…and it begins with a thankful heart!
Our family just celebrated two very special birthdays: Kami, our first born daughter’s birthday and Skyler McKindsey, our only granddaughter’s, first birthday.
When I celebrate a birthday I feel like I have a chance to begin again. I begin the next year of my life with a fresh slate and a sense of wonder. I ask God to show me what He may have in His overall plan for my life and how He wants to use me to make a difference in this world. I am a firm believer that if He has chosen to leave me here, it is because He still has a very specific plan for my life. I also look forward to what He is planning to teach me; I know it will be something I have never known before and something that will transform my life. I continue to experience this year after year. When someone receives a birthday card from me, it means I have made a promise to ask God to bless their year with special insights from Him; insight that will richly bless and guide him or her on a journey that He has been planning that will provide a year so set apart from the others that when they look back, they will always remember it as a turning point that led to great and wonderful things. I have said all this to lay the foundation for what I believe is key to having a very special year: thankfulness.
When I celebrate a birthday I feel like I have a chance to begin again. I begin the next year of my life with a fresh slate and a sense of wonder. I ask God to show me what He may have in His overall plan for my life and how He wants to use me to make a difference in this world. I am a firm believer that if He has chosen to leave me here, it is because He still has a very specific plan for my life. I also look forward to what He is planning to teach me; I know it will be something I have never known before and something that will transform my life. I continue to experience this year after year. When someone receives a birthday card from me, it means I have made a promise to ask God to bless their year with special insights from Him; insight that will richly bless and guide him or her on a journey that He has been planning that will provide a year so set apart from the others that when they look back, they will always remember it as a turning point that led to great and wonderful things. I have said all this to lay the foundation for what I believe is key to having a very special year: thankfulness.
I know from personal experience (and I am sure the same can be said for many of you) that when you have a thankful heart it sets you apart for great, wonderful, transformational living. Why is it that there can be a poster board in front of us, completely white with the exception of one black dot in the middle of it and when asked what we see when we look at the poster board, 99% of the time we will say “a black spot”? All the white fades away and we focus on the one small spot that somehow is bigger than all the rest of the board.
Life can be like this, an abundance of good things going on—blessings daily (literally overflowing)—and yet, if we are not deliberate, we forget all our blessings and get pulled down by the negative. In actuality, if we would choose to look at the hard things that come into our lives as opportunities to live life well and be thankful for it all, as God commands us to do, our lives would be very different. In Philippians 4:6 and 7, God tells how we are to live and what will be ours if we do as He wants us to do: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God which transcends all understanding will protect your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” The following verse, found in Jeremiah 29:11, also gives us hope that comes from living our lives for the Lord, with gratitude: “For I know the plans I have for you”’ declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you hope and a future.”
I would like to leave you with some thoughts.
• Pray for God to examine your heart
• Pray for Him to make you aware of any ungratefulness
• Choose “Whom you will serve”
• Be a home that deliberately states: “as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord”
As Thanksgiving approaches, all of our hearts are filled with thanks. Do not wait to live a life of gratitude. I want to leave you with two questions that you should ask yourself every day. These questions will change your life and the direction you take. Remember, you wake up each day and choose how you will engage in everyday life.
1. “This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it,” Psalm 118:24. Will you?
2. “Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord, is the Rock eternal,” Isaiah 26:4. Do you?
May His richest blessing be upon you and His face shine upon you every day! Choose Him!
Have a happy and blessed Thanksgiving,
Cindy
3 comments:
Thank you Cindy,
These are words and verses that I need to hear. I am very thankful for my husband, children, grandchildren and It Works!!!
Patty
I loved reading this, Cindy. Not only more wisdom for living, but a glimpse into your heart as well. I just shared the "black dot" example in my office last week. Your writing is a good reminder to stay focused on what there is to be grateful for. It is too easy to be negative. Thanks for this challenge.
Pam Wolz
H Cindy,
I have a similar view about birthdays as you do. I treat my birthday like the beginning of the new year rather than New Years Day and I set my intentions for the year. I always look at what I was grateful for in the year that is passing and set new intentions for the year that is beginning, on my birthday.
thank you for your thoughts,
Katelyn Mariah
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