Tag Archives: thankfulness

A Thanksgiving List

Since this is the season for thanksgiving, I thought I’d share with you on the marriage blog some of the things I’m thankful for. It would come as no surprise to anyone who’s a regular reader of my blogs to know that one of the things I am most thankful for is my husband. The second follows on from that. I am thankful for our son and daughter. Thankful too for each of their marriage partners, that they share their Christian beliefs, faith and commitment the same as Mick and I do. I am thankful God brought us together and … Continue reading →

Learning from Children

How often when you’ve given a gift does the person say,‘You shouldn’t have?’ But have you ever watched children when they receive a gift? They never say that! They don’t worry about whether they deserve the gift. They just can’t wait to rip open the paper and find out what’s inside. I watched my grandchildren doing just this on the weekend. Like children, we need to be willing to receive what God wants to give us. Yesterday we looked at what God wants us to pray for. But we need to be ready to receive God’s gifts when they come. … Continue reading →

Challenge for 2009

Yesterday at church we had some of the members of the Huskisson Scripture Union beach mission team come to join us for the day. What a great service! The first song our music team sang, ‘People Just Like Us,’ made me think of my daughter over the other side of the world but doing exactly the same as what we were doing, worshipping Jesus. As the song says, ‘All Over the World people just like us are following Jesus, we’re worshipping Jesus.’ At about that time our daughter was giving her testimony in a service thousands of miles away. That … Continue reading →

A Week Of Praise

It’s good to be reminded of the big and little ways God provides for us and the everyday blessings we can tend to take for granted. So often we forget to praise God for His goodness. So here is my week of praise and blessings. I praise God for: Safety when traveling. A special time together with family. My footy team, the Sydney Swans, won. God’s wisdom in solving a problem with a neighbor. Enabling leading singing on Sunday and a great selection of songs which fitted in perfectly with the sermon topic. Our minister’s support and encouragement for the … Continue reading →

The Secret to Enjoying Life

My calendar this morning says ‘the secret to enjoying life is to be thankful for what each day brings.’ Are you enjoying life? If not, the fault could be that you are not looking to find the blessings in each day. No matter how bad things are there is always something we can thank God for. Here’s my notebook of 10 blessings from the last 3 days. 1. Church music practice this week was so good. We sang ‘Shout to the Lord.’ This song has a lot of meaning for me. The last time I sang it at church was … Continue reading →

25 Blessings – Part 2

Continuing on from the first 12 blessings of my last blog, here are the next 13 as they came to me. 13. For the privilege of prayer and the answers He has given me 14. For the friends he has brought into my life 15. For daily reminders of His love as I read His Word and as look around me at the beauty of creation 16. That I was able play five sets of tennis yesterday and am physically able to do that and enjoy being with other people – Christian and non Christian. 17. For opportunities to talk … Continue reading →

My Country

Today, January 26th as it is already in our part of the world under the Southern Cross, is Australia Day. Our branch of the Sing Australia choir sang at Australia Day celebrations at Sussex Inlet. One the whole Aussies are a laid-back bunch and not given to huge displays of patriotism unless it’s Davis Cup or some other sporting event, although across the road in our neighbor’s yard is an Australian flag which flies all year round. Others only take to sporting a flag on this special day. But this is Australia Day, more than just a public holiday, it … Continue reading →

Fostering Appreciation in the Single Parent Family

It can be easy in a single parent family to see all the things that are “not right” or all the ways that things could and should be better. What can be more challenging, however, is to gather one’s thankfulness and resources and develop a sense of appreciation for all the joys and wonders of the world when one is often struggling just to make ends meet. So, what do I even mean when I start writing about “appreciation”? Back in November I wrote a little about my own “appreciation” around Thanksgiving, but this morning I am thinking of how … Continue reading →

Finding Gratitude

Christmas is one of the most special days of the year, but it is hard to deal with that letdown feeling that comes either that day or a day or two later. It seems that all the rush, and gift giving can become too overwhelming, and you just end up feeling tired and stressed. There are a few ways to combat that, and they all deal with gratitude. The first thing you may want to do is take a few minutes to write in your journal about all the things that you are grateful for. Look beyond the gifts that … Continue reading →

The Natural Response of a Thankful Heart

The natural response of a thankful heart is giving. Giving praise to God for what He has done, certainly. But also giving to God’s work so that the gospel can continue to spread throughout the world and giving to help those in need. The trouble is with so many worthy people, charities and causes how do you decide which ones to give your time, money and gifts to support? The whole issue of giving, raises questions about why a person should give, how much they should give, where should you and I direct our giving to and how can we … Continue reading →