Being Thankful Faith Blog Hop

Welcome to this months faith blog hop. It starts on November 25, 2011 and I'm posting a day early so if you are here before that come back tomorrow. Needless to say I'm having trouble with scheduling and I'm leaving town later today. The following is the write up from Nana at my paper treehouse but if you started at the right place you have read it already!

Welcome to our monthly Faith Blog Hop!  We are delighted that you have decided to join us and are praying that the Lord would impact your life through what we have to share with you. If you came from wendy's   blog you are in the right place.  This month's hop is focused on "Being Tankful, even when life gives you no reasons".  Our prayer is that you are blessed, touched, moved, and inspired to look at what we have to share and decide to make it your own.  We are opening up the challenge so that you can share your projects with us as well, and we cannot wait to see what you will create.  Throughout the hop you will find many RAK's, so please feel free to leave comments about your reactions, and thoughts.  We love to hear from you! 

Now to the hop:

Here are the bold and beautiful women who will participate this month:
Nana- http://mypapertreehouse.blogspot.com
Kari- http://purplefuntastickcreations.blogspot.com/
Christel- http://onescrappinsista.blogspot.com
Wendy-http://wendyscrappings.blogspot.com/
Marjolaine- http://twelvestonesscrapbooking.blogspot.com/

Thanksgiving has become almost a "cliche" in America.  Every year more and more commercial items are sold for this Holiday, yet the very essence of what Thanksgiving Day should be about is lost.  We are not truly Thankful for much, since our lives are filled with complaints, worries, and stress; and to top it off, the Holidays are a cruel reminder of people that we have lost, or failures that have taken over our lives, or just plain melancholy. ( I wonder how many of you are now shaking your head...)

The question then becomes: How do I change this attitude?  Is it possible to be thankful in the midst of the hard circumstances?  Is it possible to be thankful when life gives you NO reasons to be thankful? I wonder how many of you identify with this song:

(embed this video: http://youtu.be/MUWbmtbzDno)

The Answer to the questions above is a RESOUNDING YES!  The truth of the matter is that even though everything is taken from you, even if your very life is at stake, the fact that you have breath and are alive is worthy of saying thanks.  This because in still having breath, you can hold on to the hope that the Lord still is working something GOOD for your life (Romans 8:28)

If you are anything like me (who has struggled with depression) you might be feeling that your very life is what you DO NOT want - and so it is difficult for you to have a sense of gratitude even for the smallest things that come with being alive.  If that is you, consider the promises the Lord puts in His Word!  The Bible declares that the Lord cannot lie, so no matter in what season of your life you find yourself in, consider the prayers uttered in this song, and the great reminder of what the Word of God has to say about each of these circumstances.  You will find hope and reasons to be thankful even when life itself hands you no reasons!

(Embed the following video:http://youtu.be/79055I6o-NQ)

May the Lord bless you and keep you!  May His face shine upon you!

For this project,  since I'm in the middle of a She Art class and all my supplies are out, I decided to create another "She" girl. As I was "dressing" her, the thought that kept going through my mind was that we are to WEAR thanksgiving like a garment of praise. (hence why she is covered in thank yous!) I spent the whole morning writing to you about this subject and I finally had it just right but when I hit the publish button my write-up disappeared. I was a bit panicked as I tried to remember my words from this morning. I found myself unable to write "Today, my heart is exploding with thanksgiving..."  How could I write that now, when my heart was so frustrated? I knew I could not lie to you. I decided to take a time-out and ask God to help me be thankful about this situation. As I prayed I began to feel His peace. I saw that if my write-up was gone it was because God had something different to say through me. (oh but it was so good God...full of wisdom and scripture!!!) He had other plans! How can I preach to you the necessity of praising Him through major hardship while I'm frustrated over such a little annoyance? I'm happy to say that I passed this test. You see, the old me (from a few weeks ago) would of had a major temper tantrum over this, I would of wanted to throw this computer out the window!!! But the new me is CHOOSING to be led by the spirit, to be thankful in all circumstances. I'm at a point in my life where I am truly thankful for all the hardship I have gone through. It is because of them that I can help others.  Second Corinthians 1:3-5 says "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,  who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. ."  I am amazed at the peace that God gave me, I have to catch a plane in a few hours and I got nothing done today because of this. My little one's hair smells like vomit and I don't even have time to give her a bath...meanwhile I tried to publish this post a second time and lost a bunch of context..while my daughter was pooping her pants....I'm not proud of this but I have to admit I did have a fit and lost my peace....time to get down on my knees to  pray, got to get some perspective here..." Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.  Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" Philippians 4:4-7  Oh God, no more tests today, please...I'm trying to be a good example of a thankful woman!


I love the words to the song that Nana included in this hop so I leave you with this...


All of my life
In every season
You are still God
I have a reason to sing
I have a reason to worship

Thanks for being with us.  Feel free to create a project and post it over on Paper Tree House Studio.  We would love to bless you!  :)

This is the end of the hop, thank you for joining us on this journey of thankfulness!