TAKE NOTE

Have you thanked Him?

Have you praised Him?

Have you made it your priority to agree and cooperate with Him today?

Have you taken that deep breath and listened for what He has for you today?

1 Timothy 2:1 (The Message)

The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.

Sorry I have been away a day or two.  Holiday and commitments kept my early mornings occupied.  But it is good to be back behind the keyboard this morning if anything just to reflect.

I don’t know about you, but I appreciate Thanksgiving more and more each year.  Beth and I were talking in the car on the way to my mother-in-law’s house on Thursday and I remarked this was my 53^rd Thanksgiving. That is hard to imagine.  And it is also a little sobering.  I have HAD more Thanksgivings than I am likely to HAVE.

And as I pondered that, the LORD reminded me of the importance of GRATITUDE in the moment for you don’t know when those moments will arrest.  He whispered, “Be sure to appreciate today and all the things that come with it.”

For me it was the laughter of my kids and nieces as the basement was filled with a raucous game of “Heads Up”. For me it was the prayer around the table with all what GOD has blessed me with.  For me it was the brief tryptophan induced nap on the couch before another round of homemade pie.

You see there is a calming, almost warming effect to gratefulness.  That is why GOD encouraged us to always be engaging in it. (1 Thessalonians 5:18)

Tolle remarked:

What does gratefulness mean? It means you appreciate what is. You value, you give attention to, you honor whatever is here at this moment.

I tend to agree.

It is why the OFH opens with it.

For without the blessings of the day can get missed or ignored consumed by too many “what if’s” and “if only’s”.

Conley even once remarked that,

Social scientists have found that the fastest way to feel happiness is to practice gratitude.

I would agree.

For when I step back and PRACTICE gratefulness, a peace, a calm, a resetting takes place.  It clears the fog for me.  It returns me to center.  It washes discontentment from the equation. It reminds me that…

Every gift God freely gives us is good and perfect – James 1:17 (TPT)

So, here we are with another day FULL of gifts stretch out in front of us.  How will we embrace them?  With gratitude? Or will the busyness blind us to the blessings?

The choice is ours you know.

It's a funny thing about life, once you begin to take note of the things you are grateful for, you begin to lose sight of the things that you lack. ― Germany Kent

I love you all.

Have a BLESSED DAY!!!

OPPORTUNITIES for HOPE