A to Z Challenge: Say Thank You

A to Z Challenge:  T is for Thankfulness.  

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Back at ‘G’ I chose the word gratitude.  It is worth repeating the sentiment again here as thankfulness or thanksgiving.  Maintaining an attitude of thankfulness, looking for ways to say thank you, to let those in our lives know that we appreciate them, can lift us up like little else.  Here are some ideas to say thank you to some of those in your life.

•   When you wake up, thank God that you did and for the day ahead.

•   Put a thank you note in your husband’s or child’s computer case, or notebook or lunch letting them know something you appreciate about them.

• Look for someone who you meet at the grocery store, in the bank, at the gym, who needs a lift and find something that they do that you can thank them for.  

• Notice that special someone who always goes the extra mile, and thank them as you let them know you notice and appreciate them.

• Send a note to someone who has influenced you to thank them for the particular impact they have had.

• Look for a service member or policeman, and thank them for their service and sacrifice.

• Recognize those who are smiling throughout your day by thanking them for their smile. 

• Text a friend or a child or a sibling to thank them for something they have said or done that you appreciate.

• Thank a blogger for something particular they have written that has blessed you.

•   At the end of the day, thank your family members for the little things you don’t usually notice.

• Thank God for another day of life, and if you did all this thanking, no doubt it was a day you appreciate a bit more than usual.

Life throws some tough turns our way.  Even in the midst of tremendous tribulation, thankfully counting blessings can provide strength and salve so deeply needed.  Thankfulness is a treasure we can all possess, and it is a multiplying treasure as we spread it around. 

In Everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.  

                                       1 Thessalonians 5:18

A to Z Challenge

Thank you, Arlee Bird, again, for this terrific A to Z Challenge.

Titus 2 Tuesday

Growing Home

A to Z Challenge: Statesman Guided by Bedrock Principles

A to Z Challenge:  S is for Statesman

Center for Christian Statesmanship Logo

Statesman:  a wise, skillful, and respected political leader, well-versed in the principles and art of government.

When I think of statesmanship, I think of historical figures like the founding fathers, John Quincy Adams, Daniel Webster, Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill.  I know we could expand that list considerably, but why is it that when we think of statesman, no one from the present day comes to mind?  Has the word become archaic or do we paint all politicians with a broad brush of dark colors not consistent with the word statesmanship?  

Politics around the globe seems to be a dirty business.  Good people are grouped with those that might be less admirable.  It takes someone with a strong sense of conviction or selfish ambition to enter politics today, and sometimes it is difficult to distinguish between the two, but I do believe that there are statesman among them, and we should look for them and look out for them, because they pay a heavy toll to participate in the process of running for office and fighting for what they believe in.  

The D. James Kennedy Center for Christian Statesmanship, a non-partisan interdenominational evangelical outreach to our nation’s leaders and their staff, is located in Washington D.C. to minister to those on Capitol Hill and encourage and fortify Christian Statesmanship within the halls of government.  I like their definition of a statesman:

  “One whose public and private conduct is guided by a bedrock set of principles that will not be compromised for personal or political gain. Such a person rises above mere partisan politics and makes the overall welfare of a nation his or her first priority.”  

Hillsdale College has a graduate school of statesmanship to train students in first principles, growing future statesman.  They focus not only on teaching the classical roots, but also the roots of contemporary political thought while helping students understand the centrality of ethics in politics.  Perhaps the concept of statesmanship won’t disappear from our lexicon.  

Do you have anyone you think of as a statesman, or are you too prone to see only the negative in politics?  

Is it worth looking for statesman in the halls of government, or should we just give up on that?  

A to Z Challenge

Recreation in Christian Meditation

A to Z Challenge:  R is for Recreate in Rest

Recreation has come to mean having fun, often if not usually actively, and often involves vacationing with lots of activities.  It is not uncommon to need a vacation after a vacation because not much recreating has gone on, that is renewing, reviving, or restoring, in busy vacations.  

I remember an acronym for busy:

Bound

Under

Satan’s

Yolk.

We human beings are designed to need recreating rest daily in sleep, weekly from our toils, and regularly throughout the year to reconnect with who we are and detoxify from the pollution of life.  Without this kind of recreation, we become weary, worn, and warped.

So what is a better form of recreation?  Richard Foster in his book Celebration of Discipline discusses the recreating power of meditation, noting that the significant difference between Eastern meditation and Christian meditation is the difference between emptying and filling.  

Eastern meditation stresses the need to become detached from the world, emptying oneself, losing one’s individual personhood to merge with the Cosmic Mind, as one does is seeking the Nirvana, the extinction of desire and individual consciousness.  There is no personal God to be attached to.  The goal is to be free from burdens and pains of the reality of life.  Detachment is the ultimate goal.  

Christian meditation, on the other hand, goes beyond detachment to emphasize an attachment to God.  Rather than having us withdraw from the world, it redirects us to be able to deal with life.  We are not led to be ethereal to our humanity, but rather we are empowered to be more fully compassionate in our humanity.  Through communion and communication with the God who loves us and wants us to dwell in His omnipresence, we are filled with His love to be recreated for loving others. 

Jesus took time to be alone with God to be renewed, to pray, to be quiet, to rest.  I wonder what He might think of our modern version of recreating.  I am not against having rip-roaring fun.  That has its place.  However, if the only recreation we know is at the frenetic pace of busy and we don’t rest contemplatively to recreate, we lose more than we gain.  We miss out on something profoundly rejuvenating and fulfilling, a recreation we were made for, and we settle for tired, tattered, and twisted.

A to Z Challenge

A to Z Challenge: A poem of Qs

A to Z Challenge:  Q is for Quest or Quandry

Quest or Quandary

                 By Maria Dunn

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What query do you bring

In your quest to know a thing?

Is your satisfaction quenched,

That you’ll find your answer hence?

Please tell me if you will,

What you write there with your quill?

Let’s not quibble over dribble,

Or quetch about the quibble.

Instead have a quiet nibble

Of this quail prepared with skill.

Will you not pose your question 

While you quell hunger and you quaff?

Your quirky, quizzical lip

Makes me quite quixotic quip

As I wait to hear of quagmire, quicksand, or scoff.

Shall I present our quodlibet

And quack about it yet,

When I do not even know what the quiddity is you quote?

But look now, you look queasy and quite a bit uneasy.

Are you questrist or just qualmish?

Listen to my quackish quiddle

When I must squeeze you round your middle

To release the choking tiddle

Of which I quasi qualify, lest you die.  Oh my.

Now you may rest from your quest.

No quandary now.  I must quiesce. 

A to Z Challenge

A to Z Challenge: P is for Posture

A to Z Challenge:  P is for Posture

Improve your Posture

Posture says a lot about us.  It tells those we are with if we care to listen or not, if we put others first or ourselves, if we respect or disrespect, if we are confident or insecure, if we are lazy or disciplined, and so much more.  Posture not only points to what may be inside of us, it AFFECTS us and what’s inside.  

If we sit or walk upright and erect, shoulders back, we tend to be more alert, more confident, more cheerful.  Attitude affects posture and posture affects attitude.  You can lift yourself up by consciously working on improving your posture.

My friend recently described a meeting she had with a truculent subordinate.  Her fellow employee sat slumped across from her, one arm sprawled across the back of the chair, and his eye poised to roll with disapproval at the questions and suggestions of his supervisor.   She knew that he didn’t like that he was working for her.  He thought he should have a different position in the organization, but restructuring had placed him here, and he was going to be sure she knew he didn’t like it.  His attitude came through in his posture, and it wasn’t helpful to himself or his employer.

Posture is instrumental in our personal interactions harming or helping our relationships and our personal well-being.  However, the physiological effects not only have social and emotional ramifications, bad posture can lead to back pain, digestive trouble, and breathing problems among other issues.  Put positively, strengthen your back, improve your digestion, breath more fully  and live a better life simply by maintaining good posture.  

So what can you do to improve your posture?

1.  First know what good posture is.  Head erect, chin parallel to floor, shoulders back, chest out, stomach in, hips even, knees forward.

2.   Stretch and strengthen your back and your pectoral muscles.                  

           A.  The doorway stretch is great for stretching your 

                 pectoral muscles.  Place your forearm on the doorway

                 and push as you do a lunge with the same leg; hold for

                 30 to 90 seconds.  Rest.  Reach higher on the door-post

                 and lunge again.  Rest.  Reach lower on the 

                door-post and lunge again.  Repeat on the other side.  

            B.  One way to stretch your back is to tuck your buttocks

                  under your hips and reach forward with your arms

                  forming a ‘C’.  Hold for 30 seconds.  Reach arms up

                  Slowly and outstretch to side, pulling buttocks to the

                  back with your arms.  Repeat at least 3 times.  

3.  Pay attention.  Notice when you are standing, sitting, or walking if your posture is slumping and change it.  Ask others to keep you accountable until it becomes natural to maintain good posture.

4.  If you are working at a desk or at a computer, get up every half and hour and stretch.  

5.  Meditation enhances posture.

6.  Train your children early.  The importance of posture to our health, physical, emotional, psychosocial, and intellectual has been deemphasized.  Returning it to its rightful place in child training will benefit everyone.

Now if we can have such a positive effect on ourselves with a simple adjustment, why not give the proper attention to our posture?  

A to Z Challenge

A to Z Challenge: O is for Oil Pulling

A to Z Challenge:  O is for Oil Pulling

Oil Pulling Therapy

About a year ago, out of the blue, in the midst of a fitful night of not sleeping, while trying to pursue a better approach to health, oil pulling came to mind.  I hadn’t seen or heard the term in almost 20 years, but the next day I was drawn to find out about this term that had just popped into my head seemingly out of no where.  I was amazed at what I found, a plethora of articles and you-tube videos, and  I could find nothing negative at all.  

As I was researching, the original source of this natural  remedy’s presentation to me slowly returned to my recollection.  An energetic friend from that era of my life those 20 years earlier had told me that she had been doing it for years.  She recounted a time in her own life when while she was bedridden with chronic fatigue, someone introduced the concept to her.  I couldn’t imagine this peppy woman ever having any problem with chronic fatigue.  She certainly was a ball of joyful energy when I knew her. 

That memory and my discoveries over the course of those several days led me to begin the adventure of oil pulling myself.  I did notice my energy level improve within a few days.  Most recognizable however was the effect on my mouth.  My teeth felt cleaner and appeared whiter.  I felt better in general with my new found therapy which I did daily, usually with coconut oil, but sometimes using grape seed oil or olive oil.  

So what is oil pulling?  It really is simple.  You take between a teaspoon to a tablespoon of oil, whatever you can handle, and swish it around in your mouth, pulling and pushing it through your teeth for between 5 and 20 minutes, again whatever you can handle, the longer the better.  The idea is that the oil will collect up the bacteria in your mouth to clean it away leading to cleaner teeth, cleaner mouth, cleaner breath.   When done, you spit the oil out, preferably in the garbage and not the sink so as not to cause a clog.  Remember that the oil is full of bacteria, so you don’t swallow it.  There’s a lot more too it, but that’s it in a nutshell, a very small nutshell like an acorn.   

A couple months ago because of dealing with knee surgery, I got out of the habit and getting back into a habit, even one that is easy, is tough.  I found it too beneficial not to incorporate it back into my daily routine.  It has other significant health benefits.  Even medical skeptics have agreed, “You aren’t going to hurt anything by swishing oil around in your mouth; so go ahead and give it a try.”

A to Z Challenge

A to Z Challenge: N is for Noah

A to Z Challenge:  N is for NOAH showing at Sight and Sound Theater 

About 17 1/2 years ago we went to our first production at the Sight and Sound Theater in Lancaster, PA, an amazing musical production of Noah.  My oldest daughter was 2 1/2 years old; so she doesn’t remember much of that production, but I do remember that it was quite spectacular.  

Since that time, the Sight and Sound Theater has produced a number of amazing Biblical performances. We have seen a few; last fall we attended a showing of Jonah which was also phenomenal.  These folks know how to move you back in time, stir your emotions, and give you an experience you will not soon forget.  The sets are incredible; the music and the singers keep the audience enthralled, and the story is timeless. 

So when I heard NOAH was back after all these years, I had to get tickets.  The show runs from March to November 2013.  I bought tickets last November for the show on March 29th.  Many of the dates are already sold out because it will only be running for the one season.  The show did not disappoint.  

If you are unfamiliar with the story of NOAH in the Bible, you can read about it in Genesis chapters 6 through 8.  The story is about God saving Noah and his family and anyone who would join them from coming judgment on the world for sin and rebellion.  Noah has loved God and appreciated God’s blessings as he sought to be faithful in his relationship with God.  God directs Noah to do something that has never been done before in an area that seems to make no sense at the time.  God directs Noah to build an Ark.  This large boat would then be used to transport 2 of every kind of animal on the earth along with Noah and his family in order that they would survive a coming worldwide flood.  Sounds incredible even to Noah, but he is faithful as he has always been to believe God, and God is faithful to His promises.

During the show you are transported into the ark with dozens of live and animatronic animals.  You get a glimpse of what life might have been like cooped up in a limited space with your family and smelly animals for a lengthy period.  The range of emotions that they would have encountered, extreme sorrow at the loss of mankind, great appreciation for being saved, frustration, exhaustion, impatience, well you get the idea.  It is all in there.

I would encourage anyone who wants to see a performance of Biblical proportions to consider checking out the Sight and Sound Theater’s show list.  People travel from all over the country to see one of these productions.  They have a second theater in Branson, Missouri which is now showing Joseph.

A to Z Challenge

A to Z Challenge: M is for Mom

A to Z Challenge:  M is for Mom

My mom went home to be with the Lord on February 14th, 2009 two days before her birthday.  I can’t believe it has been that long.  When she died, she left me matriarch of the family as the oldest child of 6.  That position within the family continues to seem strange to me.  Not that it has much significance really, but just knowing it is enough.

I have been especially missing my mom of late, needing her matriarchal wisdom.  More than a few times I so longed to pick up the phone to talk with her.  There are things I could cry on Mom’s shoulder about that if shared with someone else might be gossip.  I need to talk with her about hurts and hardships that to someone else would be complaining.  Oh Mom, I miss you.  Who else is like you to lean on?

Something about talking with Mom is (was) a natural pain reliever.  She could lovingly listen, sympathetically understand, and wisely guide me to peace and forgiveness.  Now, I sip coffee with her in the mornings in the cup that reminds me of her.  It had been a gift to her, a special cup, with a reminder round the rim, “Praying for you always.”  And I have a feeling she still is, right there before the throne of God.

Lord, thank you for giving me a mom who loved and cared for me, who was a living example of what it means to love and live for You.  Thank you for the memories I am able to cherish.  I pray I can be that kind of mom to my children as they continue along their life journey as well.  Grow me into the praying woman my mom was, grow me into all You want me to be, as Mom, the family matriarch, child of God.  Thank You that I can always lean on You.

A to Z Challenge

A to Z Challenge: L is for Leadership

A to Z Challenge:  L is for Leadership

Colin Dunn

My husband is in the leadership and communication business.  He is a leadership trainer, consultant, and coach, and he teaches and speaks nationally and internationally on leadership and related subjects.   He reads incessantly on the topic when he is not out on the road or writing programs for upcoming work.  Almost all of his work comes from repeat or follow-on business, and word of mouth, because he really is good at what he does.  Yes I am a bit biased.

As a prior Army officer, he has had a lot of experience in leadership.  He also taught leadership and communication at The Industrial College of the Armed Forces, ICAF, one of the military post graduate schools in Washington D.C., which has since been renamed The Eisenhower School.  After retiring in 2004 from the military,  he took his show on the road, so to speak.  He is quite the people-person and a natural leader and teacher.  

Teaching has been in his blood for many years, beginning in the early 1980’s when he taught English at West Point.  Now he continues to teach English, literature, writing, and communication, to homeschooled high schoolers, volunteering his time when he is not earning a living.  There too we never advertise since we have plenty of repeat customers and those seeking him out.  It is a joy to have students and parents come back years later even after college and tell us that Professor Dunn was their favorite English teacher throughout their academic career.  As you all know, to be a good teacher, especially nowadays, takes a good bit of leadership skill.

Both in his work and in his classes, I am on his support team.  I have the privilege of being HIS coach, his editor, his administrative assistant, and his sounding board.  As a former army officer myself, oldest child of 6, and parent/teacher of 5 children, I know a little bit about leadership and communication myself.  Together we make a pretty good team, but I much rather let him take the platform.  I prefer the job of pumping him up along with the rest of his fans.

If you need some help with your business, consider Colin K. Dunn and Associates.  You won’t be disappointed.

A to Z Challenge

A to Z Challenge: K is for a Kookie Konversation

A to Z Challenge:  K is for a Kookie K Konversation

Kelly:  “I used to think Kalamazoo was in Africa, but I just had it confused with Timbuktu.  Kalamazoo is in Michigan.”

Kyle:  “Yeah, I can remember talking about Timbuktu and Kalamazoo as a child.  Something like, ‘Where did you go, to Timbuktu?’  Or was that Kalamazoo?  I can’t remember, but something like that.”

Kelly:  “Oh yeah and remember singing that Kookaburra song

Kookaburra  sits in the old gum tree,

Merry, merry King of the bush is he.

Laugh Kookaburra, laugh Kookaburra.

Gay your life must be.”

Kyle:  “Hahahahaha!  Yeah, I remember that.  Ah great memories.”

Kipp:  “Well that’s all well and good, but what does that have to do with anything?  Stop all this kibitzing.”

Kelly:  “Oh my goodness.  Why the kerfuffle?  What’s got your kilt all tied in knots?”

Kipp:  “I am with two kooks, you, Kookie and you, Kookier.  Here we have this whole kit and caboodle of knurly kludge and knickknackery to get out of here, and I’m keen on completing the task before King Kamehameha the Great returns and runs into the Kookaburra in Kalamazoo.  So let’s put the kibosh on kindling your kindred spirits, or you just might see more of my knuckles than my kindheartedness.”

Kelly:  “Well you certainly have a knack for killing the kangaroo.”

Kipp and Kyle:  “WHAT DOES THAT MEAN!?”

KELLY:  “ I MEANT we were having a kicking good time kidding around while we... .”  

Kyle:  “I am a bit kecklish from the kebabs we had earlier and all I had was a knabble.”

Kipp:  “Well isn’t this just a fine kettle of fish.”

Kelly:  I guess it’s time to kowtow to the kinfolk and tell ‘em we’ll knock it out another time.”

Kipp:  “Let’s break out the keg.”

Sometimes you just have to be a little Krazy.  

A to Z Challenge

A to Z Challenge: J is for Just

A to Z Challenge:  J is for Just

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“I just cannot believe it.”  I fumed.  “I cannot believe they are doing this after all we do for them.  Here they are in our house all the time, and they have the nerve to...”  And so my thought process continued for days.  I seemed to be just stuck in my anger and couldn’t break out of it.

Some friends of ours, who were regulars in our home, had asked us to pay for something of theirs that was damaged while they were visiting us.  The reason I was angry was that they were responsible for the damage.  It just happened at our house.  I just couldn’t get it off my heart or out of my mind.  And so I seethed and prayed.

“Lord, will you please just help me with this anger.  Lord I can’t get over their selfish demand.  I am really struggling with this.  Help me Lord.”  And so my prayer went for several days.

As I was stopped at a red light while out driving, the sunlight warming my arm as it rested on the door out the open window, I was still stewing and praying over my little vexation.  All of a sudden, I felt as if a hand touched my arm, and the Lord ‘spoke’ in my spirit.  

“Will you just let this go?!  Haven’t you been forgiven so much more than $20?  Don’t you see your own pride and self-righteousness and your own selfishness in your indignation?  Just get out of your own way.  Just forgive and let it go!”

I immediately felt free of the anger and filled with remorse over my own selfish, prideful attitude.  I cried with joy and appreciation for the forgiveness I have received which I was taking for granted, moved that God would so vividly impress on my heart the truth that I needed to embrace.  I could now get out of my own way and just let it go. 

Wouldn’t we all be much better off if we just let grace wash over those offenses in which we feel justified in being offended?  If we would then learn to just let those things go and forgive by God’s grace, we would just have so much more peace and contentment.  

I think just about anyone could agree that we just get just too offended by just too many perceived injustices.  Just let 'em go and move on.  They just don’t matter enough to rob you of your joy.  

Just sayin.’

A to Z Challenge

A to Z Challenge: I is for ICR

A to Z Challenge:  I is for ICR

Institute for Creation Research (ICR) has oodles of science resources accessible on its website.  In addition to finding out more about who they are and what they do, the website gives you access to articles and updates related to creation science, the latest scientific discoveries, events offering fabulous teaching, and their excellent free devotional, Days of Praise, which I referred to on Day D.

ICR is one of the most respected and well-known Creation Science organizations in the USA and in the world.  Dr. Henry Morris founded ICR in 1970, and since then it has been a herald for the cause of honoring Scriptural truth from the very first word.  Their focus is on research, education, and communication of all things related to understanding our Creator and His creation.  

They recently started offering a free app to allow you to access information quickly right from your smart phone or other mobile devices which you can download from the website.  This is only one of the many free resources they offer.  They have a number of books and media materials that you can purchase on the website as well for the very young to the very old. 

Graduate school programs with their School of Biblical Apologetics are offered at a very affordable price.   Educational events and lectures with ICR scientists and speakers take place across the country and around the world to inform people that science and the Bible, Christianity in particular, are not in opposition to one another.  It is not an either or deal, but the two fit together very well.  ICR is on a mission to equip Christians to be able to effectively defend their faith as we are called to do in 1 Peter 3: 15-18 (NASB).  

“but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence; and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame. For it is better, if God should will it so, that you suffer for doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong.”  1 Peter 3:15-18

A to Z Challenge

A to Z Challenge: H is for Hillsdale College

A to Z Challenge:  H is for Hillsdale College

Hillsdale College

Hillsdale College is a gem of an institution.  Why?  It is a gem because of its history and the principles by which it operates.  Located in Hillsdale, Michigan, USA,  Hillsdale exists to defend liberty and pursue truth, and any of its students will attest that it truly seeks to do just that.  Not only does Hillsdale seek to do that for the students attending their college, but Hillsdale College leadership believes these principles of liberty and truth are so important to our nation and all people, that they have several resources that they make available to anyone for the asking.  

Imprimis is their free monthly publication covering topics of freedom and truth and other first principles.

Free Online Courses covering topics on the Constitution and American Heritage give the inquiring students a solid foundational education in these subjects from top-notch professors. 

I am so thrilled to have discovered Hillsdale College and their resources, these among them.  It is a privilege to let others know they are there.

                                                      A to Z Challenge

A to Z Challenge: G is for Gratitude

A to Z Challenge:  G is for Gratitude

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The power of gratitude cannot be understated.  It promotes well-being in all areas of one's personal life:  physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual.  It will help one face those most difficult of circumstances, and it makes the joys of life all the more joyous.  The positive effects of a thankful heart permeate to the very depths of who we are reaching out to impact our sleep, our health, our grades, and our approach to life in general.  

Our relationships will be stronger if we learn to appreciate as a way of life.  Forgiveness comes easier and grace flows in both directions more fluidly when gratitude is the river on which we sail.  Though slumps do come, they are overcome more quickly and with greater success when one is cultivating gratefulness. The sun shines brighter and life is just downright better with an attitude of gratitude. 

There are a number of studies which investigated the power of gratitude, all objectively verifying measurable positive reverberations from taking positive steps toward changing ones thinking and developing a more grateful attitude.  Here are a few of the suggestions.

1.  Count your blessings.  Don’t just think about or even just speak about what you have to be grateful for.  Write down 5 things a day and watch your attitude change and your health improve.  

2.  When you catch yourself complaining, stop.  Examine where that complaint is coming from.  Pull out the weed of complaining and find the flower of what you can be thankful for to plant in its place.  (Remember the old saying:  For every cloud, there is a silver lining.)  Be aware of your thinking and learn how to put off the destructive and put on the healthful.

3.  Find someone to help.  No I don’t mean to help you; I mean find someone you can help.  The act of giving of oneself has the added benefit of growing gratefulness for what you have.

In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.  

                                     1 Thessalonians 5:18

Here is an anonymous poem on gratitude found in many places:

Be thankful that you don’t already have everything you desire.

If you did, what would there be to look forward to?

Be thankful when you don’t know something,

for it gives you the opportunity to learn.

Be thankful for the difficult times.

During those times you grow.

Be thankful for your limitations,

because they give you opportunities for improvement.

Be thankful for each new challenge,

because it will build your strength and character.

Be thankful for your mistakes.

They will teach you valuable lessons.

Be thankful when you’re tired and weary,

because it means you’ve made a difference.

It’s easy to be thankful for the good things.

A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who

are also thankful for the setbacks.

Gratitude can turn a negative into a positive.

Find a way to be thankful for your troubles,

and they can become your blessings.

~Author Unknown 

I wish you, today, a day filled with many things for which you are thankful.  

A to Z Challenge:  G