That’s just another way of saying, “no whining” or no pity parties. It’s a choice---an attitude of gratitude. That phrase encapsulates Larry’s mother----our Mommar. Year after year I have watched her endure what ever comes her way without raising her voice or allowing negative words to flow forth. We all loved Grandaddy, Robert Thomas Liles, and he will be sorely missed but he was a corker---Mommar was the “saint without complaint.”
I wish that could be said about me. How ‘bout you? Will others see you as one who counted your blessings or as one who not only wallowed in self-pity and suffering but also gave a complete account of all the misery?
For three days I was hacking, sneezing, dripping mucus uncontrollably----because I couldn’t feel it coming out of my new nostril----my throat was raw, my body ached with fever, I was too tired to read and too miserable to sleep. See how easily I can blather and drivel about my own misery. FINALLY, I began to thank God that this was a cold, it wasn’t cancer. I could breathe through my mouth this time and that’s a big praise. Then, I was so grateful for the timing of this infirmity---after the surgeries, after hospital visits, after Grandaddy’s final days.
I have so much to be thankful for and so do you. Gratitude is seeing life as a gift.
Today’s meditation is from I Thessalonians 5:16-18. I was only going to include verse 18 and then I saw how they all tie together. In order to rejoice, there’s going to have to be some focused prayer and gratitude. Prayer holds the two together---with prayer we can be thankful, when we’re thankful we can praise easily and that increases our prayers which results in an overflowing of joy. That’s the way I see it. Let me know what you see….because tomorrow I’m going to start meddlin’ about having a grateful spirit.
- v. 16 Rejoice always;
- v. 17 Pray without ceasing;
- v. 18 In everything give thanks for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
