My friend Karen planned a Friendsgiving celebration for the residents at the healthcare home where her mother lives. We decorated the tables with tall lanterns filled with tiny lights and red, orange, and yellow silk leaves. Then we added stuffed pumpkins and sprinkled candy at each place. During the celebration, the elderly ladies and gentlemen taught me an important lesson. After participants had listened to a devotion about friendship and played games, they gathered around the tables to share some of their blessings. Their lists included life, family, friends, good memories, sunny days, chocolate cake, and many more. When…
Tag: Gratitude
Two Role Models Who Loved God as Their Heavenly Father and Thanked Him for Blessings
This month’s calendar includes a day to honor fathers, but I want to tell you a true story about two mothers, my role models, and the way they thanked their heavenly Father for blessings. My ninety-eight-year-old mother-in-law, Carolyn, went to her heavenly home earlier this year. When the family prepared to sell her home, I removed the plaque you see in the title photo. It hung on the wall over her table where we had eaten delicious fried chicken and biscuits for decades. Carolyn had written my mother’s name and the year 2014 on the back of the plaque. Mama…
The Blessings We Forget
Even in the season of Thanksgiving, we can forget precious blessings from God. This week, when I read an email from a friend, I realized my gratitude list needed work. In the email, our friends, Chip and Susie, requested prayer and shared news of Will, their friend who’d been bedridden since January 2—for ten long months. One illness had led to another until Will was too weak after hospitalization to make the required progress for admittance into rehab. He believed he’d never walk again. Hannah, Will’s wife, cared for him the best she could and called for medical transport when…
Finding Pandemic Gratitude and Service
The little bird figurine in the photo above sits on my kitchen counter and reminds me, “Every day is a gift from God.” I gave the bird to my mom to encourage her when she struggled to maintain her usual optimism in the face of congestive heart failure and muscle weakness. My mother longed for the former days of good health and the freedom of independence when she could meet friends for lunch and shop for groceries. As the current pandemic continues to stretch across the months of 2020, we too long for the former times—for the good health and…
What’s Hindering Your Gratitude?
Do you buy event or travel tickets early to ensure the best view? Some concert attendees select seating close to the stage, and many frequent fliers prefer a window seat glimpse of the clouds. Years ago, at a rainy college football game, I appreciated the no-umbrellas-in-the-stadium rule because I preferred getting drenched in my poncho rather than having an obstructed view. The way we face life’s circumstances can distort our view of God’s blessings and hinder our gratitude. It’s like watching a stage play from the last row of a large theater. Thankfulness can slip from the fingers of our…