Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Day 56

I am very blessed to have great parents.  They raised me to know Jesus and they love me and my family so much.  We see my parents at least once a week.  I can call and talk to them any time... and I'm super blessed because we live in the same city.

Don't you love how we can talk to God anytime too?  We don't even have to have a phone... we can just pray silently in our heads or we can speak our prayers out loud.  We can journal our prayers or even rant to God to share what we're feeling.  We have an all access pass to the God of the Universe... to the Creator of the World.  Isn't that incredible?

Just think about it... if you want to meet the President, the most powerful man in the United States, what would you do?  I don't know what it would take to meet the President, but I imagine it would requires lots of red tape, a security inspection, and supervision while you were there... just in case.  Yet God, who is All-Powerful, is available to us every second.  Can you even begin to comprehend this?  He loves us so much that nothing separates us from His love (Romans 8:35-39). 

Colossians 4:2 tells us to "Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful."  I love the simplicity of this verse.  It reminds us to be in communication with God and to give thanks.  One of the things I'm learning is the privilege we have to pray on behalf of others.  God invites us to participate in His work and one way we can do it is through prayer.  You know what is really cool?  That sometimes when we pray on behalf of others, God allows us to see the answer to our prayers.  Experiencing God's answer to our prayers is so powerful and it reminds us to give God thanks for taking action... for answering our prayers.  And while His answers may not be what we hoped, we get to choose to trust Him and remember His promise in Jeremiah 29:11:  "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Let's take full advantage of our ability to speak to God whenever we want... and to take time to thank Him for all He's doing in our lives and in the lives of others. 

Tonight, I am thankful for...

1.  Boys being so good during my quiet time this morning
2.  Playing Quarkle with my seven year old
3.  Reading to my three year old
4.  Breakfast for dinner - and everyone ate without complaint!! 
5.  Getting lots of laundry done
6.  Getting to pray for my friends
7.  Seeing God answer prayer so quickly
8.  Praising God for how He gives us so much more that He has to... His love is so amazing!
9.  Staying in our jammies all day today
10.  My seven year old going on a special errand with his Daddy

Here's to 10,000 reasons... Only 3,858 to go...

7 comments:

  1. I am thankful for:
    1. A wonderful Christmas celebration with dear friends.
    2. My husband the talented Chef
    3. Carrot ginger soup
    4. Funny movies
    5. The name game
    6. Chocolate cheesecake
    7. A stocking full of new black socks
    8. Ice skating
    9. Hot chocolate
    10. Candy canes

    Bonnie Lawrence

    10. Candy canes

    ReplyDelete
  2. I am thankful for
    1.Having cereal with fresh strawberries for breakfast.
    2.Having time by myself.
    3.Cleaning my upstairs.
    4.Having time to finish my last Christmas book.
    5.Having a restful day.
    6.Seeing the beautiful snow falling.
    7.Having steak soup and bread for dinner.
    8.Homemade turtle cheesecake for desert.
    9.Staying home.
    10.Being so relaxed I fell asleep on the couch.
    11.Going to bed.
    Gina

    ReplyDelete
  3. I am thankful for...
    1. Safe travels for my family back to Arkansas
    2. A recovery day before hitting the road for Ohio Christmas
    3. A spontaneous trip to lowe's and the prospect of a new kitchen faucet
    4. Efficient packing skills that have suddenly appeared as a new gift from God
    5. The excitement of my daughter to see G'ma and G'pa
    6. Christmas music the day after Christmas which is just as meaningful as the day before
    7. Talking to God about my struggles
    8. The ability to talk to God whenever and wherever
    9. Afternoon games with hubby and daughter which was a first in our house
    10. Enjoying the small things
    11. Beautiful snow and the emotions it evokes
    12. Simplicity
    13. A new bible as a Christmas gift
    14. Celebrating the end of the day with ice cream sandwiches
    15. A car almost packed before going to bed

    ReplyDelete
  4. I am thankful for:
    1. seeing my kids enjoy each other.
    2. seeing my kids playing together.
    3. snow.
    4. fleece sweatshirts.
    5. warm tea.
    6. my husband not getting super sick...just a cold.
    7. talking with a friend who has had a rough holiday.
    8. looking forward to time spent with friends.
    9. naps.
    10. books to read.
    11. family game night.
    12. new game to play on family game night.
    13. rescheduling of family get together so we can there safely and feel healthier.
    14. finding pictures from when my son was 6 months old.
    15. seeing pix of my parents from 10 years ago.
    16. having a relaxing holiday.
    17. cuties.
    18. new devotion for Christmas.
    19. being able to read between the lines and understand a gift for what it was.
    20. the smell of lemon.
    21. another family get together to look forward to this w/e.
    22. toast and coffee appearing in the bathroom while I was getting ready for work.
    23. my husband being off work so he gets lots of time with the fam.
    24. the option for contacts or glasses.
    25. a full tank of gas.
    26. finding a positive spin to explain a tough thing to my kids.
    27. learning a new technique for decorating chocolates.
    28. pajamas at 3:00 in the afternoon after I get off work.
    29. hot sandwiches.
    30. cool glass of water or cup of hot tea on a sore throat.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I am thankful for:
    1. my husband helping my sister look for a new car
    2. getting all our stuff packed into our luggage
    3. flying across country and getting home
    4. the comfort of my own bed
    5. my husband going to get the car out of long term parking so the rest of us didn't have to walk out in the cold

    ReplyDelete
  6. AmandaL.
    I'm thankful for gum.
    I'm thankful for having coffee with a dear friend.
    I'm thankful for my new purse.
    I'm thankful for the timely of God answered prayer.
    I'm thankful for Megan trying to make a snowball.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I am thankful ...
    1) that my husband took off work to hang out with his family
    2) that we only had a couple of duplicate Christmas presents to return
    3) that my husband returned them:)
    4) that our family saw Les Mes. together - what a powerful story about forgiveness!
    5) for a great dinner out with family after the movies, and 3 of our kid's friends joined us.

    ReplyDelete