Psalm 100:4 "Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name."
Our preacher gave an excellent lesson yesterday. The long and short of it was that thanksgiving is not just a one day event with lots of food. Biblical thanksgiving involves praise. God has blessed us all beyond measure and too often we forget to give Him praise for who He is. Yes we may pray to Him a few times a day and read a few Bible verses but praise is more of an occasional event. I am trying to make praise to God become a daily practice b/c He is the only One who deserves praise!
Another Thanksgiving holiday is upon us and if you are like me, you will be experiencing some new things. This will be my first Thanksgiving away from my family. I am excited because I am going to Dalhart, Texas with dear friends! I've never been to Texas before so it'll be neat. I'm not really looking forward to the long drive but I'm sure once we get there it'll be fun. Even in the excitement, a part of me is sad that I won't be with my family. They are going to my Dad's cousins' house (which my Mom isn't excited about). All my Dad said about it was "it'll be different", which means he isn't happy about it. I can remember when we used to have a big crowd for Thanksgiving and Christmas but as the years go on, things and people change. Anyway, we are leaving for Texas early on Wednesday morning and will come back on Sunday night.
May God continue to bless all of you this holiday season!
I hope you have a great Thanksgiving even if you aren't with your family! :) Have a good time in Texas. You've never been there before? Well, I guess I've never really visited there either. I stayed two nights there during our move across the country. That was one of the most memorable states. :)
Yeah, have safe travels and a happy Turkey day! Wow, Texas that is cool! I have been there and it was fun! Have fun with your friends and remember to be safe!!
Well I haven't been on here in a while b/c I haven't felt as though there was much to talk about. Anyway, these past few weeks have been challenging in different ways...mainly health and emotional battles. I went to the doc 2.5 weeks ago and had an awful experience, bottom line being she didn't listen to me at all. Well, here I am 2 weeks later with a sinus infection and I just called my doc in FL and talked to him. He called me in some medicine so hopefully I will start feeling normal again soon. Having my Mom as my doc's Office Manager is a blessing sometimes.
Anyway, we have some really tough patients in our clinic right now. Of course all of them have physical problems otherwise we wouldn't be seeing them but I am finding that most of them are more emotionally and spiritually hurt than they are physically hurt. It has just been wearing on me a lot. Some of it is that I am physically worn down but I am just awestruck at how many people are hurting and there's nothing I can do about it. Well, that's not true...I can pray. So, I am trying to do that. I just feel as though I need a break from patients right now. If I can just hold on until next week I'll have a 5 day weekend for Thanksgiving break.
So last night I sat down with study material from our church's Bible study (the names of God) and you wouldn't believe which name of God we are studying right now...Jehovah Jireh, which means God will provide. The name first appears in Genesis 22 when God tells Abraham to offer Isaac as a sacrifice. The word Jireh as provider also means seer. So, God provides b/c He sees what we need. Pretty amazing.
I guess that is about it for now. I feel better but just am ready for a break. All praise to God for all He does.
Sorry you're having to deal with those kind of patients. Only a few more days until Thanksgiving break, and then only a few weeks after that, you get to come home for Christmas!!! :)
I know how you feel about patients.. last night was that night for me... it was a loooooooonnnnnnnggggg day. I'm still tired today.. almost fell asleep in class... that's pretty tired... Chris had a nosebleed last night ~ before I got home and then he woke up with one.. hmmmm I'm just hoping that it's only because of the colder, dryer air. My poor baby.. I know my 15 yr old baby! lol
I am sorry you have not been feeling well! You have been on my mind so much, I apologize for not calling you! Thank you for the B-Day wish! It has been a good day! I can't wait til your home! we'll definately get together! Love and miss you TONS!
Sorry to hear that you have been sick...That really stinks! hahaha! You rebel you! It was fun watching it, although there was a part of my brain that went, "We are suppose to be sleeping!" So I need to see it when I am not so tired. You should at least go see the movie it was really cool!
Ok so can anyone else believe that it is the last week of October??? I am baffled at how fast the time has gone. I can't believe I have been in Kansas almost a full year. Wow. That means winter is coming...OH NO! The Farmer's Almanac is calling for a brutal winter and they are always spot on. I am going to die ha ha.
So this Halloween I will be wearing a costume to work. I haven't worn a costume since I was a kid. Anyway, my boss loves Halloween and he has implemented a costume contest. Our patients secretly vote on who has the best costume and the winner gets $50. Cool huh? So I found this inflatable costume of a person wearing a shirt that says "Personal Trainer" but the funny part is that the belly is hanging out...the complete opposite of what a Personal Trainer usually looks like. I ordered it thinking it would be cool but when I got it the shirt didn't say Personal Trainer. It only had a picture of a guy lifting weights. Well, I was displeased and decided to send it back. So, the hunt for a costume continued. One day at work when we were slow I was looking at costumes online and thought I might be the Cat in the Hat. Then it dawned on me that my coworker Sandy hadn't picked a costume yet so I suggested we be "Thing 1" and "Thing 2". She thought it was great so that is what we are going to do. I ordered us blue wigs and she picked up red sweatsuits and designed the shirt to say "Thing 1" and "Thing 2". It should be fun! Don't worry, I'm not going trick or treating! I will eat a bunch of chocolate candy though! ha ha
So I had a music crisis this past week. Those of you who know me well know that I go to the gym 6 days a week. I have an MP3 player that lives with me when I go to the gym b/c without music the workouts just aren't that good. Not to mention the atrocious music the people who work at the gym play for all of us to hear. Anyway I took my player out of my bag so that I could plug it in to my computer for it to charge. I hooked it up at my friends' house and then took it home when I left. Well, the next day I couldn't find it anywhere! I even pulled out all my furniture b/c I thought Bagheera might of knocked it off the coffee table to play with it. After a week of not having music at the gym I got desperate. I went thru my dresser drawers and found my old Sony Walkman. Alas! Vintage music playing style! I then had to find batteries. After I rumbled thru the kitchen junk drawers...success! So, the last few days I listened to the radio thru my huge Walkman complete with tape player ha ha! I ordered myself a new MP3 player just like the one I lost and got it today. Yay! So, the old school Walkman will go back to it's drawer. I was going to buy an IPOD but oh my they are expensive! Then to buy the armband so that I have somewhere to put it during my workouts added another $30 to the price so I got an attack of the cheaps and just went with what I know. Now I won't have to buy the armband thingy since I already have it and won't have to download and learn to use iTunes.
Ok so the low temp tonight is 23. AHHHH I'm freezing! ha ha I will be wearing my winter parka and gloves tomorrow when I head to work. Today it was 35 and I didn't wear gloves and boy was I sorry. No mistake tomorrow...no sireee. Thankfully only a few more days and then our temps will be back to normal...40's and 60's. Until then I am wearing fuzzy socks and other warm stuff. BRRRR. :-) One good thing is that the cold weather has really kicked the trees into changing. Fall is amazing.
I guess that is all for now. I hope everyone is well.
Stay warm!!! brrrrrr we aren't that chilly YET!! and NO, I can not believe that November is almost here. I hear ya about your MP3 player!! we all (except Dan) have one.. the kids could not live without theirs... I like mine when I am at school, waiting for the kids or just relaxing!!!
We are doing well and I am actually feeling really good! Our party for all the young kids went REALLY well! They had a ball in our backyard. Wish you could have been here! Love you, too!
Well, I have good days and bad days. We haven't had any extra money laying around anywhere to go to a chiropractor/therapist/OT, but..when we do get the money, its going to be something on the top of the list. When I have my bad days, it's REALLY bad, but I've gotten a lot of suggestions on how to help the pain, and some of them help. Thanks for asking! :)
Hi! I am her daughter. Just wanted to say hi and introduce myself! It has finally been getting cold here! I am enjoying it! That's a cool idea for costumes! Did you win?
Do you ever have days when you just want to get out of your routine and go somewhere else? Granted, I am very happy here in KS, especially with my new job...well I guess it isn't new anymore since I've been at it for 2 months. Lately I have just wanted to pick up and go and see the Grand Canyon or the Colorado Rockies...go hiking and kayaking for days. I just want to be outside! But, these activities aren't exactly safe for a single woman. Lions, tigers, bears and criminals oh my. At least this is what my Dad would say. I think I may have to go hiking here soon b/c I haven't been in months and it makes me sad. It is during my hikes that I get to spend the best one on one time with God. I know it is b/c I am surrounded by His amazing creation and it reminds me of His infinite power...and the fact that He loves us despite our many shortcomings. Thank you Lord!
So this weekend I am going to visit my friend and her Mom in St. James, MO. It is about 4.5 hours away. I am not looking forward to the drive but perhaps going will be enough to get me out of my routine restlessness. I'll leave right after work on Friday and get in late that night. We will have most of Saturday to spend together (she and her Mom have a wedding to go to in the evening) and then on Sunday we'll go to church and to a fall festival and then I will come home. It should be fun.
I found out last night that my brother will not be graduating in December from UF. He was supposed to graduate this past summer but b/c of his poor attention to his credit hours, he had to go another semester. Well, now b/c of his poor choice of which math course to take, he is going to have to take another class in the spring. My poor brother has little ability to pass math classes. He can compose amazing symphonies though! He is disappointed but what can you do? Thankfully I haven't bought my plane ticket yet but my Aunt and Uncle already have! I knew procrastination would pay off eventually! I don't know if they will still go down to FL or not. His graduation was supposed to be the weekend before x-mas so perhaps they will decide to stay since they aren't supposed to fly home until the day after x-mas. As for me, I don't know if I am going home or not. In theory I am. We'll see.
At church, we have begun a study of the Names and Attributes of God. We are in our second week and it is excellent! We are studying His names in the order He reveals them in the Bible. Last week we learned about the name Elohim, which means Creator. It's meaning in Hebrew shows that God is omnipotent and that he desires a covenant relationship with us. This week we are studying the second name, Jehovah (aka Yahweh). From my study of the material it means self-exisiting and self-sustaining One...which shows His power. I am excited to go to class tonight to learn more! I pray that I will have a deeper relationship with God when this study is over!
Until next post, I'll keep dreaming about seeing the Grand Canyon and the Rockies... :-)
yeah. I definitely know what you mean about just wanting to get away! When I get my own car, license, and time(!), I'm gonna be taking a few secret get aways. :P
Have a fun weekend! It sounds like you will.
How many people attend the congregation where you go?
Oh MY! I am pretty bummed at the moment. If you are listening to the news then, Obama has already won this election and there is no way for McCain to catch up. This is coming from my beloved Fox News...so I am sick at the moment. Oh well...I had originally planned to spend the next 4 years in sedation anyway, I changed that plan when Palin got involved....but it would seem drugs are in my future. I am sorry about your brother. I too struggle in math, but I can rip it up in Government, law and history! I feel his pain! I am also sorry you are restless. I thought of you yesterday when I was listening to "Restless Tonight" by Allison Kraus and Union Station. I remembered you liked that song when I played it for you. It fits us both huh? Miss you TONS!
Angie, I'm doing GREAT!!! It must have been a really bad pulled muscle, because I am almost back to normal. What's interesting is that I can go up a set of stairs on my toes, while my calves are in "flex" mode, with zero pain. But when I walk, and walk fast, pushing off the ball of my right foot moving INTO flex position, and it still hurts pretty bad, but NOTHING like last week! Hmmn...interesting. anyway, THANK YOU so much for your care, and your time on the phone! It really made me feel a lot better!!
Do you ever feel as though your life is incomplete? Is your heart ever unfulfilled? Do you seek answers but seem to never find them? I fear most people can answer yes to these questions. The reason I know is that I used to answer yes. In the past few years, I have come to understand that I was looking for answers to these questions but the root questions that were never answered were: 1) Where did I come from? 2) What is my purpose? 3) Where am I going? Until we find the answers to these three true questions, our lives will always feel as though there is something missing.
In regards to the question where did I come from we can all say "oh I am from Tampa, FL or Kansas City, MO or New York, NY" or wherever else you call home. The slightly more biological response would be "I came from my parents". Although these statements are facts about our origin, they are not the truth. We all seek our true origin. God tells us in Genesis 1:27 our true origin: "So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them." The world that doesn't believe in God thinks that we are crazy. They are quick to turn away this notion of God as Creator of all and that He made us in His image. They continue to search for an answer to who they are and where they came from but choose not to listen to the true answer. Without understanding that you are God's child and knowing that He designed your life "before the foundation of the world" (Ephesians 1:4) you will always feel as though you are missing something.
When we look at the second true question it is one that many people ask on a daily basis. I went thru a period in my life when I wondered what my purpose in this life was. Did I even have a purpose? I looked for answers in "life" things such as friendships, sports, academics, etc but always came out feeling as though a piece of the puzzle was missing. I couldn't figure it out. The world says that our purpose is to serve ourselves and make ourselves happy. We are to look out for #1! What becomes of those who follow this mindset? Are they people who are truly fulfilled or is there something always missing in their lives? I may boldly say that the latter is the the true statement. I can say this b/c I was there once. May I suggest that the true answer to this question (as in question one) is found in God. We are told our purpose in Ecclesiates 12:13 - "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man's all." In other words, fear God/keep His commandments = live a life in service to God. In doing so, we are being fulfilled - "for this is man's all". This is the only true purpose that we have. If we search for our purpose in anything other than service to God, we will always feel as though something is missing.
The last true question is one that we also constantly ask...where are we going? Sure we can say "I am headed for a college degree" or a "new promotion at work" or "a totally new job in a new place". These are good places to be heading but in the big picture, are these places a final destination? Are these destinations ones we can place our faith, hope and trust in for eternal joy? Some would probably say yes. Answering yes to this most likely means that you don't know the answers to the first two true questions either. May I suggest that if we don't know where we came from or what our purpose truly is, then we can never know for sure where we are headed eternally. God promises us a home with Him for eternity if we are His children, living in service to Him. 1 Peter 1:3-5 says "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living home thru the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God thru faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." Isn't that a destination you would like to have waiting for you?
If you feel something is missing in your life, ask yourself where you stand. Where are you searching for the answers? In the world? In God? I pray that everyone would come to know the loving, merciful and powerful God that I know. When you do, abundant joy and purpose will be yours.
**This post was inspired by Max Dawson, who is preaching a series of lessons to the Roanridge church of Christ in Kansas City, MO this week. Many thanks be to God for bold preaching from the Bible by brother Dawson. **
Wow. Very deep and true. All these other trappings just keep us busy and distracted from our true purpose. To serve God and keep his commandments. If we can keep this all straight, our lives will flow much much better~ I like your long post AND your meeting sounds like it is going GREAT!
Oh, Angie! These are GREAT THOUGHTS!!! I totally relate to what you are saying...(as will most people who read this!) May God bless you for your kind and loving heart.
