Wednesday AM...my gratitude journal

I write a gratitude journal each morning. I started this when Uncle Joe and Nana came toLive with us. It helped me face each day with a spirit of being thankful. I will share some while we are in Virginia.
I am thankful for:

1. rain we still are having here. Each drop reminds me of the importance of it for the earth welive in. We are to care for the earth and I take that very serious.


2.Friends and family…The calls and emails help me feel you all are with John and I. It is easyto feel so alone in a place you never lived. I wish friends would be close for visits or to go out for a biteto eat.


3.Trust…what a gift we have in this word.

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The older I get the more I see that life is a profound exercise in trust in the Heavenly Father. We Need to trust His Word…we need to trust His Holy Spirit and the way He leads us…I tried to sum this up In my thoughts during the night…It really means I will obey Him even when I cannot see the beginning from the end. I like to plan and so this conflicts with “me” and “my plans” as opposed to Him and His will for my life. I tell Friends I am a slow learner….I am learning to do what Corrie Ten Boon says in a book title of one of her books.

“Don’t Wrestle, Just Nestle”.

That is a loving picture of us crawling into the lap of our heavenly Father in the middle of any storm we face. (By the way do any of you have this book and would be willing for me to buy it? Ihad her whole library of books but that was all taken away in the chapter of our life called “Gone with the Mold”.)

I love this quote of hers too….it addresses trust in a real way.


“When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don't throw away the ticket and jump off. You sit still and trust the engineer.”


I read Psalm 37 again today and will share a few of my many notes in the margin of my Bible. The first seven verses always bless me.

Verse 3 tell us to “Trust in the Lord…”

Verse 4 tells us to “Delight in theLord”.

The fifth verse says “Commit your way to the Lord”.

And verse 7 tells us to “Rest or Be still beforeThe Lord”.


What I see here is important to each day of our life. I can say as a Christian I trust in the Lord. We do find it easier to say than live most times of trouble. But as a whole I am prone to believe if the Lord says it than that settles it.


We have delight in the Lord. To delight in the Lord can mean we praise the Lord.Our former pastor Joel Hunter suggested it could mean we obey the Lord. Remember David says this:“I will delight to do your will, O my God”. He also suggested we delight in the Lord by sharing with those we meet and how He works in our lives and helping them see the need for Him.


“Commit your way to the Lord”…ouch. To me that means if I commit a situation to Him than I am really telling Him to take control of that situation and that I will follow His leading. I get off of my knees and start thanking Him for whatever happens. Now that is so easy to write but oh so hard to do.I so often take a burden to Him and than when the answer does not come quickly I take it away from Him and do my thing. Than it becomes a real mess and so I use my Lord as a 911 call…Lord, You have got to take care of this mess for I am sinking in despair. He is faithful to love me and help me.


Than in verse 7 He says we are to “rest in the Lord” or “be still before the Lord” and one more word…Wait…I understand be still. I have learned spending time with the Lord is not reading a few verses, than saying “God bless me and my family” and “the missionaries far and near” Amen….I read and I journal my feelings on those verses and I do wait to see what he impresses on my heart for that day. BUT the next words gets me so often…”wait patiently”. Patience is sure easy to say but hard to achieve sometimes. The times I do wait I see how it strengthens my heart. Remember God made us and there is no other book written that will speak to any problem you face more than the Bible. When I raised my kids I read so many books on how to do It but my Grandma told me on the phone one day I needed to go in my “prayer closet” and ask the Lord what did my child need. I did that and what I leaned is this….we ask a doctor what we need to do when a child is sick and we listen and do that and this is good. That why do we not go to the Lord and ask Him how we can help our child learn, obey, calm down or whatever the problem is? He made our child and He wants us to ask Him. He knows what is best for the child we are talking to him about. It usually means I had to search my heart and see what needs to be Changed in my life so I can help my child. I think I am trying to say it means we get off our knees and we roll up our sleeves and we start helping answer that need. He gave us the common sense to seek help from others.

Now I will close with this…These 4 things must come in the order he puts them in Psalm 37. Trust the Lord, Delight in the Lord, commit to the Lord, and rest in the Lord.
My late father in law said this:
"All men are restless (shiftless) until they follow these steps and than he can rest in the Lord."

What are you thankful for today?
I am heading to the rehab to see my mom and so this evening will update you all on her progress.