10 Reasons to be Grateful

Everyday we see more evidence of people who've contracted the fatal disease of entitlement. Paris Hilton is great example. Here is a young woman with everything to live for, every privilege, every benefit. And now by flaunting the law, she is going to jail for a brief time. She's all over the news. And the one word I keep hearing from all the newscasters and speculators is the word "entitlement," that she feels entitled.

All of life is a gift to be enjoyed. The Scriptures tell us that every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of Lights, that is, God. If you're finding it easy to feel sorry for yourself, and hard to count your blessings, here are the Top Ten Reasons that might help remind you to be grateful:

1. If you woke up this morning with more health than illness, you are more blessed than the millions who won't survive this week. That's a reason to be grateful.

2. If you've never experienced the horror of war personally, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation, you're ahead of 20 million people around the world at this moment who are. Remember to be grateful.

3. If you're able to attend a church of your choice this week without fear of harassment, arrest, torture, or death, you are more blessed than almost 3 billion people on this planet. That's a reason to be grateful.

4. If you have food in your refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof over your head and a place to sleep, you are richer than 75% of the world population. That's a reason to be grateful.

5. If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, or spare change in a dish somewhere, you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy. That's a reason to be grateful.

6. If you can hold your head with a smile and truly proclaim that in your heart you are thankful, you are more blessed than the majority of people who have every reason to be thankful except the power to be so.

7. If you can hold someone's hand, hug them, touch them on the shoulder, you are more blessed because you can offer encouragement which is, more times than we know, God's healing touch.

8. If you can read this Dave Rave you are more blessed than over 2 billion people in the world who cannot read anything. That's a reason to be grateful for the people who've invested in your life.

9. If at the end of this day you're going to retreat into your home being surrounded by those who love you, you'll experience today what the majority of the earth's population will never experience in a lifetime. That's a reason to be grateful.

10. If you get up every morning convinced of the protection, the providence, and the promises of God for your daily life, if you feel that you serve a purpose, that you've found work that is meaningful; if you feel like your life matters then you have every reason to be grateful.

This was from Dr. David Foster's Blog - he has practical information from God's Word that you can really use... visit him at www.myspace.com/davidhfoster

Lightening Bugs...

I realize that some folks call them fireflies... but I was thinking about them recently. My cousins from Florida were here to visit, this is my cousin who is a year older than me and she has 10 kids and has/is homeschooling all of them... wow, right?! Anyway, they do not have lightening bugs where they live. It was a neat thing then, while at Dad's house, the lightening bugs came out and we were running around like silly kids trying to catch them.

They always signify summer to me, and lazy days of playing at dusk with the kids in my neighborhood - kick the can was always a popular night game. But summer days are longer and more relaxed, right? Supposed to be, anyway. And as an adult, I have lost that carefree feeling. Nothing seems simple or fun, everything is rigid, routine, demanding, stressful... and I am a Christian! What is wrong with me? No joy in simple things; everything is so hard, especially lately.

I just returned from our youth mission trip to Pennsylvania, and this group was awesome. The youth/college students were very unified, no drama really, the adults all worked together, the worship was great... and it was exhausting, but in a good way.

Now, I am back home, back to work, back to bills and back to medical appointments with my mom... and I feel physically and mentally and emotionally exhausted... I sometimes just SCREAM at the Lord, WHY IS LIFE SO HARD?!! What have I done? Don't I deserve a break sometime??? And then immediately, the Holy Spirit within me says, what about Jesus? What did He ever do except LOVE ME? and be OBEDIENT to His Father? You see.. I cannot even have a proper pity party, the Lord just won't allow it.

I know that God is at work all around me, around us, and yet, I sometimes just do not see it. Like I would not have noticed the lightening bugs at my Dad's that night, except that my cousins were LOOKING FOR THEM! If I do not look for God's work, then I am not going to see it. How convicting is that? But I am still so tired...

I am grateful beyond imagination for the Christian brothers and sisters who encourage me... things that are done, maybe just a smile, that will give me just enough energy to push on, and make that next step... even when I am so tired of life.

Take notice of the lightening bugs around your place, and thank God for His Work in your life, even when you are too busy to notice.

Disturbing Info

it doesn’t make sense.

I just read this information...

We live in a day and age when ministry materials for children and youth have never been so plentiful, so relevant, so trusted and so utilized by churches like yours across the country. Yet the statistics tell the hard truth – 75 percent of young people will walk away from their faith by the age of 25. Take a look at your youth group. For every four youngsters learning to serve Jesus today, only one will be doing so ten years from now.

ONE in TEN?!!

We need to remember that we are not "doing program" at church, but we are to be loving people, looking to develop relationships, raising children who love the Lord, and continually spending time with the Father so that we can fall in love with Him more and more ourselves.

Imagine...
(http://www.awana.org/homebase/)