365 days of gratitude, over, but not out!

Life is a roller coaster ride, full of ups and downs.  The ups fill us with euphoria of magnificent proportions, the downs, with fear, anxiety, uncertainty and weigh us down.  It is much easier to find those willing to join us for the 'up' rides, but eager to get off before the downs............... 

Thank goodness for the One who will take the seat next to us and ride the entire journey.  Thank You Lord.  Thank You Lord, Thank You Lord....... for a Love like no other and without measure, a faithfulness that is steadfast through thick and thin and hope that gives us a reason for tomorrow.......

This 365th post marks the end of a challenge I set myself a year ago, a journey of wide ranging experiences, of discovering a lot about myself and others.  Most importantly a journey in which my daily focus has been one of giving gratitude no matter what!  'No matter what' has been key to my achieving my goal.  Being in a constant state of gratitude has required me to dust thoroughly to get rid of life's cobwebs so that I can keep focused on what is truly important and not be unnecessarily distracted and I will always be thankful for that.

My husband has ideas on what I could / should do with my 365 posts so ................................. this isn't bye bye. 

I have more recently enjoyed randomly picking posts and reading them with fresh eyes and I have to say they have blessed me.

Let us all come and adore Him......

Come and behold Him,
Born the King of Angels;
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.

 

 



 

I don't always tune in to the Queen's Christmas Day speech, but a friend encouraged me to listen to this year's in particular and with the help of  TV replay Ayo and I listened to it this afternoon.  She was right.............. it was different......... from the start she spoke of the birth of Christ as being the significant event of that day, the day we now celebrate as Christmas Day!  Furthermore she made reference to the hymn 'In the bleak mid winter and encouraged us to give our hearts and nothing else to our Lord and Saviour!!! 

 

Christmas Day has been and gone, somewhat quicker this year, possibly because we finished school later than usual.  For many there will be a void, a post Christmas Day emptiness that can only be filled by the love of Jesus Christ, nothing else.  I am so thankful today (day 364) that because of the events of that wondrous day I am here, able to give thanks to Him.

Guest blogging...........again

Hello.. Its your guest blogger Aaron again.  I did a blog a few months ago, and I asked my mum if I could do another one so here goes...............

Today is christmas :D. No suprise, me and my sister were the first ones to get up at 6:30am. My sister kept trying to wake me up and kept asking me how long until Christmas. I could hardly sleep, so in the end m and my sister Grace went downstairs. We turned on the TV to see if there were any Christmasy films on. My sister turned the channel straight to Nick Junior. She watched 2 Barbie Christmasy films in a row. By the time they both finished it was around 9:00am and me and Grace were still waiting for my family to get up so we could open our presents.

 By 9.30am my mum and dad and brother had woken up. We had cinnamon cake for breakfast (Thank you Aunty Charmaine)and then opened our presents. Santa was very kind to me and I got some of the things on my wish list and so did Gracie!

Me and my family had a nice chilled in day at home watching Christmasy films, with drinks and snacks at regular intervals.  We all had such a laugh and just talked.  Around 5ish we had our Christmas dinner with all the trimmings. It was just devine.

We then watched some more films, and to this very moment, beside me. my mum and my sister ( underneath Grace's JB blanket) are fast asleep, whilst my dad is on his laptop listening and making some music whilst my brother is on his laptop watching football.

Now this is what I call the perfect Christmas.  Importantly I learnt that christmas is not about the presents, but it's the season of giving thanks.  All around the world there would have been people, including children my age and younger who did not make it through the night to see this morning, so I am very grateful to be alive and have the best preset ever.. My family.

Thanking my guest blogger, my son Aaron, today (day 363).

The Pursuit of ....................

Thank goodness there are always opportunities in life to put all things into perspective and simply give thanks to God Almighty, to kneel before Him in humble adoration, to just know how very much He loves us.  I give thanks today (day 362) for such an opportunity!

One of my favourite films more recently is 'The Pursuit of Happyness.'  It is, in my humble opinion, a movie that inspires one to pursue dreams, never give and just to keep on going.  Tears well up in my eyes most readily at various points in the movie and I am in awe of a man motivated by his love for his son to pursue ........................ against all the odds.

Christopher Paul Gardner (born February 9, 1954 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin) is an American entrepreneur, investor, stockbroker, motivational speaker, author, and philanthropist who, during the early 1980s, struggled with homelessness while raising his toddler son, Christopher, Jr.  Gardner's book of memoirs, The Pursuit of Happyness, was published in May 2006


Christopher Gardner: I met my father for the first time when I was 28 years old. I made up my mind that when I had children, my children were going to know who their father was.

Christopher: Hey dad, you wanna hear something funny? There was a man who was drowning, and a boat came, and the man on the boat said "Do you need help?" and the man said "God will save me". Then another boat came and he tried to help him, but he said "God will save me", then he drowned and went to Heaven. Then the man told God, "God, why didn't you save me?" and God said "I sent you two boats, you dummy!"

This is my favourite quote from the movie...........

Not long now..............

King of kings, majesty,
God of Heaven living in me,
gentle Saviour, closest friend,
strong deliverer, beginning and end,
all within me falls at your throne.

Your majesty, I can but bow,
I lay my all before you now.
In royal robes I don't deserve
I live to serve your majesty.

Earth and Heaven worship you,
love eternal, faithful and true,
who bought the nations, ransomed souls,
brought this sinner near to your throne;
all within me cries out in praise.

Your majesty...
Jarrod Cooper

Not long now and I'm thanking You Lord today (day 361) for the King of Kings.

Oh, the weather outside is .....................

Oh, the weather outside is frightful
But the fire is so delightful
And since we've no place to go
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

 

 

Seriously though, the rain is here to stay, possibly providing us with a wet, if not snowy Christmas!

 

Thanking You Lord today (day 360) for a quiet (ish) Saturday...........



A reason for the season!

Thanking you Lord today (day 359)for a reason to celebrate the season; the birth of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ!.............  Did I hear "Amen!"