30-Day-Gratitude-Challenge

Today is day 30 of my “30-Day-Gratitude-Journal Challenge*.” It’s been a great month of learning to be intentionally grateful every day. Here’s some things I’ve learned and of which I’ve been reminded.

• Ungrateful people are much like a container that has a hole in it leaking out every blessing that’s been poured in.
• Silent gratitude isn’t much use to anyone.
• Recognize (be on the lookout for blessings) and express appreciation (be intentional) to God and others.
• If tomorrow’s supply depended on today’s thanksgiving, how much would I have tomorrow?
• Gratitude is the overflow of a humble heart.
• The world says “protect what you have,” but God says “be generous.”
• Thank God for invisible blessings:
• miles driven without a flat tire
• diseases we don’t have
• Be thankful for blessings we take for granted (toothbrushes, glasses, soap, etc.)
• Look above your circumstances, look above your fears and see what God is doing in the midst of them. Ask God to show you your blessings.
• Two questions Nancy DeMoss asks anyone struggling with chronic discouragement or depression.
• Are you memorizing scripture?
• Are you singing to the Lord?
• Singing hymns (or just reading the words) are a good resource for encouragement and thanksgiving.
• Choose gratitude over bitterness.
• The restorative power of a grateful heart and tongue is more potent than we can imagine.
• Create a gratitude account, listing individuals you owe a debt of thanks. Then keep your account paid up by thanking those people.
• Anything that makes me need God is (ultimately, in the truest sense) a blessing.
• Undeniable guilt, plus undeserved grace, should equal unbridled gratitude.
• When we give out of gratitude to God, we cause gratitude to well up in others’ hearts.
• Give thanks in all circumstances. 1 Thess. 5:18
• Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise, give thanks to him and praise his name. Psalm 100:4
• I will extol the Lord at all times, his praise will always be on my lips. Psalm 34:1

Lord, I want to have a grateful heart, but forgive me for all my murmuring and complaining. Open my eyes to the positive things in my life and cultivate a thankful heart in me.

*Choosing Gratitude - Your Journey to Joy, by Nancy Leigh DeMoss

Spring Concerts and Risers

This week Dave & I went to two spring concerts at Woodriver School where my grandsons attend. It's also the same school that our two children attended.

Andrew (5th grade) did a great job on the bass guitar with the orchestra. That reminds me that I started taking piano lessons when I was in the 5th grade.

Kaiden (2nd grade) sang and did lots of cool motions in the choir (picture attached). The choir used risers and Kaiden stood on the top row. I never see a set of risers that my mind doesn't go back to a time forty-five years ago.....

I was attending Lee College in Cleveland, TN and singing with the Lee College Choir. There were 120 choir members and we were performing a big number - the Hallelujah Chorus, if I recall correctly. I can't remember where we were performing but we were all crunched together on risers and I was standing on the top level. About half way through the song the riser collapsed and down we all went. I remember the screams of surprise as the music and singing came to an abrupt stop. Fortunately no one was hurt. The risers were pushed aside, all the choir members reassembled on level ground and we finished the song. All those thoughts were running through my head as I watched Kaiden and listened to the second graders sing. Fortunately, their risers stood firm.

"Life Interrupted"

This weekend, I attended a Priscilla Shirer simulcast at Bethel Church here in Fairbanks. I’ve never attended a simulcast before and didn’t really know what to expect, but it was very comfortable and the speaker and singers felt up close and personal. It was almost like being there. The ladies at Bethel did a super job of organizing it here and making everyone feel at home. I enjoyed seeing so many friends that I haven’t seen in quite awhile.

I was happy that Jami, Joan and Charmel were also able to attend.

Here’s some facts, figures and thoughts that spoke to me:

• About 80,000 women attended across the U.S., plus Canada and Singapore. 400 churches were represented.
• Worship team: Anthony Evans and 4 other singers, which included Janice Gaines (she sang on the worship team at the Women of Faith conference I attended in Spokane last year), and Melissa Green, who has sung with Avalon.
• Theme: “Life Interrupted, Jonah - Because God Wants to Meet You Where You Are.”
• This was like a week-end date with God.
• We’re seated under an open heaven. He’ll do great things in and through us.
• Interruptions in our life can be positive or negative, but they most always bring with them lifestyle changes and modifications. Amen to that!
• Interruptions are divine interventions even though we don’t see it that way to begin with.
• How will I respond to interruptions in my life?
• Give God more credit for what He’s doing in our life.
• If He brought me here, He can carry me through.
• If He (God the Son) loved us enough to die for us, He loves us enough to speak to us.
• God does not speak to be heard, but to be obeyed.
• God is not keeping us FROM something, but keeping us FOR something.
• If we’re not running away physically from our interruptions (like Jonah), have we run away on the inside? Do we go through the motions grudgingly? Are we discontent?
• With the interruptions in our lives, God is setting us up for a special relationship with Him.
• What is my Nineveh?
• It’s in our Nineveh that we’re exposed to God’s power. God’s power deserves more opportunities to work.
• Nothing happens in our life that escapes the eyes of God. Be encouraged for God care and concern for you.
• Be more committed to God’s Word.
• Don’t allow anything to replace the reading of God’s Word and allowing the Holy Spirit to open the Word to you.
• God will never convict you to condemn you. His conviction is always connected to grace.
• God can take our trash and clutter in our lives and make something beautiful out of it.
• The decisions I make today will mark the people who come after me.
• God will go with us into our circumstances and He’ll get us through.
• What transformation is waiting on our obedience?
• I purchased the book “Life Interrupted - Navigating the Unexpected”
• Other books and resources available at http://www.lifeway.com/priscillashirer

• Twitter.com/PriscillaShirer
• Blog: www.goingbeyond.com (check out “Jewelry box”)

Personal note: Like everyone else, I have experienced and feel like I’m living right in the middle of “life interrupted.” This simulcast has been just one more way that God has used to speak to me. He recently told me “it’s just the weather”, but that’s another story for another blog.

One Bloom Saves Plant

I've had this cactus for five plus years and it's never bloomed. When it didn't bloom yet again during the 2010 Christmas season I threatened to throw it out. After all, the blooms and flowers on a plant are the whole reason for the plant, aren't they? Why keep around a plant that refuses to flower? I was convinced I would throw it out, but before I actually got around to it I saw this tiny bud form and then this beautiful bloom.....only one bloom on the whole plant, but enough to save the plant. I treat this one bloom with such tender love and care. When the grandkids look at it and touch it, I hold my breath - afraid the bloom will get damaged even though I'm happy they appreciate the beautiful bloom too. I'm so proud of that single bloom and now I have a renewed motivation to keep the plant and see if next time it will have more blooms! That one bloom has restored my faith and hope in the whole plant.

Now I'm waiting for my African Violet to bloom.

Choosing Gratitude

I attended the Farewell Avenue Christian Church's spring ladies retreat this weekend at the Princess Hotel. Nicole Welch and Ashley Lund also attended from LifePoint. The retreat theme was "Gratitude," taken from the book, "Choosing Gratitude - Your Journey to Joy," by Nancy Leigh DeMoss.

Here are some thoughts I carried home with me:

• Undeniable guilt + undeserved grace = unbridled gratitude.
• A grateful person is a humble person, while ingratitude reveals a proud heart.
• A grateful heart is God-centered and others-conscious, while an ungrateful person is self-centered and self-conscious.
• A grateful heart is a full heart, while an ungrateful heart is an empty one.
• People with grateful hearts are easily contented, while ungrateful people are subject to bitterness and discontent.
• A grateful heart will be revealed and expressed by thankful words, while an ungrateful heart will manifest itself in murmuring and complaining.
• Thankful people are refreshing, life-giving springs, while unthankful people pull others down with them into stagnant pools of their selfish, demanding unhappy ways.
• Gratitude - the fruit of a thousand choices.
• Choose gratitude. It's a discipline.
• Instigators of Ingratitude: unrealistic expectations, forgetfulness, entitlement, comparison and blindness to God's grace.
• We were encouraged to start a 30-day Gratitude Journal where we reflect on Scriptures of Thanksgiving and we list at least five things each day for which we're thankful.
• When sending a thank you note, consider the "who" (giver) and "why" more than the "what" (the gift). Don't just say "thank you for the gift", but express why the gift mattered to you.
• Take time to remember events in your life. Remember to be thankful.
• It takes intentional effort to be grateful.
• Ingratitude is a sin (and a tap root for other sins).
• Recognize, acknowledge and express thanks to God and others.
• Gratitude is a sure path to peace.
• Gratitude is a gauge of the heart.
• Gratitude is the will of God.
• Gratitude is a work of the Spirit.
• Gratitude reflects Jesus' heart.
• Gratitude gets us ready for heaven.
• Gratitude is an every day thing!
• I want to be more grateful.

Stretched

It's been four days since the kids moved into their new house. Even though I'm excited that we all have our own homes now, I have to admit I've experienced some withdrawal.

• It's very quiet around here....I miss the noise and laughter.
• I have to cook EVERY night (I miss Jami cooking every other night).
• Cooking for 3 is easier than cooking for 8....and the clean up is easier too. I think I came out better on that part.
• No more homework done around our dining room table.
• No more coats and boots left at the front door.
• No more dinner meals to take up to the property
• Less laundry
• The house is easier to keep clean
• Not as many interruptions (i.e Grandma, will you read me this book?)
• No more good night hugs and "I love you's" from the kids

The 9-months that the kids lived here stretched us. Once they left I thought everything would just go back to normal, but our normal has been all stretched out of shape. I feel a little lost. Now I'm wondering what to do with the space and resources we have. How can we be generous with what we've always considered normal. I don't want the stretch marks to go away.....enlarge my heart, O Lord.

Happy 65th Birthday!

I recently celebrated my 65th birthday. My oh my, where did the years go? Well, let's see.....

• 47 years has passed since I graduated from high school.
• 45 years that I've lived in Alaska.
• I've been married 40 years,
• have been a mother for 35 years,
• and a grandmother for 11 years.
• 55 years since I took my first piano lesson.
• 31 years that Dave & I have pastored in Fairbanks. Okay, he's pastored and I've been along for the ride.

This week a friend posted a few pictures of me on facebook. Pictures that were taken back when I was in high school. I recognize myself through my memories, but I don't look like that picture anymore. The smile is about the same, but that girl was very slim, her glasses were scary and what was up with that hair? Sixty-five years of life can't help but change a person's appearance and it also changes a person's heart. Am I.....

• ...more compassionate and merciful?
• ...fulfilling my God given purpose?
• ...loving the Lord above everything else?
• ...seeking excellence?
• ...listening to God and being obedient?
• ...still growing and "living" life?

With each new picture taken, my glasses may get thicker and my hair will turn gray, but I always want the love of Christ to shine through in my smile.