I’m jumping on here late in the day just to share a few thoughts as we approach this special day of being grateful!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!
Lovingly,
Category: Thanksgiving
Lie and Praise
I have a love/hate relationship with the Auto-correct on my cell phone. When I want it to correct a misspelled word, it often does, and I love that. However, it doesn’t read my mind and it often makes assumptions at times that aren’t always right. It can be very frustrating! I know I’m not alone in this.
Recently a friend was texting about whether or not she would be able to attend our church’s Pie and Praise service this week. However, her auto-correct fixed the word Pie to what it assumed was correct. So she let her friends know she wouldn’t be attending the “Lie and Praise” on Tuesday night! I laughed until my sides hurt over that one!
However, the more I’ve thought about it, the more convinced I am that her auto-correct may have been right after all! Oh, I’m sure no one who attends a praise service would purposefully lie about their praise, but there’s a way that I see myself not giving honest praise to my God. Here’s what the next part of Psalm 103 tells us to do:
Don’t forget all His benefits!! I lift my hands and say, “Thank you, Lord!” This past Sunday after praying and thanking the Lord for His benefits, I marched out the door, went to church, and when someone asked me how I was, the first thing I told them was that I had a migraine! What?! Could I have not shared at least three things God had done for me instead? What about all the parts of me that felt great, thanks to my God who holds this body together?! But no, I turned my praise into a lie by not sharing God’s blessings and goodness with that person! I’m thankful for the conviction of the Spirit of God, because I was able to get it right with Him when I confessed it!
Isn’t it easy to praise one minute and complain the next? God has done so much for us, but if we praise Him one minute and gripe and grumble the next, we’re really lying instead of praising.
I’m asking the Lord to help me to attend the Pie and Praise instead of the Lie and Praise – not just at church this week, but every day of my life!
Do you find yourself praising or grumbling today? Let’s remember all His benefits and praise His name! No lying!
Pie and Praise
I’ve been scouring through pie recipes looking for something great to take to our church Pie and Praise Fellowship Tuesday night. The possibilities are endless, but the success rate on some of them looks doubtful.
So many ingredients!
So many steps!
But there’s one thing I can take with me to that fellowship that is very simple – a heart of praise. Why? Because according to Psalm 103:
- Bless the Lord – There’s only one Person Who deserves my praise – it’s my God! I may struggle over which pie to make, but I can never wonder Who deserves my gratitude – it’s my wonderful God! To “bless the Lord” is to give Him praise. This phrase comes with a heart of affection and a sense of gratitude. There is none else who deserves my thanks and praise but the Lord!
- O my soul – My mind and heart are all in when I’m praising God! Some of these instructions in the pie recipes are confusing and so complex! Failure seems inevitable! I’ll never go wrong praising the Lord! To bless the Lord with my soul is to use my mind and heart, my emotions and my will. All I have to consider is how great He is, and it comes so readily! My soul was made to have fellowship with God, to enjoy His favor and consider His attributes. I was made to praise the Lord and I will praise Him with my soul!
- And all that is within me, bless His holy name. I can give praise with my whole being. While I could keep back a piece of the pie I’m baking and savor it myself (which is tempting sometimes!) to bless God’s name with all that is within me is to praise Him with all my faculties, all my heart, all my will, all my emotions and all my affection. God is worthy of all the praise that I can give Him with my whole being! I will be “all in!”
My pie probably won’t win a prize, but I pray that my praise will be a beautiful delight to my God. He alone is worthy. So I say, Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name.
I trust you’re preparing your praise to God even more than you’re preparing the food you’ll enjoy on Thursday!
Pinterest Party Success!
Last Friday I mentioned that our church was hosting our 7th Pinterest party on Saturday. We had over 70 women, with more than half of them being visitors! It was so much fun! It was filled with new friends, great food found on Pinterest, fellowship, and a challenge from God’s Word. Where would you find Pinterest in the Bible?! Our speaker showed us! =) It was in all the words like, Search, Save, Follow, etc. So good!
Then of course there was tons of great crafting! I made only one complete craft, due to helping others with theirs, but that’s okay! I made many new friends and had a great time!! I thought I’d share with you some of the crafts that were available for us to make. You could make them ALL for $10!
Wood ornaments
Pumpkin Garland
Salt Scrub
Grapevine wreath with felt flowers
Cinnamon Ornaments
Paper journals
Painted Pine Cones
Most of the crafts were super easy to put together. I think most everyone went home with a bag full of completed projects! This has become a favorite event of our ladies each year. It’s so well executed and is a great tool to reach out to unchurched ladies! I’ve blogged about it here and you can see how Christina pulls it all together.
If you’re interested in the “how-to” of any of the above crafts, you can find them on this page on Pinterest. They’re all such cute ideas!
Pinterest is my favorite place to browse for ideas! I’ve “pinned” LOTS of them with everything from recipes to sewing patterns, and I’ve tried many, many of them. It’s just a great tool that saves leg work and the accumulation of books. Anyone else love it like I do?
Being Intentionally Thankful in November
Happy November Eve! There’s a reason I’m posting a second post on this October 31! Read on!
As we stare into the beginning of this month in which we celebrate
Thanksgiving,
I thought it might be a good idea to think about how we can maximize being thankful for these thirty days! It’s too easy to jump into Christmas mode and only give a nod to being grateful for all God has given us in His grace. So, let me share a few practical ways you can focus on being thankful starting today!
- I’ve signed up to join Revive Our Heart for the 30-Day Gratitude Challenge. You have to sign up before November 1! So I’m posting my blog a day early so you won’t miss out!! This will help me to really be intentional in being thankful!
- Show your family gratitude. I’m re-doing something I’ve done in the past to show my husband know how grateful I am for him. I drew this simple tree on the bathroom mirror. Each day I’ll add a leaf stating one reason I thank God for him. The first year I did this my husband said he was going to Lowe’s to buy a bigger mirror! It made me smile, because I knew it had hit a chord in his heart. I love him too much not to let him know exactly why!
- Chalkboards are great ways to express daily thanks. Set one on the counter of your kitchen and each day have your family write another thing for which they can give thanks.
- Or you could draw a tree on a chalkboard, like my bathroom tree and add leaves of thanks, like below.
- Keep a thankfulness journal in which you only write your thanks – no requests.
Let’s be intentional every single day this month to be thankful to the Lord…He is the Giver of everything and He deserves our praise!
RefreshHer 