Happy Thanksgiving to all!  Today, try a different tactic I heard:  Instead of counting your blessings, *subtract* them!  One by one, imagine your life without each and every blessing you have, great and small.  When you woke up today, was there a roof over your head?  Imagine if there wasn't!  Did you drive a car home from work last night?  No matter how "Sub Standard" the car, imagine not having one at all!  Do you have family and/or friends whom you love--who love you back?  What if you were alone in this world?  The little things and the big things--take them out of your life one by one!  Do you have clothes to wear?  Forget how in fashion they are or aren't--just imagine your life without any!  Millions of people in the world live that way!  Did you wake up AT ALL today?  Never mind your back hurt or that chronic illness from which you suffer.  You. Woke. Up.  That means you have a chance to do something with your life, no matter how small an act it is, God has something for you to do today!  Imagine if He didn't!  Imagine the reaction of your friends and family if you had not awakened today!  So your life is hard... so what!  Just like there's always a bigger fish, there's always someone whose cross to bear is heavier than yours!  Focus on what you *can* do today and what you *do* have, and thank God in heaven for each and every one of these things... and for the breath in your lungs He gave you to enjoy them, to make a difference in the world--small or large--and to serve and praise Him... no matter how much or little breath you actually have!

Ever His,


(Also posted on my facebook page today.)http://www.facebook.com/EJAesch

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Epicurean Paradox

Image
One of my friends re-posted this picture on Facebook.  He found it at Facebook page "Americans against the Tea Party," which in turn got it from "I Acknowledge Class Warfare Exists," neither of which, in my opinion, imply discussions about God from the name of their Facebook pages... regardless, in my limited understanding, I felt complied to "Vent" about this picture, so this blog isn't particularly "Music and Worship Arts" related, but it was spawned by a "Picture" on Facebook!  I have edited my reply on Facebook for ease of reading and to omit personal references.  It went, in part: First, intelligent Tea-Partiers will say you can believe (or not!) whatever religious belief you want--just allow us to believe what *we* want! Next, "Could God have created a universe with free-will but without evil?" is a misleading question.   It presumes that this world exists as God created it.   God DID create a universe with
Read more

"Warts And All"

     I don't know who (else besides me) needs to hear this, but here goes:      Christians should all know the Bible verse, "While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."  That means despite our sins and regardless of whether we even repent or not, Christ died on the cross for all of us, to make a way for us to come into relationship with Him.      But sometimes those if us with chronic depression can get stuck in a viscous whirlpool of self-hatred that can suck us down to the pit of despair.      You may dislike something(s) about yourself--maybe your weight, your looks, your lack of self-discipline/motivation, your lack of ability in some area, or any number of *traits* you may or may not have.  These attributes are just that: traits.  Speaking from experience, they often are not "Sins" in themselves.  They are just the things we don't like about ourselves.      For those of us that have this problem, I encourage us to think about this verse more broadl
Read more

The Pianist and the Sad, Little, Left Ring-Finger

Image
 The annual choir workshop is on Sunday, signaling the start of our choir season, so once again it is time to post this story. =)                 nce there was a pianist with nine, happy, long and strong fingers... and one Sad, Little, Left Ring-Finger.      Lefty, the Sad Left Ring Finger was sad because she was weaker than all the other fingers, and shorter than most of them, too!   Even the Pinky Twins were stronger and more important than her!      She thought to herself, “Why Left Pinky is often the root of the chord, and Right Pinky gets to play all the wonderful, high notes!   It’s all I can do to just barely play at the same volume level as the other fingers!      So one day, Lefty the Left Ring Finger decided to quit playing the piano with all the other fingers!   And wouldn’t you know it—suddenly the chords weren’t as full and tight, and sometimes you couldn't even tell if they were major or minor without Lefty!   The poor pianist
Read more