Living Thanksgiving

"It's time to get up, it's time to get up, it's time to get up, it's morning!" (Lyrics from an Irving Berlin song written in the 1940's.) You've just awakened. What are your first thoughts? 

A. I'm still sleepy.

B. I hurt all over. 

C.  Ugh. Another  

day.

D.  It can't be       

morning! 

E.  I'm going        

back to sleep.

-or-

F. "This is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice & be glad in it" !!!

The point is, how do we, as Christian women, whether we are  homemakers, wives, mothers, or single women, begin our day, because from the beginning of the day,

we set the tone, the atmosphere, for our homes, families, our own selves, to have a chaotic, depressing, unproductive day, or a joyful, richly satisfying, productive day. In other words, beginning our day, even before we get out of bed, with...thanksgiving. It is very easy to indulge selfish thoughts, words & actions isn't it? But the higher & better way is to conquer them because they are destructive to us & all of those around us. I know there are times we all wake up crabby or in pain or maybe even depressed, but we can nip those things in the bud, before they even sprout, by thanksgiving, or in the words of another Irving Berlin song, "Count Your Blessings". Psalm 68:19 which reads, "Blessed be the Lord, Who daily loads us with benefits, the God of our salvation!" Exclamation point included! I have had to ponder that one because I sure didn't see those daily loaded benefits in my life. So, I decided to look up the word "benefits" just in case I was not understanding the meaning of the word. Here it is. "Something that produces good or helpful results or effects or that promotes well-being...blessing." Hmmmm, ok, so I decided to also look up the word, "blessing." "A special favor, mercy or benefit bestowed by God thereby bringing happiness." I also looked at the synonyms for blessing & guess what?😮 One of them was the word....yes,

 "thanksgiving". 😁

I had to ask the Lord's forgiveness for being too much of a whiner,😭, & to open my eyes to the daily load of benefits that I was missing. So, the first "eye-opener" was.... develop a grateful heart, a heart of thanksgiving, to begin to purposefully LOOK for blessings, even in seemingly negative things, (& sometimes these are a sort of 'blessing' archeological dig!) & then to give thanks for every "little" (which really isn't  because it's the "little" ones that have the mark of our intimate, detailed God on them. Wow!) things along our day, like the perfect parking spot when we are exhausted, finding our keys, a gentle reminder from Him of something we forgot to do, hot water for a bath for those aching bones at the end of a particularly busy & wearying day, a foot rub, a call, note or text from a loved one, something bad that did NOT happen, a "WOW!" sunset. or sunrise. or rainbow! or an unexpected bowl of ice cream! I remember when our youngest daughter was about three, I gave her a bowl of ice cream & she gasped, clapped her hands & said with great expression, "Is that to me?? Fankyou Ward!!!" That's how we should be with every "benefit" the Lord provides us with daily. As a matter of fact, just look at children, what & how much, delights  them. It is very humbling & a good pattern to follow.

1 Timothy 6:6 says, "Godliness with contentment is great gain." I would add to that, also thanksgiving. Actually, thanksgiving produces contentment & freedom from all of what the world tells us we must have in order to be happy. Thanksgiving restores us to simplicity, which leaves more room for, well, more thanksgiving. In South Dakota, toward the end of February, there is a tendency to become, cranky & complaining (this year it has been especially cold for a long period of time & we've had a LOT of snow & there's a lot more winter to come!⛄) & even depressed, so I have declared my own personal day of "Thanksgiving"! (Choose your own day of the month of February, all of you winter-weary folk.) Here are some of my wintertime perks, or personal notes of thanksgiving.

See Sammy squirrel?

I have a collection of these guys. "Beary" cheery.

& cuddly!

out of my window.

Kitty Lollipop

Kitty Oliver. He has the dreamiest
blue eyes.

"If you want the best seat in the

house, you have to move the cat."

So true....

staying close to the bird feeder

so very light on (or rather under)

his feet! 

Isn't he the cutest?? He's on a snow

man where we also put seed.

Now he's climbing up our bedroom

screen window."Uhhh. Got corn?"

Always time for a cup of tea!

counted cross-stitch, one of my 

favorite past times

 

Moonlight through ice etchings (the Lord's handiwork!)

on a bedroom window. Beautiful!

Let's go for a walk..

I baked a cherry pie in celebration of George Washington's birthday.

(Did you know that George Washington was mostly self-educated?that his bold action saved the  American Revolution? twice? that no one will ever rank higher than him in the U.S. military? & that he really did not chop down that cherry tree?? Oh well, a good excuse for having cherry pie!)

I am so thankful for apples. They are helpful in reducing inflammation to the body. & such a good source of fiber too.

& Chocolate! It releases the "feel good" endorphin hormones into your body. Endorphins are also helpful in relieving stress & pain. Also, endorphins are 'peptides' which activate the body's opiate receptors causing an analgesic(which acts to relieve pain) effect. I also looked up peptides but was not satisfied with the definition. (It was too 'scientific' for me) so let me give my own (& I think more appropriate!) definition. Peptides are simply that. Tides of pep! I believe that when we express thankfulness to the Lord, that it releases healing endorphins into our systems, thus creating "peptides" to our minds, our bodies, our emotions, our well-being & readies our hearts & minds to turn our thoughts to Jesus, the origin of our thankfulness, & generates strength, energy, vigor, joy, peace, contentment, "tides of pep", peptides! which brings us to another great endorphin...laughter.  Laughter is one of the great endorphin releasing medicines of our world. "A merry heart does good like a medicine." Proverbs 17:22   The rest of that scripture is, "but a broken spirit dries the bones."
Do we really want dry bones? If I remember, Ezekiel had to prophesy to dry bones so that they could live again! I can prophesy life right now to dry bones everywhere. " Live a life of thanksgiving. Bring life to yourself, your family, your world."

At the beginning of your day, & at the end of your day.

& as we discover the daily load of benefits, with humble & loving hearts , we will also gasp, clap our hands, & say to Him, "Is that to me?? Fank you Ward!" Yes, thank you Lord. "This is the Day...."

Raintree perk of the day:
"Enter into His gates with thanksgiving...be thankful to Him & bless His name. For the Lord is good & His lovingkindness is everlasting, & His truth endures to all generations."
Psalm 100:4 & 5