Thankful Thursday - Finding the Blessings

6/11/2015

God's mercies are new every morning. The sun rises in the east and sets in the west, we can count on this constant in our lives. Every moment is a gift from God. That in and of itself is something be thankful for. We all have a choice to make; seek to see His new mercies and give Him thanks, or fail to discover His mercies and spiral into a life marked by an unthankful heart. A heart that is marred by pride and/or bitterness. As Henry Ward Beecher so aptly stated, "The unthankful heart...discovers no mercies; but let the thankful heart sweep through the day and, as the magnet finds the iron, so it will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings!"

Each of us is either thankful for what we've been given or resentful over what's been taken away or withheld. Whichever we rehearse every day, that's what becomes our way of life.
I know I don't have this life of gratitude and thankfulness down as faithfully as I'd like. I'm still practicing being aware of His presence, acknowledging His tender mercies upon my life, and being thankful in all circumstances. But I've made my choice, and I choose to have a grateful, joy filled heart. I want my life to be humbly grateful for all His blessings in my life. And I know what I don't want, and that's having a murmuring and hateful countenance. Which are you? Humbly grateful or murmuring and hateful?

My Thankful Heart's Sweep Through This Week:

Life. This past weekend our family celebrated the 13th birthday of my 3rd in line grandchild, Lana. What a joy she is to our family. Thank You, Lord, for blessing me with this ray of sunshine in my life.
Mercy. I spent time with a dear friend who attempted suicide recently. As she recounted the details that lead up to her choice and how God intervened before she slipped away, well, I'm thankful for His mercy upon her life and saved her physically. Now He's working on her spiritually and emotionally. If you would, please pray for my dear friend's recovery.
Provision. Again I'm amazed at the ways He provides for Mike and I as we travel this journey of unemployment and forced early retirement. He continues to provide small handyman jobs for him to do. We do not want for anything. We have a roof over our heads, food on the table, clothes in our closet, gas in our cars, money in the bank, and all bills current. Thank You, Lord for Your gracious provision.
Weight loss. I've managed to lose 4 lbs over the past two weeks, thanks to The Daniel Plan and the encouragement of my husband, friends, and family.

What are you thankful for this week? Grab a button from the sidebar, pin it to your post, and then come back here and sign up using the Linky below. Please put the direct link to your Thankful Thursday post. The Link Up will be LIVE until Monday morning. Be sure to visit the person who linked up before you and comment on their post. And, of course, you are more than welcome to visit as many others in the community as you have time.

8 Comments

Ellen link

6/11/2015 07:48:43 am

May I ask what the Daniel Plan is?

Marsha link

6/11/2015 10:14:32 am

It's a 6 week (40 days) program by Rick Warren and Saddleback Church. It's centered on five essentials that will launch your journey to health: Faith, Food, Fitness, Focus, and Friends.

There's a book, a workbook, and a DVD. The program's credibility comes from experts in the medical and fitness fields. It works on the premise of God designed your body to be healthy and He provided everything you need to thrive and live an abundant life. It talks about making healthy choices in a daily lives on multiple levels. You can go to www.danielplan.com for more information.

I will probably run a group here online after I've completed the full program. It's really a great kick start program. Actually, they have a smaller version of the book called the Kickstart or something like that.

Hope this helps.

Tessa link

6/11/2015 10:14:48 am

Nice post Marsha. I hate to do this, but my post will not work on your linky tool. Here it is maybe you can link it because it tells me my link is incorrect. https://tessacandoit.wordpress.com/2015/06/11/thankful-thursday-61115/

Marsha link

6/11/2015 03:51:28 pm

Tessa, I don't mind a bit. I'll double check the link with your blog post. I'm sorry you're having trouble with it.

Tessa link

6/11/2015 04:08:33 pm

I don't know why, but it does it every week. One thing or another goes wrong. Thanks for putting it on.

Deb Foster link

6/12/2015 03:42:24 am

Wonderful words, Marsha. I too have been trying to be more intentional about choosing thankfulness. I am thankful I found your site. It keeps me choosing and remembering to be thankful. The hardest part for me is not remembering and rehearsing "what's been taken away or withheld." Blessings.

denise oldham

6/23/2015 02:17:01 pm

thanks, love you so much.

Marsha link

6/23/2015 04:17:23 pm

Love you, too, my sweet Denise. It's so good to see you back online!

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