Tag Archives: Thankfulness

Simple Things

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My mind was continually interrupted this morning as I tried to meditate on the energy of God’s Spirit within me. Bits and pieces of my life were flashing back and forth. As I tried to draw myself back into focus, recent events in my life kept creeping in. I realized however that they were the simplest of thoughts which gave me joy. So perhaps I just needed to be gently reminded of how much God is in the simple things. Thank you Lord for this life. Thank you for the ebb and flow. Thank you for the lessons I’ve learned and the wisdom you’ve allowed me to share. Thank you for reaching down even when I was unwilling or unable to reach up. Thank you for the flicker and the flame in the darkness. Thank you for the restlessness and the peace in the light.

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Open And Unwarranted

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Needing to take some time after the grand jury in Ferguson, MO decided not to indict the officer responsible for shooting Michael Brown, my heart is dismayed but not surprised. It seems to be an open and unwarranted escalation of the fear of presence, as a legitimate excuse to shoot-to-kill a human being. So much needs to change, from the systematic degradation of the body and mind by a society on people of color to the strengthening of our communities to fight back by building up the body and minds of our posterity and their gifts, in order to strangle this continuous perpetuation of the lie which says that the presence of black men and boys are to be feared. I am thankful for my husband, father and grandfathers who have worked to provide for their families and contribute to society. I can honestly say that their participation in this world is evidence of a strong and passionate heritage. I am thankful for my two sons who continue to work towards their own future and God willing, for their future families. I am thankful and excited about the gifts they too will offer to this world.  I am thankful for the major cities which stood in protest of the Ferguson event and encouraged by the diversity of faces expressing the value and importance of respecting the dignity of every human being. Tonight I pray for all families who have lost precious lives to the absurdity of this fear in which no one deserves to be subjected. Lord in your mercy, hear my prayer.

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Change Maker

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A friend once shared that she used the same Gynecologist in the city for years. Although she and her family eventually moved to the suburbs, she continued to travel into the city to see this one doctor. Over the years the neighborhood in which the gynecologist’s office was located experienced an ethnic shift. Gradually the complexion of the other clients got darker until finally one day she walked in to the doctors office and noticed that not one of the persons in the waiting room looked like her. Admittedly, it was her first experienced understanding of what it felt like to be a minority. It would be her last visit. I’ve often wondered, what if the doctor had felt the same way and decided to leave the neighborhood for good. Who would those women of color, now in that neighborhood, eventually go see? We know that change is inevitable in this world and yet when it happens we have a tendency to run away from the change in an effort to seek a more familiar environment or circumstance. We struggle to see and or ignore the potential opportunity that change can bring. Since we know that change is inevitable, eventually there will be no place we can go before it catches up with us. God is the change maker! If we turn back towards the change, we allow ourselves to find familiarity in the midst of the change and realize that deep within we are not so different after all. Children of God uniting with one another rather than separating from each other; building up rather than breaking down. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back praising God… Luke 17:11-19

The Willing Heart

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“You give them something to eat.” Mark 8:30-46  All they had were five loaves of bread and two fish! Yet God is not concerned with the how much but rather the heart that is willing even in the scarcest of times. Be thankful and give. God will not only provide the rest he will provide it abundantly.

…”I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”  John 10:10

Thankfulness

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To the saints and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ everywhere…May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Colossians 1:1-14

Today I am filled with thankfulness for each of you. What we do really does matter. Let us continue to encourage one another in faith.