Category Archives: Thanksgiving

Jan21

DAY 21 (2015)

Posted on January 21, 2015 by lsgrlr

We can’t do it alone, we all need help on the journey.
(Picture taken at House Of Hope, S. Korea)

So I got the best compliment ever today from a friend. Our friendship has had ups and downs and for a while, we weren’t as close. But a little while ago we repaired the rift in our friendship and took steps toward regaining our closeness. Today we were texting back and forth and she said the coolest thing, I think anyone has ever said to me. She told me that God had used me to help put her back on the right path. Now to some reading this it may not be a big deal, but let me explain why it is. I don’t always feel like I am doing the right thing, or saying the right thing. Especially with this friend, because I felt like I let her down a lot in the friendship. The beauty is that God restored it, and even in the midst of my insecurities and not doing it right, she still was able to find a “good”. After that text I realized God really does redeem our mistakes, He gives us beauty for ashes, and restores what the locust has taken away.

“The LORD says, I will give you back what you lost to the swarming locusts, the hopping locusts, the stripping locusts, and the cutting locusts. It was I who sent this great destroying army against you” (Joel 2:25).

So what I thankful for today? Friendship.

Jan19

Random (hopefully inspired) Thought

Posted on January 19, 2015 by lsgrlr

Standard

I have hidden Thy word in my heart.
(Picture by Lisa R)

1 Kings 16. “And it came to pass, as though it had been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took as wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians; and he went and served Baal and worshiped him. Then he set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal, which he had built in Samaria. And Ahab made a wooden image. Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him” (Verses 31-33). Don’t provoke God. Don’t purposely do what He has said not to do. Ahab provoked God, anyone who has read the story knows that this did not bode well for him. Don’t provoke God, praise Him. He is always with us, always meeting our need. Don’t anger Him. Thank Him.

Jan13

DAY 13 (2014)

Posted on January 13, 2015 by lsgrlr

Standard

God is the DIRECTOR of my path.

So yesterday I found out I had pink eye. I had to laugh, because I associate that infection with children. On Saturday I woke up with my eye swollen, red, and itchy. But let me tell you about how God used it for good. The company I work for, for the first 6 months has a 100% dependability policy. What that means is no absences. I started in the winter, in Buffalo it snows every day (okay this may be a slight exaggeration), I come from Florida. See where I am going with this? On Sunday the swelling had not gone away, and on Monday when I woke up my eyes was pink, watery, and throbbing. I had a bad, bad case of pink eye. But what that earned was a day off with no negative repercussion, which was awesome because on Monday it literally (not an exaggeration) snowed ALL day. God had once again stepped in and taken care of my worry even before I had a chance to worry about it. Today I woke up with a little bit of swelling, but no pink, and no throbbing and today the road were clear. God truly went before me to clear my path. His grace blows me away every single day.

“But you will not leave in haste or go in flight; for the LORD will go before you, the God of Israel will be your rear guard” (Isaiah 52:12).

So what am I thankful for today? Clear roads and a God that knows my needs before I even ask.

Jan7

DAY 7 (2015)

Posted on January 7, 2015 by lsgrlr

Standard

Don’t worry about what’s to come. Instead let God’s peace fall like snow.

Mmmm… almost forgot to post today. it was a long day, not a bad one by any stretch of the imagination, just long. This morning it snowed really bad and I was nervous about driving. But my awesome brother gave me an out when he offered to take me if I didn’t want to drive. So at 7 am I called him, woke him up and asked if his offer was still good, and it was. Yes!!! The drive was beautiful, but that is not my point of thankfulness. No, today I want to thank God for a brother who doesn’t mind getting up at seven am to take his sister to work. Even although he didn’t have to go to work. Life is lonely if we try to travel it alone. Lonely travelers are easy prey and fall quickly to the schemes of the enemy. But when we have a companion we have accountability and friendship. So thanks Jon for taking me to work, and thanks God for giving me a brother that didn’t complain about being woken up.

“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor” (Ecclesiastes 4:9).

So what am I thankful for today? Companions on the journey.

Jan1

DAY 1 (2015)

Posted on January 1, 2015 by lsgrlr

Standard

It’s a new year and in all honesty, at this moment the phrase, “the sky’s the limit” is one hundred percent true. On this day what ever happened ‘last’ year does not matter and does not count, because the when clock struck midnight on this new year, God gave us all the chance at a do-over. In light of that, I have decided to rejoin my journey of thankfulness. To once again every day find a reason to be thankful no matter how big or small the blessing may be. Last year I was not consistent with my DAY posts, and I found that my personal and spiritual life also felt somewhat inconsistent. So my goal for this year is to regain my consistency. Not just in posting, but in my life as I journey toward heaven with Christ as my guide. I hope you will all journey with me.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

“He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!’ Then He said, ‘Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true'” (Revelation 21:5).

So what am I thankful for today: A new year filled with boundless opportunity.

Dec28

DAY 362 (2014)

Posted on December 28, 2014 by lsgrlr

Standard

Let God direct our path…expect miracles EVERY day.

I have forgotten A LOT. I have let the troubles of this world, of this life drown out what I KNOW to be true. What I KNOW to be right. Which is: “As Your love in wave after wave crashes over me. You are for me, you are not against me. Champion of heaven You have made a way for ALL to enter IN.” This song reminded me today of several truths that I had forgotten, maybe forgotten is wrong… more like pushed aside, sitting in the farthest realms of my mind, instead of front and center. I had forgotten that God’s love flows over me like the waves of the sea, in countless ways and in abundance. I had forgotten that He is FOR me. He is NOT against me. I had forgotten that He is the CHAMPION of heaven, and that He has made a way for ALL to enter IN. Life is crushing, in that it makes us many times push aside what we know to be true to be right, leaving us grappling to hold on to things that will ultimately cause us to sink. In our forgetfulness we shake our fists at God and ponder why He left us. When in truth is He is still were WE left Him. His love still willing to wash over us in waves of abundance. He is still for us, even when we wonder, even when we fall short… He is NEVER against us. He is ALWAYS for us. He is still the CHAMPION sent from heaven. He still has the door open for us to ENTER IN.

“What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31).

The Lesson: Don’t forget to remember… GOD IS FOR US.

Dec21

Random (hopefully inspired) Thought

Posted on December 21, 2014 by lsgrlr

Standard

I have hidden Thy word in my heart.
(Picture by Lisa R)

2 Samuel 18. “Then the king was deeply moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept. And as he went, he said thus: ‘O my son Absalom—my son, my son Absalom—if only I had died in your place! O Absalom my son, my son!'” (Verse 33). David’s heart is so unique to me. Every time I read a scripture about him I understand more and more why God said he was a man after His own heart. By no means was David perfect, remember Bathsheba? He made mistakes, and way wrong decisions, but at the end of the day no matter how much he had messed up, his heart was ALWAYS for God. This chapter is no different, Absalom his son is trying to kill him. Let me repeat… Trying. To. KILL. Him. But when Absalom dies, David wished he could die in his place. Who does that remind you of? For me it is Jesus. I am his child, always doing wrong, always bringing Him shame. Yet He willing died for me. He took my place. Today let us like David be people who seek to have a heart like God’s.

Dec19

Random (hopefully inspired) Thought

Posted on December 19, 2014 by lsgrlr

Standard

I have hidden Thy word in my heart.
(Picture by Lisa R)

2 Samuel 17. “So Absalom and all the men of Israel said, ‘The advice of Hushai the Architeis better than the advice of Ahithophel.’ For the Lord had purposed to defeat the good advice of Ahithophel, to the intent that the Lord might bring disaster on Absalom” (Verse 14). It is a good thing to allow God to defeat “good” advice. Yesterday I was giving myself “good” advice and thankfully God defeated it. In the case of the scripture God gave Hushai favor in order to save David from his son. In our lives God will defeat our “good” advice in order to save us from ourselves. We see finitely, just what is in front of us. God sees it clear to the end. So if He thwarts our advice let Him. It is because He loves us and has a better plan.

Dec18

DAY 352 (2014)

Posted on December 18, 2014 by lsgrlr

Standard

So true!

So it’s been a while since I have written a “DAY” post. There are many reasons for this: Life, worry, fear, laziness. Right about know you’re thinking those are perfect reason to write a post that reminds me that God loves me and has a plan and a purpose for me. It is in the moments that life is the hardest that we realize our need for God’s grace and love. Today as I spent time in devotion God showed me that not only are those times a time of realizing Him, but it is also a classroom. It is the place we learn about about ourselves, our limits, and our desperation. Today I ran into an issue that I was not expecting… I dislike those moments, because I make a plan and I walk towards it, and then… BAM, out of nowhere something happens that I was neither planning for nor prepared for. Those moments, stink… can’t lie. Normally the plan of attack is to by-pass God (cause we’re am smart like that) and go straight to desperation. It is almost as if we think, “what bad decision can I make to fix this“. Today I have to be honest, the first option was desperation, but God in his ultimate wisdom slammed the door shut. This caused me to take a step back, pray, and ask Him to show me “the option that wouldn’t make the situation worse”. Then He did. What makes me sad is that it wasn’t my first option. My first thought wasn’t God what do you want me to do? Today I am disappointed to announce that my first thought was NOT take it to God. However, He loves me enough to get me to where I need to be. He led me to a solution that would fix the issue, but not make it worse. In fact it made it better in some ways, because it taught me a lot about someone I love (to that person.. THANK YOU). Life throws us curve balls, sometimes it feels like they’re all that’s being thrown. However, don’t despise the curve balls, take it to God. He’ll teach us how to catch them.

“But in my distress I cried out to the LORD; yes, I prayed to my God for help. He heard me from his sanctuary; my cry to him reached his ears” (Psalm 18:6).

The lesson: God first (yup it’s that simple) 🙂

Oct25

DAY 297 (2014)

Posted on October 25, 2014 by lsgrlr

Standard

Fill in the blank…

Today I saw the coolest sign it said, “I am thankful for _________…” It reminded me of the reason I started this blog. In 2012 life was less than stellar. I spent the majority of 2012 depressed, although you would not have known by looking at me. Years of being the “go to person” had taught me to hide my feelings like a pirate hides his treasure. But even if it didn’t show on the outside, I always knew what was going on, on the inside. At the lowest point of my year, God spoke to me and told me I needed to develop an attitude of THANKFULNESS. As you can guess, thankful was not how I was not my prevailing feeling. But from that challenge this journey was born. In 2013 everyday for 365 days, I found one thing to be thankful for. EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. In those 365 days, some days were easier than others to find a reason to be thankful. That year changed me from the inside out. It taught me to see past the situation I was facing and to see the “what” God was trying to teach me. If we see life the good, bad, and ugly from the perspective of God, then we are able to find a reason to give thanks. As we give thanks, we learn to appreciate what we have, even when it is not always what we want. I learned that thankfulness does not change my situation, but it will change how I view the situation. So today just a little encouragement to be thankful in the midst of whatever you are going through. Life does not always go according to plan, but sometimes plans changing can also be a reason to be a reason to give thanks,

“Thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live” (1 Thessalonians 5:18, The Message).

So what am I thankful for today? I am thankful for God’s gentle reminder.