Being grateful...no matter what...
People amaze me sometimes. We have so much to be thankful for yet we continually complain and gripe. We complain when it takes too long for our food to arrive at the restaurant, when we have a runny nose, when we are having the same thing for dinner again...whatever the reason, we all do it. I complain all the time...about the stupidest little things.
Tonight I have a little perspective..
At church, the sermon was about being grateful...there are millions of people who die of starvation every day and here we are complaining about our food at a restaurant...there are millions of people who die every day from curable diseases and we complain when we are sick...we have so much to be thankful for, yet we continue to focus on what we don't have or what irritates us, etc...
Tonight I found out that Joni's cancer has come back. This woman amazes me...throughout the whole time I have known her, she has always been grateful, no matter what. She has battled cancer several times and her faith has never faltered...Despite the worst of circumstances, she is thankful for all the blessings that the Lord has given to her. Her strength and faith amaze me...sometimes I do not understand why God allows things to happen...actually, a lot of the time I do not understand. I ask myself why he would allow this woman to fall to this illness...he has the power to heal, so why doesn't he? But God doesn't work miracles because we want them to be done...he is not our pawn, to do our will...he has a plan for Joni's life and his will will be done. We might not understand why things happen, but they do happen for a reason. I hope and pray that his plan is to heal Joni and that she is around for many years to come, cancer free. If it is not, I know that she will spend every day praising him and being grateful and thankful for each and every day he has given to her and her family. And this is what amazes me about her...that despite her circumstances, despite not understanding why this is happening, her faith does not falter...and she is a shining light to the rest of us...to be thankful no matter what...to be grateful for what we do have...to focus on the blessings, despite the circumstances...we all have a reason to give thanks...I, for one, am thankful for Joni...she is such an amazing inspiration and her life, strength and faith has touched so many people, mine included.
Tonight I have a little perspective..
At church, the sermon was about being grateful...there are millions of people who die of starvation every day and here we are complaining about our food at a restaurant...there are millions of people who die every day from curable diseases and we complain when we are sick...we have so much to be thankful for, yet we continue to focus on what we don't have or what irritates us, etc...
Tonight I found out that Joni's cancer has come back. This woman amazes me...throughout the whole time I have known her, she has always been grateful, no matter what. She has battled cancer several times and her faith has never faltered...Despite the worst of circumstances, she is thankful for all the blessings that the Lord has given to her. Her strength and faith amaze me...sometimes I do not understand why God allows things to happen...actually, a lot of the time I do not understand. I ask myself why he would allow this woman to fall to this illness...he has the power to heal, so why doesn't he? But God doesn't work miracles because we want them to be done...he is not our pawn, to do our will...he has a plan for Joni's life and his will will be done. We might not understand why things happen, but they do happen for a reason. I hope and pray that his plan is to heal Joni and that she is around for many years to come, cancer free. If it is not, I know that she will spend every day praising him and being grateful and thankful for each and every day he has given to her and her family. And this is what amazes me about her...that despite her circumstances, despite not understanding why this is happening, her faith does not falter...and she is a shining light to the rest of us...to be thankful no matter what...to be grateful for what we do have...to focus on the blessings, despite the circumstances...we all have a reason to give thanks...I, for one, am thankful for Joni...she is such an amazing inspiration and her life, strength and faith has touched so many people, mine included.