Gratitude Challenge

Devotions
Jan 242011

One sermon tagline I remember with clarity from my childhood is: thankfulness = happiness. It was simple, it was catchy, and I still remember it. My pastor explained that you must be thankful to be happy, and you must have gratitude to find joy. We must count our blessings to know that we are blessed. During November of 2009, I was challenged to make my social network status say something I was thankful for every single day. The Thanksgiving themed challenge was called “30 days of Thankful.” It was a particular test for me because on the 13th on November my dear husband was scheduled to deploy. So for the 2 weeks leading up to his departure and the 2 weeks after he left, I was forced to come up with at least one thing per day that I was thankful for. It really helped. It made me focus on my blessings instead of my hardships.

Some folks keep a gratitude journal. I’m not very good about being diligent in keeping journals. But I can remember to say thank you to God for at least one thing every time I pray. Every good and perfect gift comes from the Father (James 1:17), so we should be continually thanking Him. I also remember that my mom remembers those who give her thank you notes and those who do not. She is more likely to give additional gifts to those who have sent her prompt thank you notes. Surely God knows when I am truly thankful for something He has given me and when I forget to give Him credit for that wonderful thing that just happened to me, be it huge or small.

So here is my challenge for the women of PWOC: be grateful daily, be thankful even when things are not going well, find and count your blessings, and give credit to the One who loves to bless you. If you make a list, you might be surprised by how long it is each day. God loves us so much. We need to recognize the multitudinous ways He shows us His love and love Him more in return.

Give thanks to the Lord, call on His name; make known among the nations what He has done.

1 Chronicles 16:8

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever.

1 Chronicles 16:34

Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name.

Psalm 100:4

Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

1 Thes 5:18

Posted by Rachel Spinuzzi at 2:00 am Tagged with: , , , , ,

Thanksgiving Activities -- Anytime!

Devotions
Nov 222010

In the spirit of keeping things light and simple this month, I decided to share a few ideas that can be implemented any time of year with seasonal variations. The point here is to spend time on what really matters – the people in our lives – and avoid falling into the trap of busyness and perfection. Remember Mary and Martha? Let’s try to be more like Mary this holiday season.

Gratitude Game for You: Get out a pad of paper and a colorful felt-tip marker. Set a timer for two minutes. Make a list of things you’re grateful for before the timer goes off. Post it where your family can see it. Let it be a testimony of God’s goodness during this Thanksgiving season and beyond.

Gratitude Game for Your Kids or Your Whole Family: Follow instructions above. The person who has written the most gratitude items in two minutes is the winner and gets a prize. If I were the winner in your house I might want a King-Sized Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup pack or Snickers or Butterfinger . . . yum! If you want to take the winner out for a special treat I highly recommend Dairy Queen’s Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Blizzard (or other flavors). Then again, there’s always Baskin Robbins or Cold Stone. Whatever works for the winner in your house!

Place Card Gratitude: Use card stock about the size of a 4×6 card in colors of your choosing. Fold them in half and write names of those who will be present on the outer side. Or decorate them without names. Write a short scripture verse that expresses thanks to the Lord on the inner side for each person to read. The host starts and each person takes a turn. If you have a more diverse crowd, put a number on the inner side of each place card instead. Before or after the meal is served, have everyone look to see what their number is. The person with number one gets to begin the gratitude chain by sharing something they’re grateful for. Go around the table(s) in order.

Nature Walk for Treasures: This is a fun activity with kids and/or friends. Take a nature walk and pay attention to God’s creation. Notice the detail in everything you see this time of year at your location. Here in Colorado the evergreens are dropping cones. We might do a pine cone hunt in our neighborhood. What can you and your kids hunt for? As you collect your treasures, talk about how the Lord has provided for you this year.

Christmas Wreath: Assemble all your nature treasures and make a Christmas wreath that represents your part of the U.S. or the world. Attach a ribbon with your family name, the date, and the installation name and location. If needed, get extra supplies at Hobby Lobby or your local craft store.

Thanksgiving Prayer

Our Father,

Giver of life and breath, we are grateful for your presence. Let us sense it more powerfully this Thanksgiving season. Give a special touch of love, peace, and comfort to our military families who have suffered loss. Make provision in a special way to those who are enduring financial hardship. Let your mercy be felt by those who struggle with deep grief, heartache, and pain of all kinds. Show your goodness and faithfulness to those who wrestle with abuse and betrayal. Draw near to those who feel a wide chasm between themselves and you. Bless with your unconditional love and acceptance those who feel rejected and abandoned.

We are your people; people who desperately need you. Illuminate our lives with your grace and your beauty. Enable us to know you in ever more tangible ways. We gratefully present these requests to you anticipating what you will do on our behalf. Amen.

Posted by LauraFirtko at 2:00 am Tagged with: , , , , , , , ,

Journey of Transformation, Part 18

Jesus Answers, Life Happens, Life Happens Jesus Answers, Real life stories, Testimonies
Apr 152010

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A Trip of Another Kind

August 2001 arrived and my parents came to Tennessee to visit. Dad planned to see his brother, my Uncle Wayne. Mom, being a former realtor, was interested in seeing homes in the area just for kicks. We didn’t have a spare bedroom so they stayed at the Best Western. Our little rented house had just enough room for me, Steve, and Bridgette.

Steve was expected to depart for Afghanistan so I rode back to Colorado with Mom and Dad following their brief visit. My sister Judy lived with them at the time. We were stunned when she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. How strange that both of us would be hit with autoimmune diseases at the same time. We distinctly remembered a conversation we’d had a year earlier. While sitting around with family in my parents’ living room we expressed sympathy over problems other people were having. We marveled, with gratitude, that our family didn’t have any major traumas up to that point.

Was there something wrong with having a grateful heart? Does gratitude breed affliction, suffering, and sorrow? It was as if our expressions of gratitude triggered some bizarre chain of events. Like we were being punished, or challenged, for being grateful. Did God perceive it as prideful? We weren’t proud. We were relieved. It felt like He couldn’t possibly let us slide by without problems – as if everyone had to endure hardship at some point. Were we not dedicated enough to Him? What in the world did we do wrong? We couldn’t figure out what was happening. The timing was strange.

Have you ever said something and wished you could take it back? That’s how I felt about my expressions of gratitude. Was it possible that in our hearts we believed we must have been doing something right in order to escape God’s chastisement? Was that so horrible? There was no judgment or condemnation toward the other people. There was no comparison. We just felt grateful. Did these afflictions even have anything to do with what we did or didn’t do? Or was it just part of God’s plan for our lives that happened to manifest itself at that particular time? Questions mounted but answers remained elusive. Clearly, I had a lot to learn about God and how He operates in our lives. Lessons would be learned as devastation increased.

One September morning I discovered a strange white spot on the ball of my left thumb. It couldn’t be squeezed like a pimple. Nothing would come out. It began to hurt. Mom, in all her wisdom, suggested that I put a poultice on it to draw out what appeared to be pus. It didn’t work. The pain increased and nothing could extinguish it. When it approached an intolerable level I announced to my dad that we better take a trip to the ER at the Air Force Academy.

What transpired that day was just the beginning of inexplicable misery to come.

THE JOURNEY CONTINUES:

When you don’t know why something is happening and you feel like you’re being punished, cast your cares on Jesus. Get real. Get honest. Don’t be afraid of irreverence. He created you. He knows what’s in your heart already. Express it. He’s the only one you can safely unload your burdens on. He’s the only one who can do anything about your problem, and He has a reason for allowing it. Cry out to Him and let Him take you deeper into the realm of spiritual maturity and intimacy.

Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous fall. Psalm 55:22

Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7

____________________________

Life Happens – Jesus Answers is a weekly column addressing the challenges we face in life, coupled with the presence and grace of Jesus, our One True Source of hope and peace. The column’s author, Laura Firtko, can be reached by email here: LifeHappens@pwoc.org

Posted by LauraFirtko at 9:54 am Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Dust and Deity

Devotions
Jan 252010

I am dust. Actually, men are dust, women are rib bones. Come to think of it, bones turn to dust when exposed to extreme heat. So, it could be said that all humans are dust. After all, God did create the first man, Adam, out of dust. Then He proceeded to create the first woman, Eve, from a rib taken out of Adam’s side (Gen. 2:7, 2:21-22). It is God who put us here on earth, and without Him we would be as worthless as the dust from which we came.

I appreciate the visual image this truth creates in my mind. It fosters feelings of humility and gratitude while reminding me of my humanity and dependence upon God. I can’t help but acknowledge God’s incomprehensible majesty while recognizing my insignificance before Him.

Yet, as important as it is for us to keep this perspective, it’s equally important for us to grasp a life-changing truth we might tend to deny or forget – the astounding worth and value that God ascribes to us. Not only do we have immeasurable value in God because of who He is, but also to God because of His endless unconditional love for us.

But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God’s unfailing love forever and ever (Psalm 52:8).

Each one of us was specifically, individually, uniquely created by Almighty God (Psalm 139). Think about it. Considering the fact that God created mankind from the dust of the ground, it’s remarkable that this all-knowing, all-present, all-powerful God would regard us with such high esteem. But He does. He chose to create you. He chose to love you for eternity with a love that cannot be quenched and will never change. Embrace this life-giving truth as yours and ask God to make it more real to you each day.

By day the Lord directs his love, at night his song is with me — a prayer to the God of my life (Psalm 42:8).

Posted by LauraFirtko at 2:00 am Tagged with: , , , , , ,
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