Day 17 – Give Thanks and Adore 30-day Challenge

1. Worship at church yesterday was sooo good and I like the new flow through the service.

2. Long naps after loooong meetings

3. Great and Merciful is our God.

Lamentations 3:32
Though He causes grief,
Yet He will show compassion
According to the multitude of His mercies.

Many may scoff at this, “He causes grief” as if to mark Him as some awful God but our God does not leave us in our sin, He actively fought for our freedom by laying down His own life to pay the penalty and price. With great compassion and a multitude of mercy He set us free.

Plus, I don’t know about you, but I often do not learn my lessons by walking through all kinds of grand and rosy times. I learn a lot through perseverance in hard times, feeling the ache of what I’ve done, and missing what could have been if I didn’t react that way.

But God is so merciful to bake into our existence the opportunity for all things to work toward for good – the good, the hard, and the ugly.

#30daychallenge#givethanks#adore

Thoughts I’ve been thinking:

Have you noticed that everything fast and convenient costs more money? So much so, that now there is a NO SPEND movement happening. People are tired of being nickel and dimed for everything. All over social media, you can find the Buy Nothing conversations. People are tired of paying a fee for everything.

Groceries cost more but the packaging is shrinking.

Kids activities cost more – it cost me 20 bucks just to support a young cub scout in our church. I bought a 5.5 oz tub of cheese popcorn, and it was plastic. They used to be $12-15 and metal.

Have you noticed that every time you step out of the house it costs you money?

So, in thinking about how to have a restful, not so expensive winter:

• Start reading real books – I have a few on my shelf I haven’t read yet, and when I buy them, I usually get them on the thrift store shelf. In order to save $$, I just cancelled my Audible.
• Instead of going out for coffee or lunch. Make it and invite a friend over or set up a video call with a friend and have lunch together that way. Or like my daughter and I do, we clean while we talk on the phone and then tell each other how much we got done.
• When you get restless or overwhelmed, instead of going shopping of retail therapy, take a nap. Rest is good for you. I take a 20 min rest almost every day except this past weekend I slept 2 hours on Saturday and 1.5 on Sunday.
• Do you have a DVD collection in the back of the closet? Pull them out and go walking down memory lane. My husband loves to pull out the old movies. They are better than the new ones anyway.
• On sunny, non-windy days, go for brisk and quick walks. My Momma and I took walks this last week twice. That was nice have 50-60 degrees outside.
• Sip Tea and Pray

What else can be done instead of going out and spending more money?

Advent is coming:

Advent starts on November 30th.

I enjoy Advent. A turning and a focusing of Christ coming into the world.

Some people think Advent is just for Catholics. It’s not.

Advent means appearing. It is a season of watching, waiting, and worship as we prepare for the coming of Christ. This year, Advent begins on the last day of November. Each of the four Sundays before Christmas marks a step toward the celebration of Jesus’ birth, the Light of the World.

At church, every week, we’ll light a candle and center our hearts on one of the beautiful themes of this season: Love, Joy, Peace, and Hope. We’ve invited different people to be our Advent readers. It’s a special time. At home, I will be working through a book called Rejoice. Each day, I will be reading through a devotional. It’s an intentional time to slow down and keep my eyes on Jesus.

Advent preparation Song:

Thanks for Listening,
Starla