A POEM ABOUT GRATITUDE

THE GIFT OF GRATITUDE

Perhaps the best gift that you can give to yourself

Is to have gratitude in your heart

When others complain that life is a strain

Remember a prayer of thanks is a better start

Say a prayer of thanks for the day ahead
The safe night that just has been
Be comforted that no matter what comes next
You will have victory in the end.

This poem about gratitude and hope that was shared with me by one of my visitors. If you have written inspirational or motivational poem, I would be happy to feature it here.

Perhaps since I grew up in a home that provided the bare essentials of life, expressing gratitude comes easily to me. When I see all of the blessings that surround me I am virtually amazed at the richness of my life but I am so thankful that I didn’t get so much early on that I am ungrateful. Today’s kids are being cheated by their parents because they have so much they don’t know how to be thankful.

As an example, a month or two ago I was in a clothing store that doesn’t carry designer clothes but stocks good clothes for an affordable price. I was behind a mother in line with an eight year old (or thereabouts) child. The sour, disgruntled attitude was pouring off the child because his mom had not taken him to a more exclusive store to buy his school uniforms. He was disrespectful, unpleasant and by no means did he have an attitude of gratitude. This child was by no means thankful or appreciative that his mother was spending her hard earned money on his needs rather than her own.

I can well remember getting excited about school starting in the fall because that meant that we would get new clothes and shoes. Once the clothes were bought, we were told which items were for everyday wear and which ones would be saved for church on Sunday and special occasions. I remember one of my sisters conveniently losing her everyday shoes once in hopes that she would be allowed to wear her best shoes to school one day. Mother, merely told her she would stay home from school to search until she found her school shoes. And in those days, staying home meant doing "special" work for mom if you weren’t sick and unable to get out of bed. Amazingly my sister located her missing loafers within the next few minutes.

Some might look at such an upbringing as being deprived and I suppose in some ways they are right. But what I see is a lesson in. When you have done without and learned to make do you learn to be grateful for things that you might otherwise take for granted.

Take this opportunity to reflect on whether we fully appreciate gifts from our Heavenly Father. Are we grateful for His sacrifice of the greatest gift ever bestowed upon us – the gift of everlasting life? Are we thankful that we woke this morning in good health surrounded by His love? Do we feel the need to express our gratitude to Him who gave us the give of love, peace and grace.

Jesus With Love

                    My Miracle – Working, Power is yours

      I have promised miracles to those who love and follow me, and I can deliver on that promise. My power is limitless. According to your need and the situation, I will do wondrous things for you and through you.
     In order to see these manifestations of my power, only one thing is required of you: faith. You must believe that I am able to work the miracle and ask me to do it, and then expect that I will. When you ask in faith, I am bound by my word to give you what you need.

        It might not always be what you think you need, but I will always rescue, protect, supply for you, or resolve the problem some other ways, as I know is best. Sometimes it will be an over miracle, where there is no doubt that I have answered your prayer, but other times it won’t be so obvious.
        I manifest my power most freely no behalf of those who follow me closest, who do their best to live according to the principles of my word and what they believe is my will for them personally, but anyone who calls on me in faith will get the help they need, according to my will.

      Remember this when the days darken and you find yourself in what seem like hopeless situation: nothing is impossible for me, so anything is possible for you when you ask in faith for me to intervene. I always reward faith, my power is always at the ready, and I put myself at your back and call – all because I love you………
                                                                                                                                - From Jesus with love.

A Spiritual Exercise

Life is seldom problem free, and it seems that many of our problems involve the people closest to us, family members, co-workers, neighbors, and others with whom we interact on a regular basis. Even if those people aren’t the cause of our problems, they are affected by our reactions to them. If we are in the habit of reacting negatively, that can sour life and relationships faster than almost anything else.
One of the secrets to both happiness and success with people is to not allow the relatively small problems and irritations of daily life to cast large shadows. “Keep your eyes to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadows.” The apostle Paul was more specific when he said, “ Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praise worthy- meditate an these things.”
For the next couple of weeks, why not take a few minutes each night to reflect on your day? What were the high points and low points? Did you thank god for the highs? How could you have reacted better to the lows by looking on the bright side? There’s something to be gained from even the worst situations if you look for it. By recasting the events of your day in a more positive light, you condition yourself to react more positively in the future.
This is the way of leading our mind…
- From Jesus with Love.