Joy Is Gratitude

Author: siggy

Joy is gratitude.  It is looking at your life and every aspect of it and thanking the Lord for every simple thing He has given you.  Sometimes it is others you need to give a simple “thank you”.  God works through other people all the time.  Don’t take any gift you have for granted.  As well as all the simple pleasures that come your way.  Joy is gratitude and thanking the Lord for the simplest gifts He has given you.  He has given your life.  And every morning you wake up you need to thank Him for every breath you take.  Get in the habit of thanking others and the Almighty for every single gift.  Life is composed of myriad details.  And prayerfully thank someone for every detail of your life–every pleasure-every thing.  He does not owe you anything.  And He usually gives us abundance.  Don’t be an ungrateful taker.  Thank Him for every detail of your life.  Joy will always follow gratitude.

I have no control of my wife but I do of me.  I can not fix her and Lord knows I have tried repeatedly with very little success.  I do have control of me and this revelation may appear to be obvious but I am an extremely slow learner and this idea I can only control me frees me.  Paradoxically I may be able to change her behavior by concentrating on mine but I can not act with that in mind.  I have to love her freely and not do anything because I am trying to change her for that is manipulation on my part.  All this is very freeing to me.

All I pray for is for the gift of gratitude. I want to be satisfied with what I have and with the abundance of the Lord. It is so easy to want more and more. There really is no end to that desire. I want to be satisfied with what I’ve got. If He wants to give me more, fine. I want to thank God for everything I have and have the gift of gratitude. That is no small thing.

Death Is Really Valuable

Author: siggy

Death is really valuable.  The fact that our lives are finite makes our lives that much sweeter.  What if you knew you were going to live forever; would there be any urgency to your life?  Doesn’t it make a difference knowing some day we are going to die?  And not only that.  We have no idea when.

Life becomes that much more valuable knowing it is finite.  When we are young there is the illusion we are going to live forever.  It is only an illusion, sometimes shattered when a friend close to us meets an untimely death.

I never forgot Anna Quinlan’s (the well known writer) comments.  She was in college and temporarily left to take care of her mother who was dying.  Then she returned to college with a different perspective, a keener appreciation of life.  She looked at her fellow students and considered their concerns now trivial.  Life had become very precious to her.  Her Mom died.  And the last few months she spent taking care of her illustrated to her how fragile and tenuous life really was.  She had a new found appreciation of how precious life really was.

One can not live with the notion he or she may go at any moment.  Everything is by grace.  And the awareness of the specter of death that awaits every one makes life that much sweeter and always gives you a greater appreciation of the simple things every one takes for granted.  From dust you come and from dust you shall return.  Those words in the Bible are so true.  Our society today views death as a curse.  It is really a gift so appreciate the time the Lord has given to you.  You only have one life so enjoy it and make the best of it.