Author: daisyrayofsunshine

Others’ Needs

As I thought about what Thanksgiving means to me, I asked myself, What does it even mean to give thanks?

Sure, we can recite blessings around the table.

We can praise God for every gift from above.

But how do we LIVE in a way

that truly gives thanks to God?

How do we walk in Thanksgiving?

I found my answer in 2 Corinthians 9:

You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, others will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

Thanksgiving is more than a meal.

It’s more than listing our blessings.

It’s more than a time to give thanks.

When we are obedient with what we are given, there will be thanksgiving.

When we are generous on every occasion, there will be thanksgiving.

When we meet others’ needs, thanksgiving overflows.

Our giving gives God glory.

Our giving is the Gospel in action.

Our giving gives others a reason to praise!

That is thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving comes when

we live out the simple Gospel.

It comes from us sacrificing

our wants to meet others’ needs.

It comes from us laying down our

lives to love those around us better.

Thanksgiving comes from being purposeful with our possessions in order to praise our Provider.

Maybe you need to give more

time to family instead of work.

Maybe you need to give an

invite to a lonely neighbor.

Maybe you need to give up

your dream to meet His needs.

Maybe you need to save now

so that you can give later.

Ask God to show you WHO in your life has a need that you can help meet.

Ask Him to show you WHAT you need to give up in order to give more.

Let’s follow the model of our Giver and purposefully give thanks this holiday season.

Thankful for health

I’m someone who thinks and talks a lot about thankfulness and praising God for all my blessings. I haven’t always been that way, though. I guess we all live and learn, and certainly events in my life have shaped how thankful I am now…specifically my mommy’s fight with cancer.

I am thankful for much in my life – people and even stuff. I’m thankful for my family and friends and job and home and on and on and on. Some people would say you shouldn’t be thankful for material things, but I will not lie, I’m grateful for the conveniences and fun our life provides. My life is nice and pleasant, and I know the Lord has been too sweet to me.

The kind of thankfulness I learned because of mommy, though, wasn’t for things or even people. It’s probably one of the most important kinds of thankfulness any of us can have, and I do believe that most people don’t even think about it. For CERTAIN, I was not thankful for this until Mommy was diagnosed with lymphoma.

This is a thankfulness for health and the health of our families.

Talk about taking something for granted. I would bet if there’s a list of stuff most people aren’t grateful enough for in the world, health is at the top of that list.

It DEFINITELY was for me.

I don’t think most people recognize that without health, nothing else really matters.

It doesn’t matter how much money you have or how big your house is or how many likes you get on Facebook or how pretty you are or how fancy your car is or how important you are at your job.

All those are things we desire, and they’re sure nice to have, but they just flat out don’t matter when we’re not healthy. When we’re UNhealthy, that is ALL that matters.

Being healthy can mean something as simple as having the ability to walk around and get where you want to go.

How many days in my life did I go without thanking the Lord for THAT?

SO. MANY.

Before Mommy got sick, she was just like all of us living life, and she enjoyed every minute of it.

And then she got sick, and everything changed.

I’m embarrassed to say the day they told me she was sick was NOT the day I realized I wasn’t as grateful for my health as I needed to be.

I do know the exact moment in time when it happened, though.

I was waiting outside Casa Ole for an order one evening after spending the day shopping. I called the order in, and it wasn’t ready when I got there. I went out to my car to wait, and I was aggravated. Of course I didn’t act ugly to the people, but I sure told my husband about it and was not happy I was having to sit there. Then a thought popped in my mind that was not my own…I envisioned my poor little mommy who was home after a long hospital stay at MDA. By that time, she had lost the ability to drive because of her poor vision and difficulty in thinking and remembering. She couldn’t do any of the things I had done all day long.

What would she have given to drive herself to a restaurant to order food and wait in her own car or even feed herSELF the food?

I bet she would’ve given every single thing she had to have her health back, and I’ll tell you what, I bet the rest of us would’ve given all we had to get her health back, too.

Gosh, I think we still would.

That was the moment I knew – I was NOT thankful for my health, and I sure needed to be. Because God had given me my HEALTH, I was able to go and do and love and laugh and work and LIVE.

That was the day I literally started thanking God every single day of my life, multiple times a day, for my health and the health of my family.

Isn’t it funny how God uses the oddest of circumstances to teach us the biggest of lessons?

My life-changing moment, the one when God gave me clarity on the blessing of my health, just happened to be in the parking lot at Casa Ole.

If you haven’t thanked the Lord for your health today – do.

And then start doing it every day from here on out.

Health is one of our absolute greatest gifts from God.

Man. I’m SO thankful.

A heart problem.

November brings Thanksgiving celebrations that call us to remember the past, while encouraging an awareness of our present. November reminds me of my daddy’s birthday. Although I’m always thinking of him, there’s something about seeing the date on my calendar. With his birthday comes sweet memories of days gone by. We call them “precious memories” – valuable memories stored in my heart. I liken it to a personal filing cabinet that only I have access to.
Some people have amazing memories and can recollect things like the names of their classmates from 40 years ago, the toy they received on their 7th birthday, etc. My memory is okay, I guess, but my husband’s is better. He will ask me things like, “Remember so and so?” “Remember when we saw this or did that?” Many times I honestly cannot remember or the details are rather foggy.
Did you know there are individuals who have what’s called Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory- HSAM? These individuals are able to accurately recall dates and details of their lives, even going back decades. According to research, HSAM is extraordinarily rare with less than 100 people in the world that have been diagnosed with HSAM.
There came a time that my daddy forgot who I was.
It didn”t happen instantly, but over time. It was a slow fade of his memory and then the diagnosis came-Alzheimer’s. When we first noticed the difficulty he would have retrieving information about people and events, we would engage him with stories of the past, display pictures, and place mementos out that we hoped would keep him with us a little longer. Eventually memories of his life and his family became silent. His memory problem became a heart problem – my heart problem.
A memory problem became a heart problem… I”ve found myself reflecting on this thought.
Moses warned God’s people about what memory problems could do to the human heart. He called the people to remember all that God had told them and done for them in the past as they prepared to go in and occupy the land God had promised.
“Deuteronomy 8:11-When you have eaten your fill, be sure to praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws, and his decrees that I am giving you this day.”
“vs. 14 – then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.” We know that the people did forget and that caused a heart problem.
Because God knew we would have a heart problem, He gave His one and only Son. I am thankful Jesus was willing to give His life as a perfect sacrifice. A sacrifice that redeemed me from the slavery of sin. I am thankful that God knew I would need help remembering, so that a

memory problem wouldn’t become my heart problem. I am thankful that I have His Word to remind me… because my memory isn’t always the best.
Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. Psalms 103:2-5 NKJ
Happy Thanksgiving!
May you always be reminded of the great things He has done.

Be careful

Be careful little eyes what you see

Let not desire keep you from being free

A content heart

A grateful heart

Full of thanksgiving

Is what keeps the soul from being captured

Ensures it remains in peace.

On New Year’s Day several years ago, I created a “thankful” jar. For that year, every time something happened for which I was grateful, whether for me or my family, I wrote it on a piece of paper and placed it in that jar.

The following Christmas morning, I gathered my family, and one by one, we retrieved each of those papers and read them aloud. We took the time to recall every memory and verbally gave thanks to Jesus for what He had done in those moments. That was His birthday present from me that year, my intentionality in remembering all the things He had done. It didn’t matter the size of the moment, God still showed Himself big.

Sometimes, we can become so overwhelmed by what we are lacking that we forget to remember and be thankful for what we do have. I encourage you to find something like the thankful jar and begin to cultivate a garden of thankfulness in your heart and mind, a garden that can be harvested from no matter the season, and watch your perspective of everything you encounter each day shift.

I once heard someone say, “You steer where you stare,” and it’s true. If you keep your focus on what you lack, that’s where you will steer your heart, life, and mind, and you’ll find yourself wondering why you cannot see the light of day. Keep your eyes focused on Him and what He has provided, and you’ll find yourself fully surrounded by all of Heaven.

Make no mistake, all of Heaven is around you no matter where you’re staring, but it’s so much harder to glimpse something that’s in your periphery than it is when you’re eyes are locked directly onto it.

When God created Adam, he could have spoken him into existence just like he did everything else, but He didn’t. He formed him with his own hands and then breathed life into him. When Adam first opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was the Father’s face. Why? Because that’s where God wanted our focus from the beginning. He wanted our eyes on Him and nothing else. He knew that if our eyes ever left His face we would fall. And we did. Just ask Peter what can happen if we take our eyes off of the One.

Be careful little eyes what you see

Let not desire keep you from being free

A content heart

A grateful heart

Full of thanksgiving

Is what keeps the soul from being captured

Ensures it remains in peace.

God’s got you.

We need to praise God for the closed doors as much as we do the open ones.

He works ALL things together for our good, according to His perfect plan.

He didn’t say He worked only the good, He said He works it all.

We should praise Him for all things because He works all things for our Good!

The Lord’s got you. He knows what you are going through. Remind yourself of that today!

Friend, it’s so easy to get so upset over the little things. But when we recognize our NEED for Jesus in every little thing, we start to see Him in every little thing & it’s easier to be grateful than hurtful.

Romans 8:28

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for our good, for those who are called according to His purpose.

Friend, you’re NOT alone! 🙂

Every season

One change that I have made in my prayer life is starting off my quiet time in thanks for Who our Father is.

Before, I often found myself running to The Lord for things I wanted, I had lost sight on all that The Lord has already done for me.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Jesus Christ.” 

One thing about me is I am a very busy person. I like to always be doing something and almost enjoy the hustle and bustle lifestyle. 

Through this I have found that it is so easy for me to block out the gifts that I have been given every day. If I am not focusing on gratitude in my day to day then I am walking through life taking seconds for granted. 

By being thankful, we are drawing near to God. We are recognizing what all God has done for us and all the gifts that He has already been given to us. It is taking the focus away from ourselves and focuses our attention on God. 

So this Thanksgiving season I challenge you: start off each prayer with thankfulness and see how this season changes you.

You can.

Mama, you can’t fix it. God can fix it. But you can’t.

You can pray.

You can guide.

You can hug and you can hope.

But you can’t fix it.

You know what else you can do?

▪️You can model a lifestyle in which your children see a momma that gives it to God.

▪️You can model a lifestyle in which your children see a momma unfazed by the world.

▪️You can model a lifestyle where your children see that all that matters to their momma is how God views them – not how the world does.

▪️You can model a lifestyle where prayer is your go to – not anything else.

You can.

And I pray that you do.

Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him. Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken. Psalm 62:1-2

Thankful

Jesus, thank You. Everything I will ever need is found in you. This time of the year can be stressful for some, while for others it is an exciting time filled with great anticipation for all the holiday festivities to come. It’s easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of all the earthly things that we might even forget the source of it all. Today, I want to slow down and focus on the great blessing of Jesus. 

 

When we receive the gift of Jesus, there’s so much to be thankful for. Jesus is the perfect friend that you’ve always craved. He is the greatest Counselor, Teacher, and guiding Shepherd who you can always depend on no matter what your circumstances may be. 

 

Let’s be honest, there are many things happening in this world that can poison our view on life. Because of sin, we can’t always rely on our family and friends. Christians, this is why it is so important to turn your eyes upon Jesus. We have every reason to be thankful when we become fixated on the ultimate Savior. You will never be let down; instead, you will feel the need to share this great news with everyone in your path! 

 

“Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.” Colossians 2:6

His Will.

2 Corinthians 4:15 “For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.”

Thankfulness – being conscious of the benefit received.

It’s the month of Thanksgiving. We get a little maudlin as we think back over the year and remember all the things for which we should be thankful. My memories pop up and I see all I have been thankful for over the years. I still love all those “things”, but this year I’m overwhelmed by the benefits I have because of Jesus.

It is all for my sake. The plan from the beginning was for Jesus to die and be raised from the dead for me (and you) to receive the benefit. I’m forgiven and not forsaken. Because of Jesus, God’s wrath no longer burns toward me. I am His child and He works all things to the good. I have a place prepared for me in Heaven. Jesus is the Word and it was left here for me to study. When Jesus ascended He sent the Holy Spirit to be with me, to teach me and to be my Helper. He chooses to use me to reach others. This list can go on and on. I need to be conscious of the benefits. I ALWAYS have a reason to praise.

I wish I could say that with every breath I breathe I am thankful, but I fall way short of that mark. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says, “In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” His will is where I want to be, so I am going to ask the Helper to keep me on that track. I want to be more diligent to express my thankfulness.

Let’s start together. In the comments leave the attribute of Jesus for which you are most thankful.

For me it is His faithfulness.

Happy Thanksgiving Y’all!!

Words scare me.

Let me be vulnerable.

My biggest fear – that would be words. It’s a real struggle for me.

At any given point anyone can say anything they want to about you. About your spouse. About your kids. About your friends. About your co-workers. They can just make it up and just say it. I’ve seen it happen so many times with people that I know.

People can create and conspire. They can spew and spit. They can just downright lie. It’s mind blowing to me because it’s not how I think. I can’t fathom just sitting around dreaming up some drama.

No, nothing has happened. I just felt compelled to share this weakness of mine with you. Maybe someone else struggles with this same irrational fear and maybe just maybe by me sharing how I feel – it will make you feel a little less crazy. I hope so.

So I will say it again – words scare me.

And I know that I know that I know that God has His people. I know that truth always wins. I know that that no weapon will prosper. Right? But I’m human.

The ironic thing about this whole situation is that words are also like my favorite thing in the world. I love words. I love writing them. I love reading them. I love digging deep into the meaning of them. And my husband may say that I use too many of them. 🤩

And like with everything else in this ol’ world – it’s all about the use.

So, how will we use our words today? Tomorrow? Next week? I hope we will use them kindly, lovingly, to build one another up, and to spread the love of Jesus.

“But in that coming day no weapon turned against you will succeed. You will silence every voice raised up to accuse you. These benefits are enjoyed by the servants of the LORD; their vindication will come from me. I, the LORD, have spoken!” Isaiah 54:17