Dear Guests to the Attitude of Gratitude Inn:
The message in today's illustration resonates with the innkeeper. Nonetheless, I appreciate today's focus: gratitude and thanksgiving. Each home in the United States becomes
an Attitude of Gratitude Inn.
One other thing. In this post I share my experience, strength and hope about knowing God's forgiveness. That offer remains.
If interested in knowing about this, please drop a note at my e-mail address: pfnts@netscape.net or call. The number: (510) 355-4309. You can call just to hear a friendly voice, that's okay, too.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
How are you? This day is fantastic----its focus is what this inn is about. This holiday, enjoying it with family and friends appeals to dearly held values: closeness, community, emotional warmth and celebrating---appreciating---what life offers. I write this post after tending to Thanksgiving Day tasks early today. That's an understatement, believe me. This day gets crazy.
I enjoy today. This is not Turkey Day, that sobriquet misses the point. The goal today is appreciating God's providence. Gratitudes expressed in this inn demonstrate there's much to be 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 circumstances.
2. I'm thankful for family and friends---including many of you.
3. I'm thankful for parents who loved me, for sons who cherish me, for friends with whom laughter and heart-felt conversations is the norm.
4. I treasure decades-long friendships.
Discovering new friends is a joy. But, most are really acquaintances. Old friends have known us through weal and woe, success and challenges. They are rare gems that sparkle the days of our lives. They offer a richness and depth that is treasured, ensuring health for our souls.
5. I give thanks for the gifts God gave me: those are my abilities. What I do with them is my gift to Him.
6. I'm thankful for home, hearth, faith, knowing God's love and forgiveness.
Receiving A Free Gift From God
A Loving Relationship With Him
The loving Almighty found me, as a kid. Many today minimize God and spiritual values. I'm grateful my faith helps me enjoy life. I do far more than if I was left to myself.
I'm thankful for my grandfather, after whom I was named. His spiritual heritage did not teach him how to relate with God personally, in an encouraging way. Miraculously, my grandfather learned how.
I'm thankful for his prayers, convinced God answered them on my behalf. He died before I was born. Yet, I'm confident his prayers brought forth a miracle. Even though surrounded by a family that was unaware about spirituality---knowing religion, but not faith---I encountered a relationship with God.
I'm thankful for it. I'm humbled He reached out to me as a bewildered, young man. This is my greatest thanks.
If you'd like to know more about a spiritual connection with God, drop me a note. I'll let you know what worked for me.
7. I'm thankful for my faith. I didn't seek out God---He pursued me. Tarot cards, crystal balls, filling our mind with thoughts----knowledge, sex, finding that perfect relationship, money, success and our children performing well do not compare to bathing in His presence.
As St. Augustine well said:
"Our soul is restless until it finds its rest in Thee."
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4 comments:
Dear Innkeeper,
On this Saturday night, I am grateful for...
1. A wonderful, whole-family (seven of us packed neatly in our old Dodge Mini-van...)outing to Shingle Springs, in the Gold Country of the Sierra Nevada foothills, and my sister and her husbands home for a post-Thanksgiving, late-lunch family reunion with over 25 members of our tribe; in from Concord, Minnesota, Stockton and Carlsbad!
2. A nice long, casual chat with our oldest son (who lives with his wife in Virginia) as his copilot on the long, over three-hour, traffic-laden trip back home.
3. The natural, needed, and long-overdue family bonding that occurred today among our immediate brood, due to the fine day we all spent together.
4. Unwinding from the family festivities and long road-trip with the latest, cliffhanger, episode of Blacklist, even as it ended half-way through the story; left us hanging till next week's part-two; clever but diabolical of them!
5. To have a few more days with our oldest and his bride, in the redwoods tomorrow, and beyond.
Hope that you had a good Thanksgiving. Lots of gratitude here too.
Dear Carl,
You must have enjoyed connecting with many of your relatives. I'm glad everyone made an effort to get together, coming from different part of the state and country.
Nothing compares to being with family!
Syd,
Thank you for swinging by the inn. I always have a place for you. I appreciate your wisdom and encouragement.
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