Sunflower Faith

Tag Archive for Thankful Thursday

09 Apr 2009

Thankful Thursday

Come join Iris’s “Thankful Thursdays” every Thursday to share your praises of what God has done for you in your life.

O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. O give thanks unto the God of gods: for his mercy endureth for ever. O give thanks to the Lord of lords: for his mercy endureth for ever. (Psalms 136:1-3)

Tomorrow will be Good Friday and following that, this coming Sunday, is a celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Wow…what more can we be grateful for?

Through Him, we have loving grace for our sins and freedom from the death of sin, so we have everything to be thankful for.

This past month and even this month has been busy and just each moment, a time of continual refinement and chastising and growth through and in Jesus Christ.

I am so grateful to call our Heavenly Father, Lord and Father and that He is and will always be there for you, me, for all of us. Heavenly Father, first and foremost, I can’t think of what more than that.

I am thankful to Him for the good times and the bad times and ask that I am grateful through the storms as I am through the calm. Without Him and without His refining, I would be nothing but forever a broken vessel.

Always I am grateful to my husband. Through and in Jesus Christ, he is growing and still the same and I can’t ask for more. We’ve had our disagreements, our agreements, our fights and our love and I am thankful that I am as imperfect as he is and together we strive to meet perfection together as a couple, as parents and as servants to our Heavenly Father.

The children are a constant reminder of why we choose to homeschool, why we are parents, how we are to our Heavenly Father and reminders of the blessing God has given to us. They keep us grounded, in laughter, in tears and in wonderment. Thank you Heavenly Father, because I don’t want perfection, I want imperfection and the lessons that go with it.

Lord, I am just thankful how you have blessed us with a convicting and challenging church that has kept us accountable,convicted and encouraged. We are in the process of hosting a life group and with it just a reminder how as Christians we have responsibility to each other as brothers and sisters and the importance of fellowship and spending time in YOUR word.

I’m grateful that my father in law is finally going to have some testing done so we can get answers to question and blessed that I have a mother in law who is both a Titus mentor and surrogate mother to me; Her words of advice keeps me humbled and encouraged.

Lord, I’m grateful that you are there for those who are in need of you for there are many that are hurt, alone, scared and lost who need You,Lord, and You, You, NEVER give up but use anyone,anything, anyway to bring people to You and let them know they are not alone.

I pray and ask that this Good Friday we keep use that time to remind ourselves and others of the price that Christ had paid and use this time,if anytime, to step outside our comfort zone and invite people we don’t know and are afraid to know to know Christ for all we know..they too are hurt and scared and just need a soul whose brave enough to talk to them where they are not brave to talk.

Lord, I just thank you for those breaks in time that you use to remind me of what is more important and to keep me accountable.

I’m not perfect; I’m not better than anyone, I’m just your servant and a broken vessel that YOU, YOU found use for and brought together. Lord, thank You for the difficult road I have traveled and the difficult road I continue to travel and may it keep me humble, focus and forever in awe of You.

My prayers and hopes Gentle Reader you have a blessed Good Friday.

Sunflower Faith | 2 comments | Tags: blessings, gratitude, Thankful Thursday

13 Nov 2008

Memes • Thankful Thursdays

Thankful Thursday

Come join Iris’s “Thankful Thursdays” every Thursday to share your praises of what God has done for you in your life.

1 Sam. 2:8 He lifts the poor from the dust– Yes, from a pile of ashes– And treats them as princes sitting in the seats of honor. For all the earth is the Lord’s And he has set the world in order.

Please forgive me for this very simple Thankful Thursday but I was very humbled today.

Without going into much detail, we received a phone call asking for help in the form of anything that we no longer had need for to help another who was starting from scratch-literally from scratch.

Lord, Thank You for humbling us and reminding us, really in the end, what is more important than what we have around us.

Though we have a home, there are those without a home.

Though we have clothes, there are those without clothes.

Though we have family, there are those without family.

Though we have friends, there are those without friends.

Though we have furniture, there are those without furniture.

Though we look around our home and may think, we don’t have this or that, there are those who have nothing at all.

Lord, Thank You, for today, as we answer the call of the need of another whose starting fresh in life with completely nothing to not only be grateful for what we do have though it may not be a lot in our eyes, it’s a lot in other eyes.

I Thank You Lord ,that we were able to be of help when we could and I wish that we could have done more today like we had wanted to. I feel bad that we didn’t have more and couldn’t do more. Lord, may any and all who were connected today, forget it is about us or them, but remember that it is only about You.

Thank You that we could be there today and answer that need and I pray You and they will forgive us for not being able to give more and do more….

Heavenly Father, please hear my prayer, if anything Lord, I pray You would watch over this person, give them hope and strength and let them know somehow, in all this, they are NOT alone, that You are there.

I pray Lord, You would bless them, help them prosper and lift them up and in this and through this that it will bear testimony to You Lord and lead them to You so they will know there is hope for tomorrow, there are promises of a future and there is love in and through You.

Lord, I am thankful that You are there for us, for them, for all of us. That no matter what there is in life, YOU and only You, are there, a promise of forever, of love, of hope and grace. Help us remember in the end, it’s not about what we have or what we do, but that it is for You, with You, through You and about You.

Thank You Heavenly Father. Thank You.

Sunflower Faith | 15 comments | Tags: Memes, praise, scripture, Sting My Heart, Thankful Thursday

21 Aug 2008

Memes • Thankful Thursdays

Thankful Thursday

Come join Iris’s “Thankful Thursdays” every Thursday to share your praises of what God has done for you in your life.

Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.
—Hebrews 13:15

Heavenly Father, I thank you so much for being our Heavenly Father. Not mine, not yours, but everyone. I am humbled that I wasn’t worth being loved, but You seek me as You seek everyone and I thank You Father for loving this unworthy soul.

Lord, I give praise to You for leading us into a new direction in our lives. It’s scary yes, but Lord, it’s a lesson in faith as my husband pursues this new job. I can see the change and the refreshing of hope in his eyes, and I pray that You change me and make me worthy to be the wife he needs because I feel I fail, and when I do fail, I fail hard.

We live in hard times Lord, but I praise You that through it all, You are still faithful and reliable and a reminder that we can’t count on economics, on weather or even on people, but You, You Lord, is a solid foundation that You call and plead to all Your children to build their lives, their hopes and their faith on.

Thank You Lord, for just blessing us with Your love and not giving up on us but instead, keep pursuing each and everyone of us.

This has been a quiet week Lord, but I thank You for removing un-needed distractions from my eyes and calling me to re-look, re-evaluate and re-find You because I need that so much in my life. It’s a reminder that there are times in our lives that we have to go through the garden that we called our lives, and prune that which is not fruitful and encourage that which is fruitful.

John 15:2 He cuts off every branch that does not produce fruit in me, and he cuts back every branch that does produce fruit, so that it might produce more fruit.

Lord, I pray that whether our lives bear fruit or not, that through it all, we keep pursuing You and seeking You. Prune in me, what You see and not what I see. Prune and remove what YOU know is not bearing fruit and don’t allow me to judge for myself. Help me Lord bear testament to Your word and to Your Glory.

Sunflower Faith | 19 comments | Tags: Heavenly Father, Memes, praise, scripture, Thankful Thursday

14 Aug 2008

Memes • Thankful Thursdays

Thankful Thursday

Come join Iris’s “Thankful Thursdays” every Thursday to share your praises of what God has done for you in your life.

Then I will go to the altar of God,
to God my exceeding joy,
and I will praise you with the lyre,
O God, my God.
—Psalm 43:4

Even in the darkest days, it seems difficult sometimes to lift ones head up and lift up ones arms in praise and glory to our Heavenly Father, but you have to admit….who needs coffee when after a time of coming together in fellowship, be it in person, or in heart, that singing songs of thankfullness and praise to Our Heavenly Father is the best energizer??

Heavenly Father, I thank You so much that even on days when I feel like I can’t make time for you and I feel like falling, You fill in where I am weak and unworthy and keep me moving forward.

Thank You Father for not giving up on this poor soul. There are moments in my life as there are moments in any life when we often feel like we just don’t have the time or the energy and God shows through even then, in His love and patience for us and rather than abandon us, He walks with us, He listens to us and then He intervenes and reminds us and chastises us where we needed to be chastise.
Lord, Thank You for my husband for he is my better half. He fills me in where I am prideful and remind me of what is right and he lifts me up where I am weaker and he is stronger at. Lord, I thank you for truly finding a man who not only led me to You, but when I am weak, reminds me of You and what You offer to us as a family and as a couple.

Lord, I thank You for the people in my life who humble me and remind me of where I am in need of spiritual growth. Though the lessons are hard the outcome is worth it and a testament and a glory not to what I can do, for what I can do without You, is nothing and empty but what I can do, with and for You is a testament to Your love and Your strength.

Father, I pray You guide me in my spiritual growth and my obvious spiritual immaturity and remove the blinders, the cushions and the obstructions that keep me from seeing You and Your word and keep filling me with a need and hunger to learn and read Your word and to understand what You want from me and for me and how I can serve You as Your humble servant and not as a servant to the world.

Lord, I thank You for being imperfect because I know I am nothing without You and I rejoice that I am not perfect for which I would be blinded by my own desires and goals and not seeing the truth by Your desires and goals for me, for us, for Your glory.

Guide me each day and each week and each month and year and Lord, keep reminding me that You are seeking me and will not just walk away from me as this imperfect soul, this imperfect body cries out to do and remind me that it’s not meant to be easy but that is the glory to Your name and perfection, Heavenly Father.

Sunflower Faith | 20 comments | Tags: Memes, scripture, Thankful Thursday

22 May 2008

Memes • Thankful Thursdays

Thankful Thursdays

Come join Iris’s “Thankful Thursdays” every Thursday to share your praises of what God has done for you in your life.

Heavenly Father, As this week draws to a close, I lift Your name up in praise.
You are an awesome God and I can never get tired of saying that, feeling that or think that and pray that this love and praise to You never dies.

Psalm 71:6 says, “From birth I have relied on you; you brought me forth from my mother’s womb. I will ever praise you.”

Lord, I have to start out thanking You for teaching me the power of humility and forgiveness. Through Your example, I kneel before You in humbleness in how You open and soften my heart in forgiveness and just plain humility to learn not only from You but from others what I need to learn in my growth and in my journey with You.

Lord, Thank You for my husband, who each day, surprises me with something new about him, that I pray I will keep being surprised about and each day, love him deeper than I did the day before. Lord, help me keep being the wife to him, that You call me to be and to be the mother that You call me to be. I am nothing without You and I pray I never forget that when I am around my husband and my children and my family.

Lord, Thank You so much for being You and being there for us. I pray You watch over my mother in law and my father in law as they journey to take care of her sister and Lord, I thank You, You are my rock and my refuge.

Psalm 46:1 (NIV)-God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.

As always Lord, please watch over my church and my pastor; Guide his heart, the words he speaks and the encouragement he receives from You Lord; I pray for the health of our congregation and that we are continually inspired, encouraged and convicted by You, because it’s all about You, not us.

Thank You Lord for the strength and accountability I find through writing about You and for You and I pray to keep this servant of Yours humble, reminded of Your grace and power and forever in awe of You; I pray that You use me as You see fit Lord and not as I see fit and that You guide my words and my heart with conviction, inspiration and encouragement.

I lift Your name in praise, Heavenly Father, and pray as well that You use not me but this blog, to touch, to bless and to inspire others Lord.

Sunflower Faith | 20 comments | Tags: Memes, Thankful Thursday

14 May 2008

Memes • Thankful Thursdays

Thankful Thursdays

Come join Iris’s “Thankful Thursdays” every Thursday to share your praises of what God has done for you in your life.

Lord, I have to just start out with telling you how I just lift my hands up in awe and worship of what an awesome Lord, You are and how you humble us, refine us and teach us, the lessons in our life, that You know so much better than we do, that we need to learn.

This has been a very humbling week and I praise You, Father, for showing me my weaknesses, showing me my strengths, showing me where and what I need to learn, and teaching me powerful lessons.

I thank You Heavenly Father for the people you bring in my life and for the people you bring out and the way You teach me the life lessons You just feel that I should learn and not what I want to learn.

Mark 6:34, “And Jesus, when He came out, saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them, because they were like sheep not having a shepherd. So He began to teach them many things.”

We are all teachers and we are all students and we have something to learn from each other, and I praise God, the greatest Teacher of them all, for just playing such a huge force in our lives and using our life to change us and to lead us always to Him.

When [Jesus] had washed their feet, and taken his garments, and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.”- John 13.12-17

I thought of what Iris had said about friends and it was such a reminder to myself and a check of how I am or was or is and will be to those who are in my lives. God, I lift your name up in praise for friends in my life who both humble me and guide me with loving words and not clanging cymbals.

We are all here under the comfort of your arms as brothers and sisters in Christ; One is no better than the other and all accountable to the other. Thank You Lord, for the friends who keep me forever humble by them and their words.

I’m not perfect. We’re all not perfect and I pray that we forever look up to You as an example and a reminder how we are to be with each other.

I pray you bless them who speak with open and honest words and….and with love; It softens the differences and helps us focus not on us Lord, but to You, and Your plan and Will and remind me of what You desire of us and not what we desire of ourselves.

Thank You Lord for friends who lovingly teach me and show me my mistakes and forgive me .

1 Peter 3:8-11 NIV (New International Version)-Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.

For,”Whoever would love life and see good daysmust keep his tongue from eviland his lips from deceitful speech.He must turn from evil and do good;he must seek peace and pursue it.

This is my “code of conduct” I keep on my bible study group forum and for my comments and it serves to remind not only others, but myself, the importance of watching what and how we say things to each other and Lord, I thank You for humbling me when YOU know I need to be humble and for the forgiveness when I err either knowingly or unknowingly and using my life and circumstances to remind me where I need to learn.

Lord, thank You for my husband and how you open and soften my heart and in my walk with You and as his wife and friend. Lord, thank You for teaching me patience where I needed to learn patience, respect where I needed to learn respect, love where I needed to learn love and friendship where I needed to learn friendship. Thank You Lord, for being as patient with me as I strive to be with and for my husband and I pray you keep me humble and obedient to Your Word and guide me to being the wife my husband needs me to be as You see and call us to be Lord.
Father, there has been a lot of “human” experiences and I praise You for both the humbling and pain that came out of it; Through it…I seek You out more and through it, it was a much needed speed bump to keep me in check and remember the all too human factor of being…well…human and how You have conquered all this and are beyond all this and gave me a better measuring stick to use to learn from. Thank You for reminding me, I’m not perfect either and how unworthy I am and can be and how much I need and crave to learn from You to be forever Your humble servant.
Thank You Lord for the innocence of our children and how they teach us to approach you with wide eye openness and not closed eyes cynicism. You are not a Lord that is turned on and off when it’s convenient for us and help us forever be reminded of that through our children. Help me be like my child to always want to “See Jesus” and not just when I am in quicksand.
Lord, thank You for this church we call home; It was part of a lesson in humanity and how we are never perfect no matter where we are and Lord, I couldn’t have it any other way; I thank You for blessing me and my family with a church that cares and a church that struggles and convicts us along the way.
Lord, I thank You for the blessing of this blog and I pray you will bless my heart, my hands, my tongue and my soul and keep humbling this unworthy soul and using this broken vessel for whatever You deemed fit, Lord. Bless those who take their time to read this blog and for the lessons they have in store for me to learn from.