Monday, November 27, 2017

Thankful, Grateful, Blessed-Part One




“Everything in my life seemed to stop.  Everything except the love of the Lord. I prayed.  I asked others to lift my name up in prayer.  God heard our cries.  He has carried my through, and He isn’t finished with me yet.” 

These are the words of my 49-year-old friend who was diagnosed in June with a very aggressive form of Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA).  It has affected every aspect of her life from caring for her family to simply walking to the bathroom.  Everyday task like brushing her teeth and fixing her hair bring her to tears due to the pain in her hands and fingers.

When asked how she is doing, this girlfriend smiles and replies, “I am thankful, grateful and blessed.”  She doesn’t focus on the current storm in her life.  Instead, she keeps her eyes on Jesus.  As I have watched my friend, I have been inspired to be more thankful, grateful and blessed.  I decided that we all need to take a moment and rediscover what these three simple words mean. 

THANKFUL-“a feeling or expressing gratitude; appreciative.”

Now I am always thankful that there is a stash of chocolate in my home for my bad days.  However, this word goes deeper.  Can you recall a time when you were appreciative of someone’s kindness shown to you or of a special moment that you now treasure in your heart?

Although it was difficult at the time, I remember the four months I spent caring for my mother as a disease took her life.  I will forever be thankful for the 2 a.m. chats with my mom.  The Lord knew needed to hear the wise words from my Godly mom.  I am also thankful I had enough sense to grab a pad of paper and a pen and write down messages from my mom to her grandchildren and unborn great-grandchildren.  Now, these words are treasured by each of them.  I am also thankful that mom’s last words on earth to me were “Happy Birthday,” because it was not a sad goodbye but a joyful moment of celebration.  These special moments are treasures of gold in my heart.

I wonder if we could all learn from my sweet friend and be more thankful in our seasons of pain and heartache.  Could we set aside our “whiny” nature and put on the garment of praise and give thanks to the Lord above?

This week as we celebrate Thanksgiving and enter the Christmas season I want each of you to consider what you are thankful for and share it with us.




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