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Showing posts with label Thankful. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Thankful. Show all posts

Friday, April 5, 2013

Thankful Thursday: List


I decide everyday this year I want to choose something I was most thankful for that day. I'm hoping by focusing on something I am thankful for each day, I will become more grateful and appreciative towards all the blessings I receive from The Lord and His provision in my life.

1. Grace
2. Jesus
3. Salvation
4. Friendships
5. Marriage
6. God
7. Imagination

What are you thankful for in your life?
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stormieariel
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Thursday, March 28, 2013

Thankful Thursday: Big Gifts in Small Packages

Thankful Thursday: Big Gifts in Small Packages


I decide everyday this year I want to choose something I was most thankful for that day. I'm hoping by focusing on something I am thankful for each day, I will become more grateful and appreciative towards all the blessings I receive from The Lord and His provision in my life.

Sometimes the smaller blessings is actually the bigger blessings. Let's think about this for a minute, when most people say we should be thankful for the little things they tend to mean life, breath, flowers, etc. But imagine how life would be without these little things. For one, without life we wouldn't even be here to be thankful for anything at all.

Life is a major blessing.

Yet, we don't treat it like it is. Majority of us put all kinds of trash in our body like sweets, alcohol or even drugs. If we actually treated our body like a temple the way the Lord commands than we wouldn't have this world epidemic of obesity or alcoholism. But, that is the sinners in each of us taking granted how precious our lives are and how important our bodies, mind and soul is.

Not only should we discipline our bodies but also our mind and soul.

We should nourish our soul daily with the Word of God. And to be quiet honest this is something I struggle on. I struggle with gluttony, I struggle with being too "busy" to sit down and dive into the Word. I struggle a lot.

But beloved, we don't have to struggle alone. Jesus bore our sins on the cross so that we might be forgiven and look blameless in the sight of God. Praise God! I am forgiven. I am able to give my burdens and my weakness to God.

|| Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness.
For we do not know what to pray for as we ought,
but the Spirit himself intercedes for us
with groanings too deep for words. ||
Romans 8:26
 

So beloved let's not take for granted our time here on earth wasting away our body, mind and soul. Let's glorify God in all things that we do as we were created to do.
 
Here is my thankful list for this past week:
 
1. Generosity from others
2. Shelter
3. Life
4. Food
5. Family Dinner at the table
6. Late nights with my hubby
7. The Cross


Father,
Thank you for all the "small" blessing in my life. I pray that you can lead me to be more grateful and displined in my life according to Your Holy Word. Father God, thank You for creating me to do Your Will and I just pray that it is glorifying to you.
Amen.



What small things are you thankful for in your life, beloved? How are you using your life to glorify God?
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stormieariel
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Thursday, March 21, 2013

Thankful Thursday: Move It!

Thankful Thursday: Move It!


 

I decide everyday this year I want to choose something I was most thankful for that day. I'm hoping by focusing on something I am thankful for each day, I will become more grateful and appreciative towards all the blessings I receive from The Lord and His provision in my life.
 
I'm so thankful for my legs, I have the ability to stand, walk, jump, skip and run; I can do whatever I want to do instead I waste majority of my day sitting down watching TV.

We take for granted such small blessings like these especially in the more wealthy countries. We like to sit around all day catching up on the latest tv shows or playing video games online when their are people who are ONLY able to do those things. How they yearn to be able to just stand or to run outside in gorgeous weather. However, they can only dream those things due to illness, disability, war and many other reasons.

Yet, we who are blessed with the ability to walk take it for granted and waste our days in front of electronics.

Make a vow, beloved, to move more. I know I plan too. I made a goal for myself this month on my Nike+ app; I want to earn 4,000 nike fuel in 4 weeks.

Also, lets be thankful for not only the big blessing in our lives but also the smaller ones that others only dream of having.

Here is my thankful list for this past week:

1. Friends
2. Family
3. Jesus Christ
4. Scripture
5. Gorgeous weather
6. Legs
7. Education

How do you plan to move it more this month? What small blessings will you stop taking for granted?

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stormieariel
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Thursday, March 14, 2013

Thankful Thursday


I decide everyday this year I want to choose something I was most thankful for that day. I'm hoping by focusing on something I am thankful for each day, I will become more grateful and appreciative towards all the blessings I receive from The Lord and His provision in my life.

March 13 was the day my mommy died (I refer to my biological mother as mommy and my aunt who raise me as mom). This Wednesday was 12 years and for the first time I was struggling on how I should feel. When I was younger my mom (the aunt you raised me) took me to Galveston where we spread my mommy's and daddy's ashes on their death anniversaries or birthdays. We would let up balloons that said we missed them or happy birthday. After that we would get a Carmel apple as a dessert while we were in Galveston. We haven't done that in 6 years. This year I decided I wanted to do the same thing again however we weren't able to. So I was pondering the whole day, do I celebrate her death? But, I have no idea where she is. I don't know what my mommy's relationship with God was like when she was alive. However, I didn't want to mourn either. I've done that already and didn't want to restart the process all over again. (Now that I am writing this, maybe it would be a good idea to mourn again or take a grieving class at least).
As the day went on, I thought of how thankful I was for the decision my mommy did make on who was to raise me. I am who I am in part to my mom who raised me as her own. For that I am thankful and celebrate knowing I was loved.

Here is my thankful list for the week:

1. Date nights❤
2. Lazy mornings with my love
3. My doggies
4. Exercise
5. Bowling
6. My mom
7. Walks with my Molly

What are you thankful for this week? How do you use times of mourning to be thankful?
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stormieariel
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Thursday, March 7, 2013

Thankful Thursday: Enduring Hardships

Thankful Thursday: Enduring Hardships





I decide everyday this year I want to choose something I was most thankful for that day. I'm hoping by focusing on something I am thankful for each day, I will become more grateful and appreciative towards all the blessings I receive from The Lord and His provision in my life.



For almost six months now, I have seen people struggle in life and endure hardship after hardship. I wonder if it ever crosses their mind about the lifestyle they live and just maybe their actions and the way they choose to live their life are the reasons for these constant hardships. What if God is putting them through these situations to show them something. To show them they are trusting in the wrong things or relying too much on people instead of Him. (I am in no way saying being born-again means you do not endure hardships because we do and Jesus did!)

What I am saying is this: when my husband and I are having hard times in whatever, we do not overly stress (we still stress but not as much as most people). For, "a Christian is one who's MORE bothered by his sin than his suffering." (Burk Parsons)

We know whose hands our future lays in.
We know who our Provider is.
We know who carries our burdens when they become too much for us.
We trust in God.

For the people, who consistently look to other people to provide for them, look to others to care their burdens and trust in themselves and others are the people who overly stress. Why? Because people are not perfect and they WILL disappoint you.
God WILL NOT!!

Trust in Him, beloved.
Hand over your burdens to Jesus.
Praise God during your good and bad days.


I noticed I missed last week's thankful list so for this week, I created a list of 14 items I am thankful for instead of my normal 7.

1. Life
2. Salvation
3. Sanctification
4. My husband
5. My husband's job
6. My job
7. Shelter
8. Transportation
9. Church home
10. Blessings
11. Breath
12. Sun
13. Wind
14. Butterflies
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stormieariel
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Thursday, February 21, 2013

Thankful Thursday: My Valentine's Day Review


I decide everyday this year I want to choose something I was most thankful for that day. I'm hoping by focusing on something I am thankful for each day, I will become more grateful and appreciative towards all the blessings I receive from The Lord and His provision in my life.

The days approaching Valentine's Day, I had many thoughts on how my day would go. I imagined coming home to a beautiful bouquet of red roses, I would be overly smiling and kiss my husband. He would than tell me to get dressed because he is taking me out to eat. Where? To be honest, I did not care where we went to eat. Normally, we go to Olive Garden for Valentine's Day but I was okay if we didn't. (I was mostly excited about spending time with him and receiving the gorgeous flowers.) Anyhow, this was my daydreaming of how the day would be.

Here is how the actual day went:
Before heading to work, my grandmother asked me yet again if Anthony and I had plans to do anything. I told her like I said many times before, "I am not sure what Anthony is planning. I don't want to ask him because I am hoping he will surprise me." So I headed off to work. When the time started getting closer to me getting off, the more excited I got over trying to figure out how my love would surprise me. I finally got off and rushed home. I walked in the house and found my husband in the kitchen cooking. At the time, I was not sure what exactly he was cooking but I did have an idea. He told Babcia and I to sit down at the table and he would serve us shortly. We both sat down and my husband showed us the menu for the night:

Appetizer:
Salad with homemade Italian dressing

Main Course:
Spaghetti
Perogies

Dessert:
Chocolate covered Strawberries
Molten Chocolate Brownie with Vanilla Ice Cream

All this was homemade by my husband except the Perogies. He created each meal with the thought of my grandmother and me in mind. In the beginning, I was bummed because I did not receive the flowers I had been dreaming of the whole day but my love greatly exceeded my expectations for the dinner. I loved how he wanted to incorporate my grandmother during this holiday. I admire my husband all the more seeing his compassion towards Babcia. I am truly blessed.

Thankful List:

1. My thoughtful husband
2. In-laws
3. Lunch with family
4. New opportunities
5. Prayers
6. Cooking
7. Pictures

How was your Valentine's Day? What are you giving thanks to God for this week?
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stormieariel
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Thursday, February 14, 2013

Thankful Thursday: Knowledge isn't everything


I decide everyday this year I want to choose something I was most thankful for that day. I'm hoping by focusing on something I am thankful for each day, I will become more grateful and appreciative towards all the blessings I receive from The Lord and His provision in my life.
 
I have had this mind frame for a while that the more I know, the more I will be on the same page as other believers but the more I love and use my gifts to further the gospel the more unity there is with other believers. As Paul said to the Philippians, "complete my joy by being of the SAME mind, having the SAME love, being in full accord and of ONE mind." In the ESV Study Bible, the notes suggest Paul was not speaking of "intellectual uniformity" but speaking of using "their diverse gifts in an agreeable, cooperative spirit, with a focus on the glory of God." I'm so used to being the smart one and I am struggling with that in my walk with Christ. In school, sure fine I can be smart but in Christ I need to love Christ and to love others more than loving the knowledge of Him. I pray and use the Word to pursue God and know Him but the very fire of me pursuing him is out of love for my Creator. And ultimately, "We love because he first loved us." 1 John 4:19

Here is my thankful list:

1. The Gospel
2. Relax
3. Church home
4. Life
5. Breath
6. Food
7. Wisdom

What are you thankful for lately?
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stormieariel
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Thursday, February 7, 2013

Thankful Thursday: A Real Challenge


I decide everyday this year I want to choose something I was most thankful for that day. I'm hoping by focusing on something I am thankful for each day, I will become more grateful and appreciative towards all the blessings I receive from The Lord and His provision in my life.

This week has been a very challenging week for me physically, emotionally and spiritually. It was quite hard to keep up with my thankful list and some days I struggled with even being thankful for anything. I got through the week though and intend to reflect on this past week on areas I need to grow in the Lord.

Therefore, instead of my normal ranting I would really love to hear from you guys. How has God encouraged you this week?

Here is my list for this past week:

1. Date night
2. Intense fellowship with my husband
3. Breath
4. Insurance
5. Love
6. Church Camp
7. My sister

What is your thankful list? How do you deal with challenging weeks or days?
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stormieariel
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Thursday, January 31, 2013

Thankful Thursday: [Insert Clever Title here]


I decide everyday this year I want to choose something I was most thankful for that day. I'm hoping by focusing on something I am thankful for each day, I will become more grateful and appreciative towards all the blessings I receive from The Lord and His provision in my life.

In July, my husband was transferred into a different department to train for a promotion. The company said they could not give him the position right away because it would not be fair to the other employees who may be qualified for the position as well. The solution would be to train him for the position and once they put up the posting for the position, he would be the most qualified and was guaranteed the position. (I found it very sketchy this entire time of how they were going about giving my husband a promotion). Yesterday, we got news my husband did not get that position after all. Another person who was already in the department got the title of supervisor. However, my husband would have to continue doing the duties of that position but be classified as a normal employee. I was furious with how his bosses were going about this entire ordeal. I knew it was strange to begin with but never did I imagine they would pull this. My frustration with his job continued until I was speaking with one of the parents from my job. (I work at the local YMCA as an after-school counselor watching children).

In early January on a Friday, her job told her she was getting a promotion. That following Monday, she was laid off. She explained to me her devastation and how she was scared, being a single mother of two boys and having no family to turn to for help. "Who was [she] to ask to help pay [her] mortgage?" she said.
However, her fears were washed away within a week. She was blessed with a new job, who gave her a two week advance check on top of receiving unemployment for that week she was out of work. Hearing her story of what she went through and not sulking but giving thanks to God for the new job, made me examine my reaction to my husband's situation.

I should be thankful my husband still has a job! Yes, he did not get the promotion he has been working for but he is able to provide for me all the same, thanks be to God and God alone.

Here is my thankful list for the week:

1. Education
2. Our home
3. Babcia
4. A great workout
5. Bible study with my husband
6. Jocelyn's hugs
7. Our jobs

What are you thankful for this week? How has God used people in your life to show you your blessings?
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stormieariel
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Thursday, January 24, 2013

Thankful Thursday: Deer Crossing


I decide everyday this year I want to choose something I was most thankful for that day. I'm hoping by focusing on something I am thankful for each day, I will become more grateful and appreciative towards all the blessings I receive from The Lord and His provision in my life.

I was driving down the long country roads to pick up my grandmother, Babcia. I saw a deer crossing sign. Therefore, I began to drive very cautiously in fear that a deer would jump out and I would have to either slam on the brakes and the car behind me would hit me (since they were following too close) or I could hit the poor deer. With those two scenarios on my mind I reduced my speed hoping 2 things: the car would pass me up and I would be ready to safety stop if a deer did appear. However, a deer didn't appear, a hog did with her piglets. She was getting ready to cross the street with her young. So I pressed my breaks to slow down to a stop to allow them to cross but she ran away from the street and her piglets were quick to mirror her actions and stayed close to their mother for protection. This moment was amazing to witness and it made me think what if we mirrored Jesus in such a way? How amazing would it be to quickly mirror Him in our lives with no question about it? I'm so thankful for God teaching me things through His creation. On that note, here is my thankful list for this past week:

1. Jennie Allen giveaway by Lore Ferguson
2. Wildlife
3. My pastor
4. Time with family
5. Cooking for others
6. Babcia
7. My husband's cooking❤

What has God shown you this past week? Are you grateful for His providence in your life?
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stormieariel
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Thursday, January 17, 2013

Thankful Thursday: God's provision


I decide everyday this year I want to choose something I was most thankful for that day. I'm hoping by focusing on something I am thankful for each day, I will become more grateful and appreciative towards all the blessings I receive from The Lord and His provision in my life.

1. New opportunities
2. Showers
3. Dancing with my husband
4. Friends
5. God's provision
6. Workout buddy
7. Soap

What are you thankful for this past week?
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stormieariel
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Thursday, January 10, 2013

Thankful Thursday


I decide everyday this year I want to choose something I was most thankful for that day. I'm hoping by focusing on something I am thankful for each day, I will become more grateful and appreciative towards all the blessings I receive from The Lord and His provision in my life.

In the midst of frustration, fear or even anger, God does not abandon us. We, as humans, tend to focus on what's going wrong in our lives but if we could focus on what's good in our lives maybe, just maybe, we could see how blessed and beautiful our life is thanks be to God.

Each Thursday I will share my list and declare Thursday "Thankful Thursday". So here is the list I compiled starting from January 1st to today.

1. Loving husband
2. Kiddos from work
3. Life
4. Generosity of my sister Rosanne
5. Friends
6. Church Family
7. Quality time with my hubby
8. Having a job
9. Great workout
10. Conversations with my husband

Try this experiment with me and let me know how much of an impact it's made on your life. What are some things you are thankful for?
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stormieariel
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