Sane, Simple, Sacred: Gratitude

Gratitude

"...all is an opportunity to give thanks to God"

BEING GRATEFUL
Giving thanks for everything

Every day we are given opportunities for acquiring a grateful heart. Whatever comes our way, whether it be good or bad, are occasions for being grateful. When we realize that even difficulties and hardships are allowed by God for our salvation, we are more likely to received whatever comes, with a grateful heart. Whatever life places before us, all is an opportunity to give thanks to God.

The difficulties we face are opportunities to embrace with a trusting heart, that which God has allowed. Our willingness to please God governs our response, and in turn nurtures a humble heart, and a humble heart opens the doors to a peace that passes all understanding, and the Gates of Paradise are opened wide to us.

Love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon

I receive Abbot Tryphon's "letters" on facebook.
He writes from All-Merciful Saviour Orthodox Christian Monastery.

Always thought-provoking and wise.

Gratitude is a popular subject on blogs and in books...

plenty written about it.

Hints about how to practice it abound.
Folks post their "daily five" for the world to see.

Ann Voskamp is light years ahead of me.
...

The timing of this particular reminder

couldn't have been better for me personally.

I have "miles to go before I sleep"
when it comes to this - and so many other - subjects.

7 comments:

Breathing In GraceNovember 8, 2014 at 7:04 AM
It's so difficult to be grateful for the "hard times". As I look back over my life, I realize it was those times that brought me closer to the Lord, though. I, too, "have miles to go before I sleep", my friend....me, too!!! HOPE your knee is improving and each and every day you find more and more peace....that's another word that's been on my mind so much lately....PEACE!!! Happy Saturday!
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Visits With MaryNovember 8, 2014 at 8:40 AM
'Whatever happens in life ~ be thankful.' I have learned that God never forsakes us during the 'whatever' times of our life. He is my footprints in the sand! Hope you have a very happy and blessed day!
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TamaraNovember 8, 2014 at 8:59 PM
Indeed... "praise Him in the storm."
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MoNovember 9, 2014 at 3:30 PM
There is always something to be thankful for. I try to see those things all the time, but it's not all the time easy.
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elizabethNovember 11, 2014 at 12:27 AM
Beautiful thoughts and that photo is so lovely, Rebecca!
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DeeNovember 12, 2014 at 7:54 PM
I find the thankful response just automatically comes to me now...such as with my ankle sprain...some times it takes a day or two but it comes...♥
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"We simplify, not just to be less busy, even though we may be right to pursue that. Rather, we simplify to remove distractions from our pursuit of Christ. We prune activities from our lives, not only to get organized, but also that our devotion to Christ and service for His kingdom will be more fruitful. We simplify, not merely to save time, but to eliminate hindrances to the time we devote to knowing Christ. All the reasons we simplify should eventually lead us to Jesus Christ!" (Donald S. Whitney)

Dedicated to my sister-in-law, Beth--a TRUE home manager....

"I work for a King. He has put me in charge of his home. When He comes to see how I have managed His possessions and His children, I do not want to be found wanting. I want to do my best. Everything I have is on loan from Him. I have room and board and a job to do, but it is all for Him. Therefore I want to dress my best and do my best in all my work. I also want to be creative, for this is a sincere attempt to glorify Him and His beautiful creation. How I manage my home is a form of worship to Him." --Lydia Sherman

"A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry,
and see a fine picture every day of his life,
in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul."

~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Contentment makes poor men rich.

-Benjamin Franklin

"What I am gradually discovering is that in the writing I come in touch with the Spirit of God." ~ Nouwen

~~"Reading without reflecting is like eating without digesting."~~Edmund Burke

C.S. Lewis: "To trust Him means, of course, trying to do all that He says. There would be no sense in trusting a person if you wouldn't take his advice. Thus if you have really handed yourself over to Him, it must follow that you are trying to obey Him."

"To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not rich; to listen to stars and birds, babes and sages, with open heart; to study hard; to think quietly, act frankly, talk gently, await occasions, hurry never; in a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common--this is my symphony." William Henry Channing

“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Apostle Paul: "But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:13-14)

"It's a good thing to have all the props pulled out from under us occasionally. It gives us some sense of what is rock under our feet, and what is sand. It stops us from taking anything for granted. It has also taught me alot about living in the immediate moment. I am somehow managing to live one day, one hour at a time." Madeleine L'Engle

FIVE CERTAINTIES
WITH WHICH TO
START YOUR DAY

God holds you. Each day he carries us in his arms. Psalm 68:19 NLT
God sustains you. THE LORD is my Shepherd [to feed, guide, and shield me], I shall not lack. Psalm 23:1 AMP
God covers you. He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings shall you trust. Psalm 91:4 AMP
God pours His love upon you. Through each day the Lord pours his unfailing love upon me. Psalm 42:8 NLT
God will not fail you. The unfailing love of the Lord never ends! Lamentations 3:22 NLT

THE BLOGGER'S PRAYER Lord, help me to learn to spell without spellcheck, manage to visit all that visit me, and post regularly - all in 5 minutes a day, so that I can clean house and take care of my family. Help me to not look at every occurrence in my life as a blog post, and to quit taking pictures of weird things to share as well. Please Lord, help me to stop talking about my blog friends as though they are next door neighbors or someone I have known all of my life. And help me, dear Lord, to think of something witty and wise to post tomorrow.
Love, The Dust Bunny Hostage

Sane, Simple, Sacred

Mercy

Gratitude

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