EXPRESSING GRATITUDE

My favorite gratitude quotes teach us that expressing gratitude to God is not only necessary but uplifting!

1 Chronicles 16:8
O give thanks unto Jehovah, call upon his name; Make known his doings among the peoples.

Colossians 3:16
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.

A POEM ABOUT GRATITUDE

THE GIFT OF GRATITUDE

Perhaps the best gift that you can give to yourself
Is to have gratitude in your heart
When others complain that life is a strain
Remember a prayer of thanks is a better start

Say a prayer of thanks for the day ahead
The safe night that just has been
Be comforted that no matter what comes next
You will have victory in the end.

This poem about gratitude and hope that was shared with me by one of my visitors. If you have written inspirational or motivational poem, I would be happy to feature it here.

Perhaps since I grew up in a home that provided the bare essentials of life, expressing gratitude comes easily to me. When I see all of the blessings that surround me I am virtually amazed at the richness of my life but I am so thankful that I didn’t get so much early on that I am ungrateful. Today’s kids are being cheated by their parents because they have so much they don’t know how to be thankful.

As an example, a month or two ago I was in a clothing store that doesn’t carry designer clothes but stocks good clothes for an affordable price. I was behind a mother in line with an eight year old (or thereabouts) child. The sour, disgruntled attitude was pouring off the child because his mom had not taken him to a more exclusive store to buy his school uniforms. He was disrespectful, unpleasant and by no means did he have an attitude of gratitude. This child was by no means thankful or appreciative that his mother was spending her hard earned money on his needs rather than her own.

I can well remember getting excited about school starting in the fall because that meant that we would get new clothes and shoes. Once the clothes were bought, we were told which items were for everyday wear and which ones would be saved for church on Sunday and special occasions. I remember one of my sisters conveniently losing her everyday shoes once in hopes that she would be allowed to wear her best shoes to school one day. Mother, merely told her she would stay home from school to search until she found her school shoes. And in those days, staying home meant doing "special" work for mom if you weren’t sick and unable to get out of bed. Amazingly my sister located her missing loafers within the next few minutes.

Some might look at such an upbringing as being deprived and I suppose in some ways they are right. But what I see is a lesson in expressing gratitude. When you have done without and learned to make do you learn to be grateful for things that you might otherwise take for granted.

Take this opportunity to reflect on whether we fully appreciate gifts from our Heavenly Father. Are we grateful for His sacrifice of the greatest gift ever bestowed upon us – the gift of everlasting life? Are we thankful that we woke this morning in good health surrounded by His love? Do we feel the need to express our gratitude to Him who gave us the give of love, peace and grace?

THANKFUL and GRATEFUL

After the lovely day I had yesterday, I can honestly say that I am both thankful and grateful. The meal that was prepared was beautifully prepared and the love around the table was warm and comforting, completely unlike the so-called family shows we see on television.

One of my favorite family quotes is this one, "The family is one of nature's masterpieces." Which is attributed to George Santayana and I agree with this quotation wholeheartedly.

How sad that our children are being taught that all families are filled with angst and to be "trapped" in the house with them for a day is tantamount to torture. Even the film reviews that I read listing the picks and pans of holiday movies offer their choices up as excellent opportunities to escape from family over Thanksgiving weekend.

Parents have their jobs cut out for them in battling the messages sent to their kids that are brainwashing them into believing that the people who love them most are at best ridiculous and laughable and at worst, downright intolerable. Why do we as consumers allow paid advertising and television programming to diminish the importance of family?

All we can do is to reinforce the belief that family is something to be both grateful and thankful for and that if someone tries to tell them otherwise then THEY are laughable and pathetic NOT our family members.

Return to Motivational Inspirational Posters Poems and Quotes to find my thoughts and quotes on being both thankful and grateful.

Mind Your Own Business Quotes and Sayings

Since I made my first post on this subject some of the mind your own business quotes and sayings that have been posted as comments have literally cracked me up! I'm relatively certain that the circumstances in which these statements were delivered were less than humorous but one or two of them were hilarious.

"If it's not your tail don't be wagging it."


This saying that I would like to focus on today has to do with breaking the bad habit of gossiping. So many people say the peace and productivity in their workplace was totally destroyed by office gossip. It only takes one worker with a loose tongue and a mean spirit to reduce a team into utter turmoil. It's the brave soul who is willing to nip malicious gossip around the water cooler in the bud by sharing a few mind your own business quotes and sayings before things get completely out of hand.

Bad news travels fast but juicy gossip knows no limits. Consider that your affairs may be the next topic of discussion the next time you are tempted to stir the pot or better yet, gently advise a co-worker that gossiping is never a good idea.

Minding Your Own Business

Minding your own business should be at the top of any list of health tips. In my humble opinion, breaking the habit of being nosy may be just as beneficial to your body as diet and exercise.

How many times have you been guilty of "sticking your nose in a hornet's nest" only to have it backfire on you? Meddling with the natural order of things can be harmful to you as well as those whose lives you are tampering with.

The temptation to fix things for other people can be very strong. Seeing our loved ones suffer the consequences of their unwise actions is never pleasant but it's best to turn them over to the care and wisdom of a loving God than to become involved in situations where we may not see the whole picture.

After trying to be a "fixer" you may find that minding your own business gives you freedom to work on your own problems that are truly within your power to fix. God expects us to focus on our own individual spiritual and physical health not to run around trying to do his job for him.

Here is a joke that proves that not minding your own business can be very painful.


A man was taking a stroll past a fenced yard the other day when he heard a group of people shouting, '13....13....13.'

Intrigued, he wanted to take a peek, but the fence was too high for him to look over. His curiosity was growing but there was no ladder to use to see over that fence and then he happened to see a small gap between the boards of the fence so he ran over and put his eye to the hole so that he could see what all the shouting was about....and then... somebody poked him right in the eye with a stick!

At that point the shouting became '14....14....14'...


Consider this a silly reminder to mind your own business!

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The Family of God

Even the most devout Christians sometimes overlook the importance of belonging to the family of God. To be children of our Lord means that we are members of a holy family and will receive all the benefits and privileges belonging to this group right here and now.

There's no need to wait until we arrive in Heaven to enjoy the peace, love and hope that are the special attributes of the family of God. We are by rights the heirs with Christ Jesus of an inheritance devine beyond imagination but with that blessing comes the responsibility of conducting ourselves in such a manner as behooves children of God.

Consider the words of

1 John 3:1
"Hear what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God;and that is what we are."

Further confirmation is found in

1 John 3:2, "Beloved, we are God's children now..."

No wonder that there are so many beautiful poems and songs celebrating the Family of God!

What an honor and joy it is to obey and serve God. All should consider this to be a privilege and a pleasure to live in love and obedience according to His will. However, there are times when we want to enjoy the benefits of this relationship without shouldering the responsibilities.

Obedience to God is one of such responsibilities. But what a small price to pay for the blessing that are bestowed upon the children of God!

Return to Motivational Inspirational Posters Poems and Quotes for more thoughts on what it means to be a child of God.

Christian Homeschool Curriculum

The benefits of choosing the best Christian homeschool curriculum available are far reaching long past the days spent in the classroom. The subject matter and how it is presented to young minds is to prepare them for the complex and confusing world that lies beyond the security of the family home.

It is crucial to give our children the security early on in their faith and beliefs so that when controversial ideas that they will come in contact with will not leave them feeling confused and unsure of which direction they should take in life. The start of building this solid foundation is a well constructed Christian homeschool curriculum and a healthy, happy Christian home.

When shopping a program, remember that you should never judge a book by its cover. Make a proper assessment of your child’s skill level and study goals and dig into the material on your own before forming opinions. Dig deeply into the lessons to be sure that it will be mentally challenging without being so much so that your student becomes frustrated and defeated.

Once you narrow the possible selections, it would not hurt to involve your child in the process. This will help you to identify his or her areas of interest and to form a partnership in the learning process which is the ultimate goal in homeschooling.

Finding a workable Christian homeschool curriculum is just the beginning and possibly the easiest part of teaching your children at home. But the rewards are such that you never have to worry that prayer is denied or that wrong ideas are being presented as the "cool thing to do".

An inspirational Bible verse that is tailor made for Christian homeschooling parents is found in Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

GENUINE CHRISTIAN BELIEFS and PRACTICES

There are many who profess to have and to follow genuine Christian beliefs and practices that are merely going through the motions at best or at worst are knowingly pretending to be true believers. Theirs is a false pretense even though some are so polished and practiced in this behavior that no man on earth will ever be the wiser.

But the Bible teaches us that man’s opinion is not the one that counts. Someday they will face God and be judged phony. Jesus tells us that God will separate the real Christian from the phony Christian and that on this day there will be no hiding what is in your heart. Separation will be according to the individual’s spiritual relationship with God through his son, Jesus Christ and their genuine Christian beliefs and practices, not how good they were at fooling their fellow man.

We are taught that a list of good works, affiliation with a particular religious denomination and reputation are not important and that while these things may be evidence of a relationship with God, they are just evidence. You can read on how the Lord will separate the believers from the non-believers in the book of Matthew 25: 31-46.

Now is the time to examine your own relationship with God and if you feel there is room for improvement a good place to work on it is in the church of your choosing and by discussing your feelings with your spiritual guide. One day, when it counts you will be ever so happy that you did.

Return to Motivational Inspirational Posters Poems and Quotes to join us in our own journey towards a relationship with God through Christ our Savior.