“…just count your blessings…”

“Mom, this is a good song.”

I was busy cooking dinner, but his words struck me.

He was referring to a song on the movie White Christmas which has the line, “If your worried and you can’t sleep, just count your blessings instead of sheep and you’ll fall asleep counting your blessings!”

I took a moment to discuss the song with our son and then he returned to the show and I to cooking.

Yet, as I have thought about that moment between us, I’ve realized the truth of “counting your blessings” is far deeper than just trying to get to sleep.

It’s a change in perspective and it’s an attitude of thankfulness.

But it should be applied to all of life.

Scripture is our guide, for in it we see the effects of people’s choices to their lives and their hearts.

Numbers 11:4-6 NKJV — Now the mixed multitude who were among them yielded to intense craving; so the children of Israel also wept again and said: “Who will give us meat to eat? We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; but now our whole being is dried up; there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes!”

This story in Numbers is a warning.

Not only does a lack of thankfulness produce attitudes of grumbling and complaining, it damages the relationship between those who indulge in it and God.

The Bible records what manna was like and all they had to do was pick it up from the ground and prepare it.

Numbers 11:7-8 NKJV — Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its color like the color of bdellium. The people went about and gathered it, ground it on millstones or beat it in the mortar, cooked it in pans, and made cakes of it; and its taste was like the taste of pastry prepared with oil.

Numbers 11:10 NKJV — Then Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, everyone at the door of his tent; and the anger of the LORD was greatly aroused; Moses also was displeased.

How different this could have been if they had simply thanked God for His faithfulness and provision.

God did grant their request for meat, but the end result wasn’t positive.

Numbers 11:18-20 NKJV — “Then you shall say to the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat; for you have wept in the hearing of the LORD, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat? For it was well with us in Egypt.” Therefore the LORD will give you meat, and you shall eat. ‘You shall eat, not one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days, ‘but for a whole month, until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have despised the LORD who is among you, and have wept before Him, saying, “Why did we ever come up out of Egypt?” ’ ”

The children of Israel were not only ungrateful for all God had done and was doing, they were unrealistic about the past.

Recalling the variety of food in Egypt, but skipping over the truth of their hard bondage was twisting the truth and forgetting the welt in Egypt, crying out to be delivered.

Grumbling or complaining, an attitude of discontent in our own hearts is a danger signal that our gratitude has eroded, our perspective is false, and our hearts need the discipline of thankfulness.

No matter the circumstances, there is always something we can praise God for.

Salvation should be at the top of the list.

For our gift of freedom from sin and death is not unlike the bondage God redeemed the Israelites from.

In their circumstance, it cost the first born of all Egypt to purchase their freedom.

In ours, the price was significantly higher, our freedom was bought by God, Himself.

No matter what, may we never stop counting that blessing.

Instead, let it be the thing we praise God for morning to night, for He certainly is worthy of our praise.

1 Chronicles 16:23 KJV — Sing unto the LORD, all the earth; shew forth from day to day his salvation.

Dear Lord Jesus,

Thank You so much for Your salvation! Lord, thank You for Your sacrifice, which I can never truly comprehend. Lord, please place a guard upon my heart, that I might not sin against You by complaining or grumbling. Lord, please help me to be diligent to praise and thank You throughout my day. Lord, thank You that I can praise You when I’m happy or sad, frustrated or content, my emotions do not have to hinder my gratitude. Please remind me to praise You, especially when I’m struggling, that my perspective will be accurate and honorable. Lord, please help me to walk with You in all things with a thankful heart, for there is nothing which is as precious as You and Your gift of salvation. I love You, Jesus. Amen.

Why complain?

Lamentations 3:39 NKJV — Why should a living man complain, A man for the punishment of his sins?

No one has to teach a child to complain.

Mankind’s flesh seems bent on verbalizing those things that do not please.

Yet, how many circumstances which one feels the need to vent are not simply a consequence of sin?

At times, the occasion is caused by one’s own sin and at times, others.

Do we have the right to verbally air our grievances in the form of complaining?

Are we not equally guilty of sin?

After all, complaining does little to resolve anything, and is often a tool to divide.

Has anyone desired to spend more time with a person whose complaints are frequent?

Complaining tears down.

Lamentations 3:40 NKJV — Let us search out and examine our ways, And turn back to the LORD;

Instead of complaining, focus on God.

When our eyes are on Jesus, our reasons for complaining should disappear.

What is required more than salvation?

Jesus is our example in all things.

He spoke the truth in love.

He walked in the path given Him with joy.

Let’s follow His example.

Lamentations 3:41 NKJV — Let us lift our hearts and hands To God in heaven.

Dear Lord Jesus,

Thank You for Your Word. Thank You for this beautiful reminder to watch our attitudes and our words. Lord, as long as sin is part of this world, I know that I will struggle with complaining, but it’s not honorable before You and it doesn’t bring a blessing to anyone. Please, help me to speak the truth in love. Please help me to guard my heart and my lips, that I might not sin against You nor others. Please teach me how to replace complaining with thankfulness. Lord, I want to focus on You and not those things which are a result of sin. I lift my heart and hands to You. You are awesome, God! Thank You! I love You. Amen.

Yesterday was…

Thanksgiving for our family.

My husband went to work on Thursday so we had already made plans to celebrate on Sunday.

We sang some Christmas carols.

(I know we were blending two seasons, but we love Christmas music and sing it as early as possible.)

We read the Pilgrim’s story.

My heart breaking all over again for the sacrifices those dear people made.

Then we took turns writing what we are thankful for in the back of the book.

My husband carved the turkey and we discussed a few memories while filling out plates.

“Well, two years in a row. We over cooked the broccoli and cheese.”

“It must be that old crockpot. It wasn’t in there more than an hour.”

“Remember how people were eating your honey-butter straight out of the dish while we were in the UK, Mom?”

“They did?! I don’t remember that.”

“Yeah, it was for the cornbread, but Daddy caught them passing it around like a side dish.”

“What’s in these mashed potatoes? They’re really good.”

“Butter, sour cream, milk,…”

“Do you remember the play we put on at the school?”

“Yes, and how the one line he did turned the play into a comedy!”

“I think of him every time I read that!”

It didn’t take long for talking to subside into eating.

After cleaning up most of the family played a board game twice and then a card game..

Later, we watched three episodes of the Chosen.

(If you’ve not seen Season One of the Chosen, you can download their app for free. Dallas Jenkins is the creator and it’s wonderful.)

It was a lovely day of thankfulness and family.

Something my husband and I cherish and realize won’t always be.

Our children are growing up so fast and we know they belong to God.

We want them to go, to do whatever God calls them.

We want them to be people completely surrendered to His perfect will.

Which means we have to surrender our own desires and plans.

Because they only live under the same roof with us for a season.

A season we are so thankful for.

No matter what the future holds, may we never spend so much energy preparing for tomorrow that we miss the blessings of today.

As my husband began his prayer yesterday: “Lord, we really have so much to be thankful for…”

He’s so right!

We have today.

Dear Lord Jesus,

It’s true, we have so much to thank You for. You have given us so much each and every day. Although things can be scary and the future still seems so unpredictable, I thank You that You promise to never leave us. Thank You for providing for us. Thank You for carrying us through. Lord, please continue to help us see the blessings in today. Please help us to live wholly unto You in each day. Lord, we want to serve You, to be close to You, to love You. Please help us to do so. Thank You for yesterday. Thank You for today. I praise Your holy name, Jesus. Amen.

A Psalm of Thanksgiving

Psalm 100 is beautiful and we’ll worth reading as we celebrate.

I plan on having our family read it before we eat our Thanksgiving meal.

Hopefully, I will also have time to make place cards with the verse on it, but if not that’s okay too.

The point is Jesus and being thankful to Him for all things.

These last two months the Lord has been speaking with me about giving thanks for all while holding it lightly.

It began somewhere in September I believe.

I was walking around the house and thanking God for different things, especially the ability to have a tidy, functional, and clean house.

When the Lord asked me a question.

Would you give it all up if I asked you to?

I was surprised.

September was our “one year” in this house and the idea of giving it all up to move again wasn’t that appealing.

But I know better than to with hold anything from my Lord.

“Lord, I want to say yes without hindrance or regret. I’m not there, but I want to be. Please help me to be willing to give it all up.”

And so began weeks of different circumstances which gave me many opportunities to say, “Lord, it all belongs to You. Do with it as You see fit.”

Then it rippled out of things and into other areas.

Like my family, my personal “to do” list, and other such precious things.

Over and over the Lord gave me opportunity to give all to Him.

To speak the words both in my heart and with my mouth, that I give all to Jesus, He’s will be done.

And although I’m unsure of all the reasons He has taken me down this path again (not the first time and I’m certain it won’t be the last either) I find gratitude has bloomed anew.

There’s such thankfulness of heart when one realizes that the cherished things, family, love, blessings, are all gifts from God.

Nothing I have done has earned these things.

But I can enjoy them all the more and praise God I each.

Especially when I’m holding them lightly.

There’s something so precious about understanding the gifts and blessings of the now may or may not be those of tomorrow.

When I cherish today, my heart finds such thankfulness waiting.

Yes, some days are easier to cherish than others, but each is a gift and I want to praise God for every one.

This Thanksgiving, I hope you are able to relinquish expectation and simply praise God for another day.

His gift to you.

His gift to me.

Praise the Lord!

Dear Lord Jesus,

Thank You so much for helping me relinquish all things back into Your hands. Lord, there are still many things I do not understand and circumstances which are concerning, but I choose to place each one in Your hand. To reach up and wrap my heart around Your goodness and cling to You through it all. For nothing and no one can separate me from Your love. That in itself is something to be thankful for! I praise and worship You this day. Thank You for Your love. Thank You for Your faithfulness. Thank You for a day to simply be grateful. I love You, Jesus. Amen.

Make a joyful shout to the Lord , all you lands! Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before His presence with singing. Know that the Lord , He is God; It  is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We  are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the Lord  is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations.
Psalms 100:1‭-‬5 NKJV

Happy Thanksgiving!

I know it’s a bit early, but I just wanted to reach out and say:

“Happy Thanksgiving!”

This has always been a time of year I look forward to.

Thanksgiving is an opportunity to praise God.

It’s a moment to remember the heritage and sacrifice of the Pilgrims and their families.

It’s an opportunity to praise God for the way He brought together both the Pilgrims and the Native Americans in the first Thanksgiving.

A holiday where we simply stop and say “thank you” to God.

Yes, we enjoy a fancy meal and normally play at least one board game.

But we also read the Pilgrim’s story (Thanksgiving, A Time To Remember by Barbara Rainey) and sometimes I read from their published journal.

This year, I’m going to be encouraging our children to write at least one letter of gratitude to someone.

It’s an idea I read in a blog and I love it.

Because it’s never too soon to tell someone thank you for their touch upon your life.

And gratitude should never be an empty cup.

For God’s blessings are all around us each and every day.

Truly, there is no end to His goodness.

Thus, there should be no end to our gratitude.

Dear Lord Jesus,

Thank You so much for all Your blessings. Lord, I could spend a lifetime just writing down all Your wonderous works and never reach the end. Lord, during this week, please help us to look at Your goodness and find so many reasons to rejoice. Lord, let our hearts be filled with gratitude and please grant us opportunity to thank those You have used in our lives. Thank You for a holiday simply set aside to praise, thank, and honor You for all Your blessings! I love You, Jesus. Thank You for first loving me. Amen.

Doing all

Colossians 3:17 NKJV — And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

There’s two important truths in this verse.

The first is: “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus,” Col. 3:17a

As followers of Christ our entire lives are to be a reflection of our choice.

Which can seem difficult on the day-to-day scheme.

Yet, we are called to live unto Christ, no matter the task at hand.

Which is an encouraging thought.

No longer does the mundane task mean nothing.

If my attitude is to accomplish those things with a heart of serving Christ, mundane can become mighty, an opportunity to serve Christ no matter the task.

It’s always about the heart and what is residing there: servanthood or selfishness.

The second truth is another opportunity: “giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” Col. 3:17b

When our lives are a reflection of Christ, we have the privilege to praise at the same time.

Praising and thanking God for His marvelous works of salvation, restoration, and provision are a natural reaction.

Or it should be.

If one finds their heart is following through with the daily tasks, but the gratitude is lost, it’s a warning.

Can the “doing all” be missing? Could the motivation of the tasks been lost to living for something else other than Christ?

The human heart constantly requires self discipline to remain in line with the commandments of scripture.

It’s good to do a heart check.

Therefore we need both truths in this verse.

And as we step out into each day, may we keep these truths close to our hearts.

It will take effort and perseverance to train our lives into living each part unto Christ, but that’s why this is a journey.

Walking with Jesus is a growing stretching building beautiful journey.

Dear Lord Jesus,

Thank You for this verse. Thank You for the truths You have given us so we can live aware of our actions and attitudes. Lord Jesus, You know that we often find it difficult to follow Your Word. Our hearts don’t easily surrender to Your will. Please, walk with us today, hone our hearts and minds and hold our hand, that we might follow You in all things. Please keep us from evil. Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. For Thine is the kingdom and the glory forever. Amen.

Life’s lessons

I hadn’t expected it.

But when my husband asked me to go with him to the store, I was looking forward to getting out of the house.

As we drove along, I thought about how much daily living has changed.

The world has been forever altered by the virus.

Our lives have been touched more by my health, than the virus.

We have moved.

Our home is now in a suburban area when we used to be rural.

We live in a rental twice the size of the house we sold.

Pets are no longer an option.

We used to have two dogs and two cats.

I used to be very active, involved in many things, and our children were active as well.

Now, we stay home, enjoy a much slower pace.

Neither lifestyle is better than the other.

It is simply the way our lives have changed.

There are blessings in life, no matter where one calls home.

With the new requirements, I’ve found going out more difficult.

To receive my allergy shots, I have to wear a mask.

I understand why.

But my asthma makes wearing the mask feel like smothering.

I have to concentrate on my breathing.

I have to work at deep even breaths.

When my time is up, I’m so thankful to reach the car and pull that restriction off.

That’s why I went into the store without my mask.

With just a couple of things, we figured we could stay away from others and do fine.

What neither of us had thought about was the cleaners.

Everything is disinfected constantly.

Those chemicals put off odors and my asthma doesn’t appreciate it.

After working hard to not rush around so I could “get out” I realized what I needed to do.

“Honey, I need the keys. I can’t stay in here anymore.”

He understood.

“I’m sorry sweetheart,” crossed his lips as he handed me the keys.

By the time I reached the truck my head was pounding, my chest hurt, and my eyes were stinging.

I worked at not listening to the question which popped into my head.

“Will it always be this way?”

God came to my rescue.

Worship Me.

I started singing a praise song in my head.

Everything got better, slowly.

When my husband reached the truck I was able to articulate my emotions.

And to speak the truth.

I’m glad we have a home I enjoy, and at some point things will be better.

As an added bonus, my husband stopped at the donut shack.

Freshly made donuts smell amazing!

I enjoyed mine with a cup of tea.

I thanked God for my husband.

For the blessings of our day.

For the opportunities we have.

For the hope I have in tomorrow.

And I thanked Him for chocolate frosting with sprinkles.

Two Mason Jars

It was a dream.

My husband was standing next to our dining room table and explaining to the family, “a thankfulness jar”.

Basically it was an ordinary Mason jar which we were to each write one thing we are thankful for and place the papers in the jar.

I remember him talking about our need to give thanks to God regularly for all our blessings.

Then I woke.

I pondered.

“Lord, I like this. I think it would be good for all of us.”

“The girls could even decorate a jar, so it would be pretty. It could be sitting on the piano.”

–pause–

“Lord, what am I missing? It feels like I only have half the plan.”

Bible verses

“Of course. Love it! We will have two jars, one for our thankfulness notes and the other for scripture.”

It’s perfect.

I texted the information to both our girls.

Easter Sunday seems a beautiful time to begin.

I have been praying about which verse to begin with.

I think this is the one:

Matthew 28:6 KJV — He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. (Emphasis mine.)

No matter your circumstances, I pray you are able to find creative ways to praise and thank our Lord Jesus this Easter.

Dear Lord Jesus,
Thank You so much for Your sacrifice. Lord, as we look to Easter Sunday please help our hearts be completely focused upon praising You for all You have done. Let us never grow weary of the greatest story, Your story. Help us find renewed vigor from the trials You walked through. Lord Jesus, please bring our hearts and minds back to You on this, the best of holidays, for without Your Resurrection we have no hope of heaven. Thank You Jesus for dieing for me. Thank You for rising again! Praise be to God on high!!

Praising God for today

I woke up with a song this morning.

It was playing over and over in my heart.

With it was a lovely memory of singing in our church’s Sunday school.

This song is one I learned there.

I knew it was a scripture so I looked up the words I can remember.

Here’s what I found:

Jeremiah 32:17 NKJV — ‘Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You.

As a child the last line was my favorite.

Nothing is too difficult for You.

It’s true!

He’s able to do anything.

Of course life and learning have taught me there are a good number of things He chooses not to do, but we can trust Him that His way is perfect.

So, armed with this lovely reminder, I’m stepping into my day looking for opportunities to praise God.

I started with praise for this beautiful rental we live in.

Then to my blessings.

The dishwasher!

The rose blooming on the table.

The tulips in the garden.

The humming bird feeder.

Tea out of my Grandmother’s china.

My wonderful family.

Breakfast!

Warm fuzzy socks.

Jesus.

Yes, there’s plenty of opportunities to get bogged down in the “what in the world is happening?!”.

But I’m choosing to praise God today.

No matter what occurrence may come, I know that Jesus will be with me.

That’s worth praising God for!

Allowing circumstances to teach

Beautiful Christmas gift with an excellent reminder.

It had been happening all weekend.

I’d find myself yearning.

Not all the time and not often enough to pay attention to.

Just little bits, little bites out of my day, slowly consuming my thankfulness.

It was yesterday, during the quiet.

I realized the yearning had a name: discontent.

“Uhg! Lord, what have I done to allow this to creep in? I want to be thankful for each day, not waste my blessings in longing for those of someone else.

Lord, please forgive me! I have so much! I am so blessed by You. Please help me to throw out this enemy to peace and joy. Help me to see where I’ve stopped being thankful.”

God is faithful.

He showed me several little things which had all crept up and robbed me of my contentment.

It’s embarrassing, but the two main areas where my guard had fallen were covetousness and self-pity.

It’s difficult to even write that.

To look upon the ugliness of either is repulsive to my soul.

But the truth was brought through by Jesus shining into my heart and I have repented.

I’m now rebuilding the guards which had fallen.

I’m being much more careful what I allow myself to look at online.

It’s easy to “get creative ideas” and fall into “want my house to look like that, it only takes…”.

Or, “I’m only looking for tips on house keeping” and find a list of items you need to keep your home up to par.

What I look at really does get into me in ways I don’t always realize at the time.

So, instead of searching the internet for an idea to an organization issue, or a creative boost, I’m praying.

The self-pity thing is all about what thoughts I allow to linger in my brain.

When I see the stain on the couch cushions what do I think?

Today, and as often as possible, I’m purposing to think:

“Praise God for this couch! It has been such a blessing and a perfect fit to our needs. Lord, thank You for blessing us with this!”

Or something very like it.

Because that couch was and is a blessing from God.

I got it used for $25 and after arranging to buy it realized I couldn’t go pick it up. It’s 7′ long. Even healthy I can’t move it.

My husband was away on a business trip and wouldn’t be home in time.

I prayed.

God placed a name in my heart. I called my dear friend.

Her husband borrowed his father’s trailer, drove the twenty plus minutes to get it. He and their son loaded it. Drove across the road to pick up the bed I’d purchased and then drove back to our place and set it all up.

That was a couple years ago, but I’ve not forgotten how much God blessed me through all of it.

But I had allowed the stains and blemishes of discontent to tarnish the gift.

All because I’d not been on my guard about my thoughts.

After the Lord revealed the reason for my yearning, threw His light upon my sin, and I repeat, I made sure to tell my family.

I asked for their forgiveness for allowing this into my heart.

I also asked them to hold me accountable.

This Monday morning I’m purposing to live a simple content life in Jesus.

There are so many more important things for me to pray for than stains on the couch or my inabilities to organize.

Yes, I want to be a good steward of the things God has given me, but they don’t have the right to draw my attention away from the things which really matter, nor to steal my joy.

I’m so grateful to God for not allowing me to slide further down the slope of self-pity and covetousness.

O Lord , You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways.
Psalms 139:1‭-‬3 NKJV

Praise the Lord!

He is so faithful and generous to use circumstances to teach me!