Good Morning and Happy Sunday!!!
Mornings, the beginning of a brand new day! Who do you resemble more in the morning? Cinderella, who wakes up singing, throws open the shutters and issues a cheery hello to all the farm animals OR possibly more like Sebastian the wicked stepmother’s grouchy cat, who scowls and grumbles as he walks to his bowl of milk.
I tend to be a Sebastian… I stumble and grumble to the coffee pot, as I’ve mentioned before I then sit and sip, repeatedly for quite a while…then looking up and say Good Morning Papa (God)… I then grab the first of my 3 yearly devotionals that I am reading and proceed to change my mood!
What I was moved to write about this morning is the Spirit of Thankfulness!!! I have a notebook that I write 5 to 10 things every morning that I’m thankful for; Ex: The Lord’s love, his guidance and plans in my life, the lives of my children and grandchildren, my eye sight and hearing, my mental and motor skills, (and the older I get the more thankful I am) My Khloe Renee is cancer free!!!
That I don’t live in a country where bombs and gun fire are the normal outside sounds rather then my water fountains and the birds singing. My dad is still with me, I’m blessed with a good and faithful husband… the list could go on and it does.
There something special in being thankful. A report in Positive Psychology.com, states; “when we express gratitude and receive the same, our brain releases dopamine and seretonin, the 2 crucial neurotransmitters responsible for our emotions, and they makes us feel ‘good’. They enhance our mood immediately, making us feel happy.”
Psalms 100: 4-5 NIV “Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.”
1Corinthians 16:57 NIV “But thanks be to God! He gives us victory through our Lord Christ Jesus.”
Maybe you are in a season where being happy or thankful is just not happening. You received an unwanted report from the doctor, the bank, or from your boss, someone dear to you has passed and the greif has you paralyzed; maybe it isn’t a death but the loss of a relationship and all the broken dreams that went with it…again the list could go on and does.
STILL, while you are in a place where praise and thanksgiving seems impossible, start small; it may be that you were able to get out of bed today, that all the hard work of your physical therapy is working and you were able to stand alone for a brief moment. I don’t know but you do and so does God…he is with you in every step you take. Matthew 28:20b NIV “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age”. There’s something right there to be thankful for, you are never alone.
Sometimes we have to look for the things we can be or are thankful for but they are everywhere just take a look around you. Open your eyes and really take a look: grass, flowers, sky, grandbabies faces, your dog or cat laying protectively beside you in blissful slumber…the fact you woke up to another day, another start, another chance.
Lamentations 3:22-23 NLT “The faithful love of God never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.”
I don’t know about you but the fact that the Lord starts my day off fresh and new in his love and mercy everyday…well there’s the first thing on my list of things I’m thankful for…Go outside today, smell the fresh air, look up and say hello…Its a beautiful summer day go enjoy the sunshine on your shoulder. Have a Blessed day. Thank you for joining me🥰
Sunshine On My Shoulder 