Gratitude Through Blessings and Hardships

Credit: Home. Life. Encouragement

Gratitude Can Be Hard During Difficult Seasons

Happy Thanksgiving Friends!

I hope today is one that is full of sweet blessings and the making of sweet memories.

I am, however, mindful of the many who are struggling despite it being a holiday.

If you are one who is struggling, I will send up prayers for you.

If you are grieving the loss of a loved one, I will pray for you.

If you are feeling lost and lonely, I will pray for you.

If you have a heavy heart, I will pray for you.

If you lost your job, I will pray for you.

If you have family you can’t spend time with, I will pray for you.

If you have a Service Member who is not home or is deployed, I will pray for you.

If you have a loved one working today, I will pray for you.

If you have a sick loved one, I will pray for you.

Today is a day of mixed blessings and emotions for so many because life, although it is beautiful, can still be messy no matter if it is a holiday or not.

I have a challenge for everyone, whether it is a wonderful day or whether it is one that is difficult.

Seek to find your blessings today.

“… Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

1 Thessalonians‬ ‭5:18‬ ‭NIV

So what are you thankful for?

Let’s share our blessings. I am looking forward to seeing your responses.

Oh The Simple Things I Love About Thanksgiving

I’m so excited for our Thanksgiving this year. 

In the past our meal was surrounded by the stress of making the most out of nothing as money was so critically tight, but this year is different for us. 

This year I have a job which is enabling us to enjoy a few extras that we are so use to doing without or dealing with the stress to make it happen. 

This year however, I was able to think about what we liked and make my plans according to what we want without the stress of trying to make it happen. 

So here is to my homemade Apple Pie. 

An all time favorite from my past. 

I’m excited to have my Apple pie served with a dollop of whip cream. 

Then there is the awaited Friday morning serving of pumpkin pie with whip cream for breakfast. 

Oh the simple things I love about Thanksgiving. 

What is yours? 

Leave your comments below. It will be fun to see what you love about Thanksgiving and seeing your memories of the past.

Thanksgiving Blessings

I am wishing everyone a special message of Thanksgiving today.

To those who will celebrate with joy as well as those who will struggle with loneliness and pain, I am sending you my love, peace, and encouragement that today will be a day to celebrate or a day to reflect and be thankful for the blessings you have.

Happy Thanksgiving to each and one of you.

Feel free to share below your thankful blessings today.
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I will begin by being thankful for each one of you who encourage me to keep this page going. I am blessed that God has given me this blog to encourage you all when you need it the most. Big Hugs to each one of you. ❤️

Love Yourself Enough To Trust Yourself

Encouragement Today and Motivation Monday

Happy Monday!

I am here to remind you to…

“Love Yourself enough to Trust Yourself.”

“When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.”  Alexander Graham Bell.

How many times do we find ourselves questioning what we should do in life and we just stand there paralyzed from fear, confusion, uncertainty, insecurity, and a lack of trust in ourselves?

Today is the day I want you to look in the mirror and tell yourself, “I love you and I will trust in you again!” 

My friend, many times we get so busy with life that we find ourselves trapped by a series of poor decisions or we are living a life consequences due to our poor choices. As a result we forget there is a need to love and trust ourselves enough to believe our inner voice called the Spirit of God and our inner judgement to make decisions.

You need to learn to love and trust yourself again. By doing this you will be able to confidently walk away from the closed doors you are waiting on and will be able to see the doors God is opening now.

You’ve Got This! You Can Do This!

 

 

 

 

The Power of Persistence

Mission Accomplished

I have spent the past 3 days looking for my Soldier Christmas Tree decorations and have struggled to find them. I spent half of the afternoon decorating my house yesterday because as I searched Christmas decoration boxes I said, “Well, I can put that up since I have it out.”

This morning I was determined my quest was not complete until I went into the attic again and searched yet but another box.

This was when I hit the jack pot. I FOUND THEM!!!!!!!! I squealed with excitement, as you can tell.

Now what you don’t know is why was this so important to me.

Every year since our deployment of 2009/2010 we have put up a Christmas tree in our dinning room as a symbol of Remembering all our Service Members near and a far who are not able to be home with their families for the holiday season.

That year held an extra special meaning to my daughter and I because that year was the fourth holiday season my husband was going to be missing from our family. There was an empty chair at the head of the table again. So together we decided to put our tree up a day early as a symbol in our dinning room to remember all our deployed Soldiers from our Unit.

With every tradition, it starts somewhere and this was where this one began for us. That year was an exceptionally difficult year, but by doing this it took on a new meaning and provided comfort to us. Now every time we look at this tree all decorated in “brown” we remember everyone who is not home for the holidays.

Now Thanksgiving can truly begin today because our Soldier Christmas Tree is officially up in it’s place of Honor and is now fully decorated in it’s traditional brown.

Thinking of and being thankful for all our Service Members near and far, present and past, who have chosen to go beyond the call of duty to protect our Nation to keep us safe. You are never forgotten and richly thanked and appreciated.

 

Being Thankful For Random Acts of Kindness

Happy Thanksgiving

I am going against the tradition of thankfulness this year.

Everyone is always thankful for family and friends and I am as well, but this year I want to express my thankfulness to the person who shows a random act of kindness.

This is the person who goes against the norm of selfishness and thinks of someone else in an unexpected way.

I’m thankful for the person who says, “No wait, let me get that door for you. Do you need help with that?”  Any random at of kindness has a way of changing a person’s life.

This is the person I am thankful this year for. Take a moment out of your day and be that person who can change the heart of a random stranger.

You never know how God is working. He could orchestrate it to where this stranger becomes a lasting friend in the end.

Consider today on this day of Thanksgiving about what random act of kindness could you do to touch someone’s life today.

Now back to tradition. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone I know and love.