We are settled in our winter place down south but this time of year we tend to remember the gifts given to us in our northern climate.
We are so Thank-Full for all those who have helped and continue to aid in hurricane clean-up. We did fine but so many of our friends are still repairing and replacing.
Gratitude swirls around us as we remember God's beauty surrounding us all year long.
As I linger in the sunshine of our winter abode, I recall fond memories of our summer place..
We give thanks for flowers . . . fresh or embroidered, following a fence or surrounding St. Francis in our front yard. Mums piled with pumpkins and surrounded by corn or a field of orange as far as the eye can see.
Hubby and I have been blessed beyond belief and we thank God each and every day for simply being alive.
Hard work and good planning are only part of the reason we are able to live in two different places.
We simply face life head on, deal with good days and bad days, and rejoice in God's abundance for us.
We give what we can of our time, our talent and, of course, our shekels. After all, everything we enjoy is not ours to keep.
Pocket change is a treat for so many. Giving what we have to others seems to bounce back to us in greater abundance.
We find we cannot out give God no matter how hard we try. Yet, it is not just the giving that is important to me.
Prayer is the most important part of my life and, unfortunately, does not take as much priority as it should. Prayer: conversation with God.
All too often, I am doing all the talking. God cannot touch me with Holy Spirit wisdom when I am chatting about whatever is front and center in my heart. Yet, this is where God's grace is so endless. If my endless chatting to the Lord keeps me in continuous connection with him, all the better. That's why God came to us in human form, through Jesus, the Christ. "God with skin on" Jesus, invites us into intimate conversation all day long . . . and all night long if that's what it takes.
Eventually, my soul comes to rest having spilled out all my concerns for self and others. Eventually, I can simply sit in silence and wait upon that intuitive 'sense' that is able to 'listen' to the Holy One speak to my heart.
Only when I have spilled my woes out to the fullest or shouted my joyful thanks to the heavens can I rest in The Presence.
God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit is in me and speaks into my soul when I choose to open myself to the prompts of The Presence.
Thank you, Lord, for letting me moan and gripe and then, when I am empty, fill my soul back up with gratitude.
Thank you, Lord, for fond memories that continue to swirl through me as I extend my chatty moments with You.
Thanks you that, finally, I can rest in silence and listen for those grace-filled whispers from You that fill my soul and direct my path.
I give THANKS with a grateful heart . . .
