Carlson's Best Life: Thankful

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Thankful

With today being Sunday, there really is no place I'd rather be than at my home church worshiping, however, I've been battling a severe sinus infection and sickness for way too many days now and once again, I'm finding myself home. I decided to go ahead and do more than just a brief quiet time this morning and do more of a Bible Study since I have more time on my hands and don't have to home school today. And the subject I chose to focus on today was "Thankfulness." I realize it's not the typical time of year to be focused on thankfulness or to even blog about it, but it's something I've been more conscience of in my own life and have tried to be more conscience of practicing as well. So I decided to spend my time this morning studying what the Bible says about thankfulness. I recently did this same thing on LOVE, which I shared in a previous blog. I do this now and again and find that it helps me to really remember and put God's word to practice in my own life when I study and research it myself. Sometimes I pick one word, sometimes I pick a topic, it just kind of depends on what's been on my mind. But, I'm finding that the searching of scriptures is helping me more and more in my day to day walk with Christ. The more I've been doing this, the more curious I'm becoming about other topics and what the Bible has to say about it. I'm thinking my next scripture study is going to be on "Strength," because I am always saying how tired I am and hearing a lot of other moms say the same, but I am curious to know all about what God's word says about his strength so that I can turn my thinking around and start speaking more positively. So maybe stay tuned for that. But for now, on with what I've learned about "thankfulness" this morning.

2 Corinthians 9:15 Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!

Psalms 95:2 Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving;

Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.

Psalms 100:4-5 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations.

Phillippians 4:6-7 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Phillippians 4:6-7 was the one that stood out the most to me this morning. It spoke of not being anxious about ANYTHING. I don't know about any of you readers, but there are days where the ANYTHING in this scripture should be screaming at me because if I'm honest with myself, I have just about been worried about EVERYTHING. It is true that we can trust God and give it completely to him and be thankful that he is able to work it out for us. We don't have to worry, be anxious, but instead we can go to him prayerfully and thankfully already knowing (having faith) that He is able to take care of the day that is ahead of us. I hope that this has encouraged someone today. Give it to God. Take it from someone who is a natural worrier (I feel it's important to be transparent in order to help others) and is daily being released from worry, it's so much easier to TRUST GOD.

If you enjoy looking at pictures, I have included some fun photos that I took of my kids one Saturday. These are two of my greatest blessings in life and thought it appropriate to share since there's no doubt I'm THANKFUL for them! If you are a professional, I'm sure you will see tons of mistakes, I'm not a professional, but love taking pics of my kids with my more basic Canon..lol-:)

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August in Review

August has been a very busy month and we are not quite done yet. Micah turned 5 months on August 16, and is doing so much: sitting on his own, playing every morning and afternoon in his activity saucer for 15 minutes at a time, pushing up on his forearms and getting on his knees when he is on his belly. He has also already cut his two front bottom teeth and appears to be working on cutting a top tooth. I'm thinking we are going to have a crawler very soon. He is growing so quickly and we are totally captivated by his every move.
Alana is getting ready to begin 2nd grade. I just can't believe that my child is going into 2nd grade. Where has all of the time gone? She is full of energy, love and zeal for life. Her typical days in the month of August have consisted of play dates, swimming, riding her bike, Bible School (she attended 5 this summer), traveling and hanging out with the family. I have promised her that we WILL go to the beach before summer ends, so I have two weeks left to make that promise come true.
Jim hashad a busy month so far and we are praising God for his new position/transfer closer to home. He will begin at his new location on the September 1, and we are so happy that he will be closer to home now. We are going to really enjoy meeting him for lunch and getting to kiss and hug him goodbye in the mornings now that he will not be leavign quite so early. God is AWESOME!!!! He always works things out for the good for those who love him (just a little paraphrasing..lol)
I have also had a busy month so far. One of the memorable things I've done this month besides playing the role of mom and giving vocal and piano lessons was being a part of the Royal Tea hosted by the 1st P.H. Church. It was a great experience and the guests speaker, Connie Hale, really spoke a message that penetrated deeply. Her word somewhat revived my heart and reminded me of the quality of life I have as a "Daughter of the King." I have willfully let go every unkind, critical and negative word ever spoken over me. I have determined that I WILL NOT listen to, entertain or accept any opinion of me given by others that is contrary to the words and thoughts of GOD. I am living a more productive and satisfying life because of it.
Below are a few pictures to document this month. I will obviously be adding more pics as the month comes to an end. In the future I will only update this section on a monthly basis.