new vacuum over a dozen roses, but I want my husband or family member to vacuum the rugs for me too. “I’ll do that for you,” is music to my ears. When others make more work for me by leaving personal items around the house, that tells me they don’t care (not Kenn).

Earlier this month, I read a blog written by Jeanne Doyon. She reviewed the book Dare to See—Discovering God in the Everyday by Katie Brown. Her blog post may be found here: https://jeannedoyon.com/dare-to-see-by-katie-brown-review-and-a-giveaway/.

She asked, “How have you seen God in your everyday?”

My response: “I see God in my husband. He blesses me by showing his love through my love language. In return, I love him through sharing his.” You may check out her reply by using the link above.

A little mushy? Maybe. But so true. We’ve learned how important our love languages are to one another.

How about you? Do you know your love language? The love language of your spouse or children? In addition to the four mentioned above, words of affirmation is another love language. Check out this site for more information: https://www.5lovelanguages.com/quizzes/.

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Photo by Cherry Laithang - Unsplash