Attitude of Gratitude

Back in the days when I was a corporate trainer, I used to LOVE sending out motivational and inspirational messages to my team and those I was training. It was the perfect way I thought to begin the day. Focused on something positive whether it was a motivational line, a story or simply something for them to consider during the course of the day.

I think each morning might bring dread for some people. It might just be all they can get to make it to the end of their day. I believe it certainly can't hurt and most of the time it is just what people need to hear. Too often the enemy tries to rob us of our joy before we can even get out of bed. To get our minds off of the blessings that come from simply being able to breathe, the walk, to even have a bed to sleep in. We're so busy dealing with all of that needs to get done, we miss those blessings that are around us in abundance. We've simply taken them all for granted and all it would take for us to become that much more grateful is to lose any of them.

Talk to the homeless man who has to wonder how he will keep warm tonight as you drive by him on your way home to a warm home, with lights and food to eat. What about the woman who is hanging on to life, why you complain about how you simply can't make it through one more day dealing with your stress at your job? What about the woman who just lost her husband due to cancer, and all you spend your day doing is complaining that your husband won't take out the trash?

Seriously, we have so much to be thankful for but we tend to focus on the negative over the positives in our day. We seriously need a change in our attitude and that's why I am incorporating three things I'm going to ask my private group to list every single day about their lives as well as three things they are going to work on. We need to stop being held back by fears that get the best of us and rob us of the blessings God has in store for us. Fear is a powerful weapon and that is why it is faith's adversary. If you are walking in fear, you aren't placing your faith in God to handle things. Sure I understand we are all human and at times, fear is going to attempt to get in the front seat of our lives, but we need to remember who is driving! First and foremost for me, it needs to be God and I'm a passenger. This is a two seater car and there is no room for the enemy to cause me to question anything.

So with that being said, what are three things you're going to work on today? What three things are you going to be grateful for today?

Thankful Thursday, September 23rd

Today is the day that according to my devotional stated that I needed to find 5 things to be grateful or thankful for and here they are:

1. I am thankful that my gallstone attacks lately are being controlled by pain meds til I can find a doctor I can trust.

2. I am thankful that my raging migraine headache is going away thanks to our Great Heavenly Physician.

3. I am thankful for the last two days of unusually cooler weather that really made the first day of fall feel like fall here in the High Desert.

4. I am thankful that my daughter's high school isn't going to drop her from her web design class due to our diligence and prayers to fight for what we believe is right.

5. I am thankful for the ability to take my family to the county fair for free tomorrow and spend time exploring and discovering all of God's goodness.

If you want to join in on Thankful Thursdays with us, join up at Greg's General Store and list your 5 for the day.

Pleasures are Meaningless

Have you noticed that the world we currently living in, is filled full of people who want things for themselves? They desperately work long hours at a job that they don't like in the hope of someone noticing their effort and thus giving them praise, a promotion or perhaps even a raise if not all three. So what is the motivating factor in all of this?

Pride? Envy? Honor? Status Quo? or perhaps just keeping up with the Jones?

Yet no matter how much we work, how much money we make, what we spend it on, nothing satisfies. It all comes back empty! Every single time.

Sure it might work for a short time, perhaps a week but it won't last. No matter how great your home, you job, you car, your vacation, your family, the only thing that lasts and truly satisfies is our relationship with God. That is what sustains us in the dry seasons of life.

Let's look at Ecclesiastes 2: 1-11 and look at the wise words from Solomon.

"I thought in my heart, 'Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good.' But that also proved to be meaningless. Laughter, I said, is foolish. And what does pleasure accomplish? I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly - my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was worthwhile for men to do under heaven during the few days of their lives.

I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. I bought slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. I amassed silver and fold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired men and women singers, and a harem as well - the delights of the heart of man. I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me.

I denied myself nothing my eyes desired;
I refused my heart no pleasure.
My heart took delight in all my work,
and this was the reward for all my labor.

Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve,
everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;
nothing was gained under the sun. "

So as you can see even the most wisest of men in God's kingdom and even Jesus himself told us that money and things will never satisfy. We will always want more.

We should begin to build our treasures in heaven where nothing can take them away. Let us begin today but seeing what we can do for others instead of focusing our eyes on ourselves. Let's spend more time with God hearing his voice through the Word we have each day in the Bible and see just how much God will bless us when we take our eyes off ourselves.

Toll Roads

My oldest daughter now has a summer internship job which fortunately for her allows her to make some money while working part time during her summer vacation. However this summer job requires us a bit of a commute twice a week taking us between an hour and a half to two hours to get her there.

She stays with my sister and mom because my sister works at the company she is interning with so it makes it simple for her to stay the three days and we pick her up when her shift ends during the week.

The one thing we have to do to avoid a longer commute is to take a toll road here. It's not required but reduces our driving time by at least 30 to 45 minutes depending on the day and time. The toll can be a bit costly but the aggravation it saves from sitting in rush hour traffic is well worth it.

The added benefit is that it takes you to some of the most beautiful remote hillside landscapes in the county. There are rolling green hills that seem to stretch on to infinity adding more rolling hills beyond what you can see.

There are red tail hawks that circle overhead looking for a snack or a place to land and observe the comings and goings of the world.



There are hillsides covered in mustard yellow flowers that splash along their color in varies patches. My youngest said while driving that God must have spilled mustard while taking a stroll one day. Hmm, looks like He could have. Never thought of it like that.

There are hidden lakes nestled in the valleys that remain a remote haven for the wildlife that can access them.

And across the final hilltop we can finally see the stretch of vast blue Pacific ocean.

There are quite a few things that most people don't notice while they make their daily commutes through this toll road each and every single day. Most have transponders which don't even require them to stop and visit the toll booth attendant to pay their fares. They simply speed on by while the electronic sensor calculates the toll and debits it from their bank accounts.

Yet the one thing I've noticed is the things you miss zipping on by. The things that go un-noticed unless you really look besides the things I have mentioned.

There is a fun looking rock formation that looks like a tea pot. You can only see it going northbound but it looks amazing.

There are the countless cactus that sprout up out of nowhere, nestled in the tall grasses on the hillside. They are gone in the blink of an eye and before you can tell the passengers in the car what you just saw.

There are the bushes of beautiful white flowers that gather in the valleys that can't be accessible from the road side yet add just a touch of beauty to the lush green trees and hills.

Beauty is all around us in the everyday yet so often we find ourselves in the biggest hurry to get somewhere and miss the signs God is showing you everyday to let you know He still loves you and cares enough about you, to show you His love and beauty in the every day sights we pass by every day.

Those brilliant blue skies with puffy white clouds that look like puppies or turtles, or the most beautiful rainbow hues that come with the evening sunsets. Did you hear God whisper in the gentle breeze, "I love you"?

Just what is all that worth to stop and notice it every day? A few dollars at the toll road? Or worth the very soul inside of you that this world wasn't created by a random happening or big bang 6 billion years ago.

No it was designed and created by the God of this world who even now is working on creating an eternal home for us to spend the remainder of our lives with for those who have accepted Him as Lord and Savior of their lives. That to me is priceless.

So what will you notice today? I've made it a point to list 7 things that I am thankful to God for. It helps me to keep a better perspective on my day and starts it off on a blessed note. Here are mine:

1. Blueberry muffins
2. Smell of freshly cut Christmas trees
3. Puppies breath
4. Down comforters
5. Yellow finches
6. Ocean waves
7. Hearing "I love you" from my hubby.

What are your 7? I'd love to hear them. Please leave them in my comments!