Happy, Blessed, Fun filled, Tummy full, Thanksgiving Day to YOU!

 

Tina Fox-Smith is thankful for the sun shining, the birds singing, my husband, my kids, my animals,my family, my friends... & blessed to be alive! = ) Give out lots of love, hugs & thank all those who make you thankful! I am so looking forward to a turkey stuffed day with all the fixing's!  So thankful I am!  God Bless All of YOU Abundantly this Thanksgiving! <3

Quote:

 

No people on earth have more cause to be thankful than ours, and this is said reverently, in no spirit of boastfulness in our own strength, but with the gratitude to the Giver of good who has blessed us.
-Theodore Roosevelt

Quote:

 

We ought to give thanks for all fortune: if it is "good," because is it good, if "bad" because it works in us patience, humility, and the contempt of this world and the hope of our eternal country.
-C. S. Lewis

Mercy is kindness, love & forgiveness

 

Mercy is kindness, love & forgiveness

Wholeness is expressed in Micah 6:8

Micah 6:8: "What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?"

There is our fine line of decision-making. We are to love & forgive, that is who Jesus is, and we are to represent Him. We have to love the fact that Christ’s love and forgiveness for us on the cross is our motive in our decision-making and we are do justice. What does it mean to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly?

They are both reverent toward God and respectful of others. This means they are willing to listen, are open to criticism and desire more to help people succeed than to punish them when they fail.Do justice to somebody or something… to deal with somebody or something fairly to communicate the true qualities, especially the facts, of somebody or something.

The word love is a two edged sword. There is love, there is tough love, and when a person yields to love either way the result is the same.

We must move from the attitude of "have to" and embrace "want to" if we are going to fulfill change in our lives.

Ignorance is NOT bliss!

What you do not know is robbing your future.

God help us to be all you made us to be in the name of Jesus I pray. Amen!

 

Learning from Pigeons

Thursday, November 18, 2010
 Learning from Pigeons

"Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account."¹

You may have read about an experiment where "pigeons were put in cages with one green and one red button. In one cage, if the birds pecked the green button they got food every time. In the other, the green button yielded food erratically and the pigeons had to persist to get enough food. In both cases, pecking the red button did nothing. Both sets of birds thrived, learning what they had to do to survive and ignoring the red button that yielded no food. But when the birds that were used to getting a reward every time were put in the cage that fed them only occasionally, they failed to adapt; they hit their heads against the cage and pecked wildly at everything in sight."²

Birds and animals can be very smart and quickly learn to pursue activities that produce positive results while avoiding activities that don't. Pity we humans aren't always as smart. Too many of us invest our lives in empty, meaningless or even harmful activities and relationships, and have a way of continually hitting red buttons that always result in getting negative responses.

Others, who, like the pigeons that were used to getting rewarded all the time when put in the cage where they were rewarded only occasionally, couldn't cope, so people who, when growing up, were overprotected, spoiled, or had parents that did far too much for them, have a difficult time adjusting to adult life and accepting personal responsibility. Also as adults, when we, other organizations, and/or the government do for others what they CAN and NEED to do for themselves, we keep them over-dependent and irresponsible.

As adults we need to eliminate (overcome) our own red buttons that trigger our unresolved issues from the past, and not purposely hit others' red buttons that never result in obtaining what we need or want.

Furthermore, we need to learn through experience and hard work to accept personal responsibility for every area of our life. True, we were not responsible for our upbringing and early training, but as adults we are totally responsible for our recovery, our actions, our well-being, for who and what we become, and for every area of our life. To expect otherwise is self-defeating and ultimately self-destructive.

Most important of all is that we need to remind ourselves that we are not only responsible for ourselves and what we do, but we are also responsible before God and one day will be required to give an account of our life to him.

Suggested prayer: "Dear God, thank you for the gift of life and for all the blessings you have given so freely to me. Help me to see issues in my life that I need to resolve and overcome, to avoid unnecessarily hitting others' red buttons, and help me to accept personal responsibility for every area of my life so that when I stand before you, I will hear your welcoming words, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus' name. Amen."

1. Hebrews 4:13 (NIV).
2. Michael Josephson in Character Counts. www.charactercounts.org