Guest Post from my online friend, Joe

 Joe, you always touch my heart and encourage me with your stories... I wait for them every Monday to appear in my inbox! And I appreciate that you always send me a thoughtful reply the next day; when I've sent you a message. Today I'm sharing this week's "story" on my blog including your email address.

Readers: If you'd like Joe's messages on Mondays, send him an email at joemazzella@frontier.com

THANK YOU

With Thanksgiving fast approaching I have been thinking of all the things 

I am thankful for in my life. The funny thing is that the things I am most thankful 

for aren’t things at all. It is all of the special people who have blessed my life 

over the years. I am so thankful for Mom, Dad, and Nana. We may not have 

had much growing up but one thing is certain. I always felt loved.

I always felt cared for. I always felt supported and encouraged by them all. I am 

so thankful for my two brothers, Eddie and Tony. Even though they were five 

and seven years older than me they often made time to play with their 

little brother. Yes, they may have picked on me from time to time but they 

always protected me as well. 

I learned a lot about growing up by watching them both. I am so thankful 

for my wonderful wife, Fonda. We may have grown apart and divorced 

but we also had 3 beautiful children who blessed our lives so much. 

And we remained friends through all these years to this day. I am so

thankful for my two sons, JJ and Casey. You guys may have come

into this world with mental disabilities but it was your spiritual 

abilities that taught me so much about how to live and how to 

Love. Because of you both I laugh more, smile more, and am closer to 

God. Because of you both my life is blessed with Joy every single day. 

I am so thankful for my daughter, Beth. You will never fully know how 

much your love has helped me and touched me over the years because 

words cannot express it. You are a true Earth Angel even if you don’t 

believe it yourself. I am so thankful for all of my friends, some who I 

see everyday and some who I’ve never met in person. Your kindness, 

encouragement, and support uplift my spirits always. And I am so 

thankful for all of my beloved pets over the years. I doubt I could

 love as openly and unconditionally as you loved me, but I do keep 

trying to learn from your example.

They say that if you could only say one prayer in this life: 

“Thank You!” would suffice. 

Let me say then: “Thank You, God for all those you have brought into my life”

ReplyReply allForward

Giving Thanks in ALL Things

Wish I had written the following truth:

"The stresses, and pressures of life add up; all that negative energy has
to go somewhere. Sometimes it gets into our hearts and heads and we end up
with what I call a ratitude. A ratitude is my emotional and
spiritual state when I feel used, abused, unappreciated, misunderstood,
and put upon.

I scurry around trying to find things to make my life
better and to try to make me feel better.
Other times, I try to hide out from all my problems, trying to avoid
those who would treat me harshly. All my efforts only make me feel
worse. I'm bummed out. I've got a ratitude.
I can pray. I can continue to bring my supplications
before God. I can do it with thanksgiving to God. You see, when I bring
God into my ratitude by offering thanks to him, He transforms it. He
transforms me.
Let me share a little secret with you. The next time you have a
ratitude, bring God into it. In fact, just take the Big G at the
beginning of God, and add it to the front of your ratitude. What do
you have then? That's right folks, you have a GRATITUDE.
I know, it sounds corny. You may even think it's trite. The truth,
however, is that learning to be grateful -- to give thanks for our
solid blessings in Jesus and the overflow of God's gifts given to us
everyday -- is not trite or corny, it's transformational.
And that's how we are supposed to live each day, in gratitude to God."

(c) 2006 Cary Branscum at www dot heartlight dot com

Selah-

Shalom, Connie

P.S. I will be off-line celebrating Gratitude with my family Thursday & Friday.