CHOOSE: A WORD FOR WEDNESDAY

Blog readers might recall the entry "My One Word" For 2017 my "focused word morphed from joy to choose.
After all most things in life are a choice.
The gist of this Wednesday word is Choose. Choose to make hope-filled choices.

NOTES: Choices based onCarol Kent's presentation at our Girls' Getaway presentation last weekend.

• CHOOSE LIFE. Instead of an emotional death, help others choose life as well---but don't minimize pain. (John 10:10)
• CHOOSE TRUST. Too often we live in fear, not freedom. Freedom comes from knowing how great is our God.  (Isaiah 41:10, Matthew 14:22-36)
• CHOOSE VULNERABILITY. All our longings are open before the Lord; even our sighs are not hidden from Him. (Psalm 38:9) 
• CHOOSE GRATITUDE. In everything give thanks. (1 Chronicles 16:34, 1 Thessalonians 5:18) 
• CHOOSE FORGIVENESS.  Forgive quickly and completely as the Master has forgiven you.(Colossians 3: 13-14, MSG)
• CHOOSE PURPOSEFUL ACTION. Do something new. (Isaiah 43:19) Be open handed in your doing for others. (Deuteronomy 15:11)

A List of 6 hope-filled choices with God's promise of being with you, strengthening and helping you and upholding you with hHis righteous right hand.
Be intentional in your choosing of one uniquely for you this Wednesday.

Gra-TEA-tude---How full is your cuppa?

Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever! (1 Chronicles 16:34, ESV)

Didn't we learn in kindergarten to say "thank you?" I didn't go to kindergarten but I learned it from my mother and grandmothers and I taught it to 5 year olds and pre-schoolers for 20+ years.

You will be made rich 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 God's people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. (2 Corinthians 9:11-12, NIV)

"Happy people are not always thankful but thankful people are almost always happy." Howard Clark said this and WSJ research seems to back it up.
Wall Street Journal says"Giving thanks is good for your health."

Adults who frequently feel grateful have more energy, more optimism, more social connections and more happiness than those who do not, according to studies conducted over the past decade. They’re also less likely to be depressed, envious, greedy, or alcoholics. They earn more money, sleep more soundly, exercise more regularly, and have greater resistance to viral infections. 

Now, researchers are finding that gratitude brings similar benefits in children and adolescents. [Studies also show that] kids who feel and act grateful tend to be less materialistic, get better grades, set higher goals, complain of fewer headaches and stomach aches, and feel more satisfied with their friends, families, and schools than those who don’t. (WSJ 11-23-10)

Thanksgiving Day comes tomorrow...but  according to Edward Stanford Martin

"Thanksgiving Day comes, by statute, once a year; to the honest man it comes as frequently as the heart of gratitude will allow."

I plan on sipping frequently from my FULL cuppa gra-TEA-tue. How about you?