Dear Guests to the Attitude of Gratitude Inn:
I resonate with the message in today's illustration. Nonetheless, I appreciate today's focus: gratitude and thanksgiving. Each home in the United States becomes
a small-sized Attitude of Gratitude Inn.
One other thing. In this post from yesteryear, I share my experience, strength and hope about knowing God's forgiveness. That offer remains.
If interested in knowing this forgiveness, please drop a note at my e-mail address: pfnts@netscape.net or call. The number is (510) 355-4309. You can call just to hear my friendly greeting. That's okay, too. Here's the post:
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
How are you? This day is fantastic----its focus is what this inn is about. I like this holiday; enjoying it with family and friends appeals to dearly held values: closeness, community with loved ones, emotional warmth and celebration of the good things life offers. I'm writing this post after tending to Thanksgiving Day tasks early this morning. I'm adding this post before the day gets crazy.
I enjoy this day of thanks. This is not Turkey Day. That sobriquet misses the point. The goal today is having heartfelt appreciation for His providence. Gratitudes expressed over the past months in this inn demonstrates there's much we are grateful for. Thank you, each one of you who drop by, even you Silent Readers.
I trust you'll enjoy your day. I will. A terrific Thanksgiving Day, is my wish for you. May God's blessings and a spirit of gratitude be yours---not only today, but each day---is my prayer.My Gratitudes for Today.
1. In the midst of the holiday stresses, I'm thankful for the peace God offers. It can transcend our circumstances.
2. I'm give thanks for family and friends---including many of you here, in this community.
3. I'm thankful for parents who loved me, for sons who cherish me, for friends with whom I share laughter and heart-felt conversations.
4. I treasure decades-long friendships.
Discovering new friends is a joy. But, many are acquaintances. Old friends, who've known us through weal and woe, success and challenges, are rare. They uplift and nurture. They provide health for my soul.
5. I give thanks for the gifts God gave me: those are my abilities. What I do with them is my gift to Him. (John Maxwell)
6. I'm thankful for the values of home, hearth, faith, confession, knowing God's love and forgiveness.
Receiving A Free Gift From God
A Loving Relationship With Him
The loving, gracious, patient Almighty found me. Many today minimize God, spiritual values and morality. I'm grateful my faith allows me to enjoy life fully. It empowers me to do far more than I could if I relied upon my strength alone.
I'm thankful for my grandfather, Pablo Ponce, after whom I was named. His faith precipitated mine. His spiritual heritage did not teach him how to relate with God in a personally encouraging, uplifting way. Miraculously, as an adult my grandfather learned how.
I'm thankful for my grandfather's prayers, I'm convinced God answered his prayers on my and my family's behalf.
My grandfather died before I was born. Yet, I'm confident his prayers brought forth a miracle. Even though surrounded by a family that had no clue about spirituality-----they knew religion and liturgy, but nothing about faith---- I discovered how to have a relationship with the God of my understanding.
I'm thankful for my relationship with the Almighty. I'm humbled He reached out to me as a bewildered, young man. This is the greatest thanks I have on this day which commemorates all gratitudes.
If you'd like to know more about having spiritual connection with a loving God, how it can be your experience, drop me a note. I'll share what worked for me.
7. I'm thankful for my beliefs. They are a gift. I didn't seek out God---He pursued me. Tarot cards, crystal balls, filling our mind with thoughts----always learning but not arriving at the Truth, academics sex, finding that perfect relationship, money, success and our children performing well cannot compare to a single moment of bathing within God's presence.
As St. Augustine well said:
"Our soul is restless until it finds its rest in Thee."
Forgiveness: Freedom From Bitterness
I thank God for freedom from the corrosive power of bitterness. Rancor's grip I elude, when I forgive. I don't forgive others for the offending party's sake. Nope, I do so, for mine.
"You can't hold a man down without staying down with him." Booker T. WashingtonIt helps remembering those who sought my hurt----in my past---were in the grips of a disease. Perhaps frustration, anger, or some other form of emotional intoxication. They probably responded out of past traumas in their lives.
I don't take others attempt at abuse personally. Unpleasant behavior from others simply reveals their values, history and worldview. I'm not saying I tolerate abuse. I don't. But I have no right to dish it out, either. While still being courteous, I detach.
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