We Care Wednesday: God’s Artistry
Take a look around you. What do you see? Do you stop to notice a lavender sunset? Do you wonder at the beauty of a sunrise on a spring day? Do you notice the different shapes of clouds floating above you? All of these things are God’s artistry in action. Each and every thing on earth is God’s artistry in action; every single thing. That includes you and I.
We are masterpieces of God’s artistry; each of us in our own special way. You may wonder how can we be a masterpiece when some are born with some sort of difficulty. God creates us in a certain way as a start to our canvas. He then gives us the chance to take that canvas, add brush strokes to create ourselves into the masterpiece of our choosing.
In our world here on earth, we treasure masterpieces of art and handle them with utmost care. Yet, we don’t do this with ourselves or those around us much of the time. Should we not consider each and every person and creation of God a masterpiece to treasure and nurture? We have the chance to paint brush strokes on the canvases of others with our words and actions. Should we not take care in what we say and do to others so as to not discolor their masterpiece?
You are a masterpiece. Treasure yourself and those around you as such.
Focusing On Our Blessings
Today we are calling you to take action on this Tuesday! Yesterday we pointed out various different ways that we are so very blessed in this life. Today I would like you to participate in a little activity. I hope you will join me as we are going to be focusing on our blessings!
Whether you do so in the comment section, in your email to another family member or friend, or if you write it on Facebook, I would like to challenge you to list several things that you are thankful for. You don’t necessarily have to write them down, but for me, it helps to do so instead of leaving those thoughts in my head. If I write them down and see them in black and white in front of me, it seems to possess more power.
For the next week, I would like you to focus on these and other things on your list that bring you joy, love, and happiness. I am asking you to give thanks and to be grateful for the gifts you have been given in this life. Count your blessings not your troubles or sorrows. Focus intentionally on things that you truly need to praise God for, and then start doing it!! That is the key!
Are you ready to accept this challenge?
I am thankful for:
- My beautiful children that God has given to me. They are my miracles from above, and I just thank God from the very bottom of my heart for trusting me to care for these precious little ones. He gave them to me, and my soul danced with delight the day I found out I was pregnant. I was so in love with you, and my heart leaped with joy and excitement every time I would feel you move and kick inside of me. There are no words to adequately describe how I felt when my baby girls were placed in my arms for the first time. Tears of joy filled my eyes and spilled out down my cheek as I looked into your angelic faces. I counted ten perfect little fingers and ten perfect little toes. I thank God for my babies. They are now 17 years old and nine years old at the time of this writing, and my heart cherishes and treasures each and every moment that I have been given with them. They are the reason I am on this earth. They are my purpose, and they are my life! I thank God for my two miracles from above!
- My parents who gave me the best that they possibly could growing up. We were not rich by any stretch of the imagination. What we lacked in money and in material things, we were overflowing with in love, compassion, and care for one another. My parents raised me with good morals and values. They taught me to be a responsible and respectable young lady, to be a woman of great character and integrity. I am thankful for my parents loving me in the good times as well as the bad and for being my rock through the troubled times in my life. Things haven’t always been easy, but we had each other through it all. My heart is eternally grateful, and I thank God above for my parents.
- My husband who I met when we were teenagers. Although too shy to really connect back then, we thought of each other through the years and destiny brought us back together many years later. We reconnected and rekindled the spark inside of our hearts for each other. Although we have struggled through the years as most marriages do, we have realized that the love that we have is something worth fighting for. We share what most people search their whole lives for and rarely ever find. It has not always been easy, but it has always been worth it. It is a love that I will fight for and do everything within my power to ensure lasts. As God as my witness, I will not rest until I have exhausted every measure to ensure that this man knows how much I love him. I thank God for putting us back together.
- My friends. Oh, the Lord has richly blessed me with friends who are more like family. They truly are the family that I have chosen for myself. You are born with family, and then you meet people in this life that you connect with on such a deep level. They, then, become your family of choice. I love each and every one of them with a love so deep and so powerful, and I thank God for placing these beautiful souls in my life. Some friends I have had for 20 years, and I know that they will be by my side no matter what. We may not always see eye to eye, and there may be things that threaten to pull us apart from time to time. However, we always come back together. That is what true friendship is all about. I thank God that I have a hand full of people in this life that I know are my true friends and love me completely just as I love them. They are my brothers and sisters of the heart.
This list is just something that came to me right off the top of my head as my fingers floated over the keyboard and words flowed from me onto the post that you’re now reading. I have many, many blessings in this life. I am so very thankful to God for all that He has done for me and my family and friends. He is so good, ladies and gentlemen! He is so good to us. He blesses us and continues to pour out His blessings in our lives. He is worthy to be praised.
Look around you as you start to write your list. You don’t have to capture everything today. Just think of a few things that easily come to your mind. Be sure to thank God for these gifts in your life.
May God continue to pour out His blessings on your life.
Always & Forever,
Shirley
We Are Blessed
We all have struggles and trials in this life, and I am sure that there have been times when every one of us has uttered some version of the following saying:
I know that God will not give me more than I can bear. I just wish He didn’t trust me so much.
There may be times when you feel pushed to your limit. You may feel like you’re hanging on by a thread even. When you’re at your wits end and are not sure how much more you can take, know that God will not give you more than you can bear. He won’t.
Also, know this. God will be with you every step of the way, even carrying you when He needs to in order for you to make it through.
With everything that you’ve been through, know that there is someone else in the world that has it worse than you do. When we stop to consider just how blessed we truly are, our problems begin to lose their grip on us. The problems may still be there, but it helps to change your way of thinking about them. Instead of focusing on the negatives of your situation, try to think of a positive in the situation. I promise you, as bad as you think your problems are, someone somewhere else in the world has it a lot worse.
It takes a lot of effort, but when you find yourself starting to dwell on your problems, try changing your focus to something a little more positive instead. Easier said than done, but trust me. You have so many blessings in your life. You have so many things to be thankful for!
You are blessed!
I am blessed!
We are blessed!
We are so blessed in this lifetime! Why, then, do we focus only on the negatives? Why do we give them so much power over our lives? Let’s do something about that, shall we?
When your eyes open in the morning, immediately start your day with a positive thought and a word of praise.
Oh thank you, God! Thank you for waking me up this morning! Thank you for the gift of another day! Thank you for another opportunity to live my life to the fullest.
It matters how you start your day! If you wake up and begin with negative thoughts before your eyes ever open, you won’t have as good of a day as you would if you begin your day with words of thankfulness and praise.
When you wake up, take a deep breath in and thank God for waking you up with the morning light. Thank Him for allowing you to be with your loved ones another day. Some people didn’t get that extra day that you’ve been given.
When your feet hit the floor, thank Him that you can get out of bed in the mornings. Thank Him that you had a bed to sleep in last night and covers to warm you. Some people do not have this luxury.
When you walk to the bathroom to get a shower, thank God that you’re able to walk! Thank God that you’re able to do for yourself. Others have to depend on people to bathe them as they are unable to do that for themselves. Think of how blessed you are, and say a special prayer for all of those that are going through this and for the precious caregivers. Neither the patient nor the caregiver have an easy road ahead of them that day, yet here you stand under the warmth of the shower.
Don’t give into the temptation of a complaining spirit. You have much to be thankful for!
When you sit down to have your breakfast and drink your coffee, thank God for the food! Some do not have anything to eat at all. (Be sure to thank God for your food before you begin your meal. I always notice when people don’t do this and just start eating or stare at us when we get ready to bow our heads to say the blessing before we eat. Be thankful in all things … even for the food that you’re about to receive!)
Make time to read your bible or a daily devotional and pray before starting your day. I have heard people that say they just don’t have time for this. I say that you DO … you don’t have to get down on your knees every single time to pray. You can pray while you’re in the shower, having breakfast, or driving down the road going to work or school. You CAN find time. If your mind can wander to all of the negatives, you have time to gain control of your thoughts and go to God in prayer. That is when you need to re-focus your attention any way instead of remaining in a negative state of mind. You DO have time to pray! As far as not having time to read your bible or a daily devotional, that isn’t true either. There are some devotionals that don’t require a lot of time, yet their messages are powerful and will have you thinking on them all day. My husband reads Joel Osteen’s daily devotional every morning. I am partial to Joyce Meyer’s daily devotional. Jesus Calling by Sarah Young is also a very powerful daily devotional. They do not require a lot of time, yet they leave such an impact! Try it!
We are blessed in this life. If we would just take a moment or two to redirect our thoughts, it will make a difference in how our day goes! It has been proven!
Will you try it? Will you make an effort to be more positive and to start your day in a more positive manner?
Will you count your blessings instead of focusing on your troubles?
