One of my favorite blogs I enjoy reading daily is Ali Edwards
http://aliedwards.typepad.com/_a_/
Today she talks about Gratitude.
She also talks about being in a funk of being grumpy and little patience. We don’t get this way do we???? I will be the first one to say YES!!! If you’re a mother, if you work outside or inside your home, or if you have laundry to do you are probably grumpy once in awhile!
Anyway, she made a list of 5 things she was grateful for. She has inspired me to do the same. And I hope my list will inspire you to make a grateful list too. Put it in your scrapbooks, tape it to your computer, or put it in your wallet and look at it when your feeling a little down! Or make a new one every once in awhile, our gratitude can change day to day!!
Post your lists to the comments, I would love to see them! Here is mine.
Today I am Grateful For:
1. A home to live in.
2. A good man for a husband
3. And two absolutely wonderful boys
4. A good job that helps pay the bills
5. Blogs that inspire me and help me to find who I am, and know its okay to be me!
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About Me
- Brandi Sue
- I am a mother of 2 wonderful boys, and a wife to the most loving, caring man of 8 years. We spend most of our time together doing family things and spending time with our church family. I thank God every day for the blessings in my life.
Favorite Places to Visit
Things I want to learn, know, or to do
- 1) Learn to crochet
- 2) Read the whole bible
1 comment:
have to be Thank-ful for the THORNS in my life...That IS what has drawn me closer to GOD..
Thankful for Thorns
>
> Sandra felt as low as the heels of her Birkenstocks when she pulled
open the
> florist shop door, against a November gust of wind. Her life had been
as sweet
> as a spring breeze and then, in the fourth month of her second
pregnancy, a
> "minor" automobile accident stole her joy. This was Thanksgiving week
and the
> time she should have delivered their infant son. She grieved over
their loss.
> Troubles had multiplied. Her husband's company "threatened" to
transfer his job
> to a new location.
>
> Her sister had called to say that she could not come for her long
awaited
> holiday visit. What's worse, Sandra's friend suggested that Sandra's
grief was a
> God-given path to maturity that would allow her to empathize with
others who
> suffer. "She has no idea what I'm feeling," thought Sandra with a
shudder.
> "Thanksgiving? Thankful for what?" she wondered. "For a careless
driver whose
> truck was hardly scratched when he rear-ended her? For an airbag that
saved her
> life, but took her child's?"
>
> "Good afternoon, can I help you?" Sandra was startled by the approach
of the
> shop clerk.
>
> "I.... I need an arrangement," stammered Sandra.
>
> "For Thanksgiving? Do you want the beautiful but ordinary, or would
you like to
> challenge the day with a customer favorite I call the 'Thanksgiving
Special'?
> I'm convinced that flowers tell stories," she continued. "Are you
looking for
> something that conveys 'gratitude' this Thanksgiving?"
>
> "Not exactly!" Sandra blurted out. "In the last five months,
everything that
> could go wrong has gone wrong." Sandra regretted her outburst, and
was surprised
> when the clerk said, "I have the perfect arrangement for you."
>
> Then the bell on the door rang, and the clerk greeted the new
customer, "Hi,
> Barbara...let me get your order." She excused herself and walked back
to a small
> workroom, then quickly reappeared, carrying an arrangement of
greenery, bows,
> and what appeared to be long-stemmed thorny roses. Except the ends of
the rose
> stems were neatly snipped: there were no flowers.
>
> "Do you want these in a box?" asked the clerk. Sandra watched for the
customer's
> response. Was this a joke? Who would want rose stems with no flowers!
She waited
> for laughter, but neither woman laughed. "Yes, please," Barbara
replied with an
> appreciative smile. "You'd think after three years of getting the
special, I
> wouldn't be so moved by its significance, but I can feel it right
here, all over
> again." She said, as she gently tapped her chest.
>
> Sandra stammered, "Ah, that lady just left with, uh.... she left with
no
> flowers!"
>
> "That's right, said the clerk. "I cut off the flowers. That's the
'Special'. I
> call it the Thanksgiving Thorns Bouquet."
>
> "Oh, come on! You can't tell me someone is willing to pay for that!"
exclaimed
> Sandra.
>
> "Barbara came into the shop three years ago, feeling much as you do,
today,"
> explained the clerk. "She thought she had very little to be thankful
for. She
> had just lost her father to cancer; the family business was failing;
her son had
> gotten into drugs; and she was facing major surgery."
>
> "That same year I had lost my husband," continued the clerk. "For the
first time
> in my life, I had to spend the holidays alone. I had no children, no
husband, no
> family nearby, and too much debt to allow any travel."
>
> "So what did you do?" asked Sandra.
> "I learned to be thankful for thorns," answered the clerk quietly.
"I've always
> thanked God for the good things in my life and I NEVER questioned Him
why those
> GOOD things happened to me, but when the bad stuff hit, I cried out,
"WHY? WHY
> Me?!" It took time for me to learn that the dark times are important
to our
> faith! I have always enjoyed the 'flowers' of my life, but it took
the thorns to
> show me the beauty of God's comfort! You know, the Bible says that
God comforts
> us when we're afflicted, and from His consolation we learn to comfort
others."
>
> Sandra sucked in her breath, as she thought about the thought that
her friend
> had tried to tell her. "I guess the truth is, I don't want comfort.
I've lost a
> baby and I'm angry with God."
>
> Just then someone else walked in the shop. "Hey, Phil!" the clerk
greeted the
> balding, rotund man. "My wife sent me in to get our usual
Thanksgiving
> arrangement... twelve thorny, long-stemmed stems!" laughed Phil as
the clerk
> handed him a tissue wrapped arrangement from the refrigerator.
>
> "Those are for your wife?" asked Sandra incredulously. "Do you mind
telling me
> why she wants a bouquet that looks like that?"
>
> "No... I'm glad you asked," Phil replied. "Four years ago, my wife
and I nearly
> divorced. After forty years, we were in a real mess, but with the
Lord's grace
> and guidance, we trudged through problem after problem. The Lord
rescued our
> marriage. Jenny, here (the clerk) told me she kept a vase of rose
stems to
> remind her of what she had learned from "thorny" times. That was good
enough for
> me. I took home some of those stems. My wife and I decided to label
each one for
> a specific "problem" and give thanks for what that problem taught
us." As Phil
> paid the clerk, he said to Sandra, "I highly recommend the Special!"
>
> "I don't know if I can be thankful for the thorns in my life." Sandra
said to
> the clerk. "It's all too... fresh."
>
> "Well," the clerk replied carefully, "my experience has shown me that
the thorns
> make the roses more precious. We treasure God's providential care
more during
> trouble than at any other time. Remember that it was a crown of
thorns that
> Jesus wore so we might know His love. Don't resent the thorns."
>
> Tears rolled down Sandra's cheeks. For the first time since the
accident, she
> loosened her grip on her resentment. "I'll take those twelve
long-stemmed
> thorns, please," she managed to choke out.
>
> "I hoped you would," said the clerk gently. "I'll have them ready in
a minute."
>
> "Thank you. What do I owe you?"
>
> "Nothing. Nothing but a promise to allow God to heal your heart. The
first
> year's arrangement is always on me." The clerk smiled and handed a
card to
> Sandra. "I'll attach this card to your arrangement, but maybe you
would like to
> read it first."
>
> It read:
> My God, I have never thanked You for my thorns. I have thanked You a
thousand
> times for my roses, but never once for my thorns. Teach me the glory
of the
> cross I bear; teach me the value of my thorns. Show me that I have
climbed
> closer to You along the path of pain. Show me that, through my tears,
the colors
> of Your rainbow look much more brilliant."
>
> Praise Him for the roses; thank Him for the thorns.
>
February 22, 2007 12:41 PM
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