December 13th - Be thankful

The story...

I grew up in a small USA town with two parents, four siblings, all my needs taken care of, regular involvement in a church, vacations away from home, a learning environment, and expectations of graduating from high school and going to college to become whoever I wanted to be.  Wow ... what could I possibly have complained about?  Well, there was always somebody glorying themselves -polishing, displaying and proclaiming the glory of their attributes that they imagined to be true. - ongoing attempts to glorify self.

As I ponder eternity past, eternity future, and an expectation of living but one life on this earth; each breath is an amazing reality - something to be thankful for.  And, I'm so thankful that God provided the answer for that self-absorbing darkness that seems to drif around and through people too.  

The only church in town might share a video like "There's a Dragon in my Nativity." They'll share the story of when our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ came to our earth to redeem us from the darkness that's so offensive to our most Holy God - His attributes are obviously worthy of glory.  The congregation will share a better more fruitful way to live out this life and eternity in Christ  - man . . .  that's good news!.

Just for today...

"At no point in my life will I achieve perfection; there will never be a time when I will not need the joy and satisfaction of helping others."  One Day at a Time (p. 348)

"What would happen if I started thinking God when problems occurred?  At first I had to force myself to say 'Thank you, God,' through clenched teeth. By and by, my teeth unlocked and I replaced self-pity with gratitude. I truly began to live."  Courage to Change (p. 348)