Be grateful, for He is Good

It's that time of year where thankfulness is the main topic. 

I look at the world & see a lot of broken & hurting people. People that don't have as much as me, people that have more than me... And they are still so broken, left empty. 

There are days that pass that I do not thank the Lord for everything in my life & I hold my head low admitting that. But it's true. We can so easily take everything for granted. We can so easily thank other things that is visible & we sometimes forget the One who actually gave it all to us. 

It being Veteran's Day, if you are in America, take a moment & really thank God for all those soldiers out there that are fighting for US. While we are sitting in our homes with our families "trying to get by" they are sitting somewhere else other than their homes & not with their families fighting for their lives. I thank God for the men & women He has serving our country.

But mostly, this season.. Thank Him. Thank Him for His glorious & radiant Son, Jesus Christ. He gave it ALL for us. I sit here quietly in my bedroom typing away on a computer... And ultimately it all comes down to.. He gave it to me. 

Our Thankfulness Tree

The beautiful Miss Kelly posted some ideas yesterday on how to be creative while being thankful this month.  I thought I'd share with you what our family does for the month of November!

We started this tradition last year when my oldest was 3.  All it takes is a big roll of brown paper and some colorful leaves!  Last year I found a beautiful dark gold/brown roll of wrapping paper at the .99 cent store and I traced and cut out my own leaves from construction paper (super time consuming to make 30 leaves that way!).  This year I found a roll of brown bulletin board paper for a classroom for just a few dollars at a toy store and bought a package of foam craft leaves from Target for about $5 - not so cheap but waaaay easier!

(You'll have to excuse my funky looking tree - I'm not an artist!)  Every day my little guy finds something that he is thankful for and I write in on a leaf.  He gets to stick it on the tree!  It brings me so much joy to hear what he is thankful for.  Towards the end of the month he really has to think and be creative to find new things to put on his leaves - we don't repeat anything for the whole month!

Here is our finished tree at the end of last November...

We get to practice thankfulness and add some colorful decor to our home!

Thanksgiving Projects

Thanksgiving is just around the corner which for most means family, food, and football. But how do you continue to remember to truly be thankful everyday for the blessings God has given us? How do we teach our children that being thankful means? Here's a few easy projects that have teaching moments in them. Try them in the next few weeks!

Give Thanks Leaves

String. Close pins. Leaf cut outs. Easy! Write what you, your spouse, and your kids are thankful for on the leaf!

Free Printable

For your home.

Thankful Turkey

Each day of November, ask each child to write what they're thankful for on a paper feather, and stick it into this cute turkey centerpiece. 

The Valley of Dry Bones

The past Sunday at my church we had guest speakers, a young pastor and his wife. They are starting up a new church in the county I live in. Several things stuck out to me, one of which is that when he got up on that stage to speak you could tell he was filled with the spirit of the Lord. He was so passionate about seeking God's will. It made me want to express that same passion to those I encounter everyday instead of shy away!!

Another things that stuck out to me about this situation is that it was at my church, someone else was going in to talk about a new church! This is huge! Usually churches are concerned about their own numbers and funds and help. Don't think I am bragging about my church here... even if I absolutely love it!!:] I just thought, "How cool that we are one body of Christ, united. Not just one church or another. We are helping each other out and seeking(together) to reach out to every individual in the community." This is huge for the Church today, to stick together. I think it is crucial!

The third thing that stuck out to me from this past Sunday was the story the pastor is using to start this new church. It is...


Ezekiel 37: 1-14

37 The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. ² He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. ³ He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”

I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.”

⁴ Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! ⁵ This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath^[a] enter you, and you will come to life. ⁶ I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”

⁷ So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. ⁸ I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.

⁹ Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’” ¹⁰ So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.

¹¹ Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ ¹² Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. ¹³ Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. ¹⁴ I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.’”


I know that was a lot. But this pastor who spoke is reaching out and calling out to the dry bones in my community, the souls that need awakening who have been asleep and dead far too long. We as individuals don't have to start up a new church but in out work places, homes, neighborhoods, towns, and communities need to reach out to the dry bones. They are desperately in need to wake up just how Ezekiel spoke to the bones in the valley and they rose and a new flesh covered their bodies and a new soul was in them, just like this young pastor is seeking to awaken souls in Elkhart county. Let's be one body of Christ and be the example of the love of Jesus by reaching to those dry bones!

Desires of your heart

Do not be discouraged my your current circumstances.

Maybe you thought you'd be married by 25 or 30.

Maybe you thought you'd have a career by now.

A house.

Children.

Dream opportunities.

Open doors.

A better savings account.

Everything you have been believing for.

Maybe your present is not looking like how you thought it would.

Disappointments.

Let downs.

People telling you no.

God wants you to know that it's ok.

THOSE THINGS ARE ALL WORLDLY DESIRES.

But, yes, God wants you to have the desires of your heart.

Just make sure you are focusing on HIM and not worldly possessions.

Claim and declare the desires of your hearts.

Never give up.

Keep dreaming and speaking.

Faith gives life to our dreams.

God does hear us!

So do not get discouraged when you think about your current wants.

God has a plan and sometimes it's not in our timing, it's in His.

Find peace in his timing knowing all things will be taken care of.

Keep your eyes on Him during the process and you will be rewarded!

Hebrews 11:3
By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

Hebrews 11:6
And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.

Chosen

I just finished reading Heaven is for Real. I have had it on my nightstand or on my book shelf for years. I kept putting books in front of it. But finally just last week I picked it up. And I picked it up at the perfect time. My kids are around the age that Colton made a trip to heaven. I could relate to some of the points his father was making in the book that not just any 3-4 year old would know this stuff. 

As I sat in church yesterday morning our sermon was over being chosen. 

I am chosen. You are chosen. We ALL are chosen. 

Then the kicker, not all choose to accept Him. 

Why? I find this so hard to wrap my mind around sometimes. Why does it make so much sense to me, but not the person next to me? Why did I choose to accept Him but not this other person? Why me? Why not them? Why God?

And then I get emotional. Tears flow to my eyes, I want them to go to heaven too.

I caught a glimpse through Colton's 4 year old's eyes of what heaven is like. Of course we read about it in the Bible, but when a 4 year old describes it, I can fully picture it & it really makes you think even more about going to heaven. 

1 Peter 2:9 -- But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.

Remember, we are all chosen. We are all chosen to belong to God. Will you make that choice today & everyday? Always remember to pray for those who struggle to accept this. 

Forgiveness

I teach a class on conflict resolution every Monday morning at an 18-month rehab program at our local women and children's shelter.  I love spending time with these women each week because I feel like I am learning right along with them often times.  Each week I have started writing on the board this quote during class: "When we consider our debts to each other, they pale in comparison to the debts that the Lord has forgiven us each and every day.  We have been forgiven so much!"  

Sometimes we become so wrapped up in a frustrating or painful situation that we forget that every single day God forgives us over and over.  He forgives the "little" sins each day... the judgmental thoughts that cross our mind, the sarcastic response to our co-worker, spouse or child, the little fib we tell to get us out of a sticky situation, the curse the slips out when we stub our toe or our failure to truly love our neighbor as ourself.  The list is endless and I'll be the first to admit that I don't even realize the amount of sins I commit every day!  Thank JESUS for his forgiveness!  Not only is he constantly forgiving these sins but he pardons my greatest sins... the deep dark ones that I hide from the world.  His blood covers my most painful mistakes, my ugliest of choices.  When I stop and thing about the depths of His love for me and the price that He paid to forgive me every day so that my sins wouldn't kill me, it becomes harder to hold grudges.  That harsh word that was spoken to me - I've said worse to God.  The person who cheated me out of what was rightfully mine - I've been forgiven for doing this as well.  The person who didn't show me the love and affection I craved?  I often ignore God, I am forgiven for that as well.  I know that some deep hurts take time and healing before we are able to come to a place of forgiveness but are you holding on to something out of stubbornness or pride or spite?  It might help to take a moment to remember just how much you have been forgiven for!