Bridget A. Thomas
Every day is a gift!
Gratitude Challenge 2023 – Day 5
The Lord has heard my cry for mercy; the Lord accepts my prayer.- Psalm 6:9
Lord, we are so thankful You hear our prayers and our cries. What a gift and privilege it is to pray in Jesus’s name. His name is above all other names and holds power. Sometimes in our own lives, or the lives of our loved ones, we feel helpless. But we always have prayer and that is our best weapon. So today we lay our worries at Your feet and we pray in Jesus’s name.
I’m grateful for the power of prayer. I’m grateful for the gift and privilege of praying in the name of Jesus. And I’m grateful for my sisters.
What are you grateful for today?
Gratitude Challenge 2023 – Day 4
But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you. – Psalm 5:11
Dear God, even when the storms are rough, we are so thankful we can turn to You. You are our refuge and our protection. What peace we find in You. We rejoice because we know that You are always there for us. You are always looking out for us. And anytime we run to You, You are waiting with arms wide open. We are so thankful for You, God! In Jesus name we pray, Amen.
I’m thankful that God is my refuge and my protection. I’m thankful to rejoice in Him, even in tough times, because He spreads His protection over us. And I am thankful for my hubby.
What are you thankful for today?
Gratitude Challenge 2023 – Day 3
In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly. – Psalm 5:3
Dear God, what a privilege it is to come to You in prayer. Morning, noon, or night. You are always there. You hear us and You care about the things weighing on our hearts. As we walk through this day and face different obstacles, help us remember that You are bringing joy to our lives. We might not see it yet, but You are working things together for good. We trust You and we thank You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
I’m thankful for prayer. I’m thankful that God is working all things together for good. And I’m thankful that my friend Judy over at The Project: Me by Judy focuses every Friday post (cleverly called Good News Friday) sharing blessings from the week. It’s a great reminder to look around for God’s gifts in our lives.
What are you thankful for today?
Gratitude Challenge 2023 – Day 2
In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety. – Psalm 4:8
Dear God, we are so thankful that we can turn to You when we need peace and safety. Even when we have worries, we can rest in Your arms. There is no safer place to be. When we let go, please hold on to us. Thank You, Lord! In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
I’m grateful for the Lord’s peace and safety. I’m grateful we can all meet here together, while we all live many miles apart. And I am thankful for my parents. ♥️
What are you grateful for today?
(You might need tissues for today’s song. This one always gets me.)
Gratitude Challenge 2023 – Day 1
But you, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high. – Psalm 3:3
Dear Heavenly Father, no matter what is going on in our lives, we are thankful to know that You are the shield around us. You keep our heads lifted high and our hearts full. Thank You, Lord. What a joy it is to have You in our lives. You lift our spirits and bring comfort when the road is rocky. When we walk with You, we never walk alone. We love You. We trust You. And we are thankful for You. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
I am grateful that God is my shield and the One who lifts my head high. I am grateful to be embarking on this gratitude journey with you. And I’m grateful for pretty sunrises and sunsets.
What are you grateful for today?
Today is a Gift
Hi Friends,
Today I want to share a five minute video.
Daryl Madden shared this with me a couple of years ago. And at that time, I shared it here with you as well. But I needed to watch it again, and I thought I might not be the only one.
Enjoy!
I will see you on November 1, as we kick off the gratitude challenge.
If you have any prayer requests, please let me know. For those of you who have shared prayer requests with me before, know that I’m praying.
I hope you have a blessed weekend.
Gratitude Challenge 2023
Hello, Friends!
As you might know, I usually try to do some sort of gratitude challenge around this time of year. I admit, though, sometimes I am on the fence about it. Life can be stressful and busy. So it’s easy to come up with excuses on why I can’t do it or don’t have time.
(To all my friends who post daily on a regular basis – you’re amazing! 😁)
However, the reasons for doing a gratitude challenge outweigh the reasons not to. For starters, I know I will be glad I did it, because I always am.
And I think that when it comes to doing something like this, the enemy will try to steer us in the wrong direction. The same applies to things like fasting, tithing, witnessing, volunteering, or anything that God wants us to do for His Kingdom or for our own spiritual growth.
And with life being stressful and busy, I believe a gratitude challenge is needed.
So with all that being said, the gratitude challenge will run through the month of November. I will post each day, but the posts will be short since we all have packed calendars.
The posts will contain a verse from the Psalms, a short prayer, gratitude, and some days might include a praise song as well.
If you can join in, I welcome you and look forward to our journey together. If you can’t join every day, that’s okay! However, you might still practice gratitude daily offline.
I’m looking forward to it. I hope this will help each of us to build our trust in the Lord, as we take time to see how much He is always there for us.
That’s all for today. I hope you have a peaceful weekend.
Finding Rest and Peace in the Lord
Sometimes life is stressful. During these times, we might long for a break from the pressures of life. We might wish we could take a vacation, relax on a tropical beach, close our eyes, and turn off the world. Even if it was only for one day. However, that is not always possible. Life goes on. We have responsibilities that require our attention.
I was thinking about all of this last weekend as I took a stroll around the yard with one of my dogs. (Sometimes getting outside helps to clear our minds.) It occurred to me that rest can be a frame of mind. Even if we cannot eliminate the stress in our lives, we can choose to find rest in our souls.
The day after I had this thought, my friend Judy posted Inspiration from 2017. What Judy shared in this post resonated with what I had been thinking about:
Peace isn’t about what’s going on outside; it’s about what’s happening on the inside. Anxiety and worry won’t solve anything only sap needed energy for what needs to be done. The difficulty comes when what needs to be done is to wait. Give the battle to God and praise Him in the storm. ~ Laurel Hawkes
How can we find rest and peace, even in the midst of stressful times? The words of Jesus found in Matthew 11:28-30 bring comfort:
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (NIV)
Dr. Charles Stanley wrote, “All of us need rest, and Jesus promises to give it to us when we find our rest in him. He is our burden-bearer. When we surrender the circumstances of our lives to him, he lifts us up and infuses our hearts with fresh hope and wisdom. Some situations are just too difficult for us to handle, but nothing is too great for him. He promises to refresh our weary souls when we cry out to him.”
1 Peter 5:7 (NIV) reminds us to, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”
I love the latter part of this verse in the Amplified translation of the Bible: “Casting all your cares [all your anxieties, all your worries, and all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares about you [with deepest affection, and watches over you very carefully].” (emphasis added)
What comfort that brings to know God cares about us with deepest affection and He watches over us very carefully.
All of this sounds wonderful. Yet, we might wonder how to actually grab hold of this rest and peace. Below I have some strategies that have helped me. If you have anything to add, please do so in the comments.
Amplify Your Prayer Time
There is power in prayer, even our silent prayers. However, I have found that when I write out my prayers, this act seems to turn my heart around. I will start off feeling stressed and walk away feeling peaceful. There’s something special and concrete about putting pen to paper.
I also find it helpful to include Bible verses in my prayers. The Bible is full of truth and promises that we can cling to during stressful times.
And I have found comfort in speaking my prayers out loud. Peace ushers in, especially if I am walking outdoors while praying. I think this is in part because I feel closer to God when I’m outside. But praying aloud also has a unique way of connecting us to God. Pastor Jentezen Franklin believes in praying out loud because “when we were instructed to pray the Lord’s Prayer [Jesus] said ‘say,’” and “we are to ‘speak’ to that mountain.”
Put it in the box
Picture all of your worries. One by one, go through them in your mind. They can add up. And if you picture them all in one big pile, that pile would be very heavy. Our human strength can’t hold it all. Now picture Jesus holding a box. We can place all of our worries in that box. For Jesus, the weight of the box never seems to grow. He can carry all of it. The next time you are overwhelmed with the weight of your troubles, say to Jesus, “I am putting this in the box. I can’t carry all of this, but You can.”
Of course our human nature will be tempted to take things back out of the box. We will start to worry and fret all over again. Once we realize what we’ve done, we can put it back in the box.
This doesn’t mean we run the other way and avoid our own lives. As I said earlier, we still have responsibilities. However, when we remember that our Shepherd is with us, this helps us to face our difficulties. We hold tightly to the Lord and His strength.
“My job is to take care of the possible and trust God with the impossible.” – Ruth Bell Graham
Scripture Yourself to Sleep
At night when I am in bed, I like to go over some of my favorite Bible verses in my mind. Some nights I might go over different passages. Other times I might stick with the same one. This helps me to settle down and find peace, as I drift off to sleep.
Take Things Off Your Plate
During stressful seasons, there is only so much we can put our time and energy towards. Therefore, if there is anything you can remove from your plate during this season, then I encourage you to do that as well. This will allow you to clear away some of the chaos and have more time to sit at the Lord’s feet.
I’m so thankful we can rely on the Lord and His strength, especially during stressful seasons of life. I don’t know how anyone lives without God. But I’m thankful we don’t have to. And I believe our relationship with Him is a big part of how we can find rest and peace during difficult times.
If you are in a stressful season, please let me know how I can pray for you. If you don’t mind, please say a prayer for my family. And please pray for Israel. As Christians, we are called to stand with Israel. Also pray for our world, as many protests are scheduled today.
Thank you for reading and being here. Your friendship means a lot to me.
© 2018-2023 Bridget A. Thomas. All rights reserved.
Prayer Request
Dear Friends,
My family needs prayer. I can’t share the details, but God knows what they are. Sometimes life can be really hard. But no matter what we are facing, I believe God hears our prayers. Thank you!
If you have any special prayer requests, please let me know. You can comment or you can email me at bridget@bridgetathomas.com.
God bless you all 🤍
Don’t Give Up
The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in Him; though He may stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with His hand.
Psalm 37:23-24
My husband and I have two favorite college baseball teams. One is my alma mater. The other is located in the town where my husband was born, and they are close to where we live now. Currently we are in the midst of the College World Series. The eight best teams in the country go to the World Series. My alma mater didn’t make it, but our other team did.
We were watching our team play in the opening round on television last weekend. (The event is always held in Omaha, Nebraska. Not close enough for us to attend. But it is on our bucket list.)
As you can imagine, every game in the World Series is important. Two losses and you go home. This goes on until only two teams remain. And then those two teams play for the championship.
In this particular game our team was the first to score, but they only got one run at the time. The score remained 1-0 for several innings. Then in the top of the seventh the opponent scored four runs. It doesn’t take long for the tide to turn. Suddenly we were losing 4-1.
In the bottom of the same inning, we got one run. We were still losing. 4-2.
In the bottom of the eighth, we got another run. But again still losing. 4-3.
One more inning to go. The opponent got another run in the top of the ninth. Score 5-3.
We only had the bottom of the ninth to make something happen. Some people we know had turned the television off at this point. They had given up hope. It seemed improbable that our team would be able to win.
My husband and I weren’t some of those that turned the television off. We continued watching. You might guess what happened. Our team scored three runs and won the game 6-5. (And a bonus – the team we beat is the same team that put my alma mater out of the running two weeks prior.)
This game reminded me how important it is to not give up. For the people that turned the television off early, they had lost hope. They had given up. They went to bed defeated.
But for those of us who stuck it out, we were rewarded with a spectacular victory.
There are many situations in life that can leave us feeling discouraged and defeated. When our plans don’t go the way we wanted or when we are hit with an unexpected trial, it knocks the wind out of us. And as Christians, we have an enemy who is eager to bring us down.
Sometimes it will appear as though we are losing the game, and we will be tempted to give up. But there is always hope. And when we stay close to the Lord, we can take comfort knowing He is molding us through this difficulty. We will walk away stronger in our Christian walk.
God teaches you humility, keeps you dependent upon Him, shows you how to follow Him and protects you from pride through trials. The good news is that dark moments of your life will last only so long as is necessary for the Lord to accomplish His purpose. If you’re obediently committed to Him, your relationship with Him will grow more than you ever believed possible. Therefore, whenever you experience a trial, thank God for what He is doing and commit yourself to honoring Him in all things.
Dr. Charles Stanley
Everything in our lives should be approached with prayer and listening to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. So there will be times when God asks us to lay something aside. But there are also times when the enemy tries to defeat us and get us off track, especially if we are working for the Kingdom of God. That is why it is important to stay close the Shepherd and listen for His voice. We want to make sure we are on the path He wants us on.
And if we know we are in the right place, we keep pressing forward. I know we might feel tired at times. We don’t think we have the strength to make it any further. But remember that God hasn’t abandoned you. God is with you. He has the strength that you lack. He will see you through.
The Lord does not want to destroy you – He wants to make you stronger. But He can only do that by showing you the frailty of your strength and earthly comforts so you will depend on His.
Dr. Charles Stanley
This baseball game also reminded me of how God never gives up on us. Do you remember the parables found in Luke 15 – the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son? These stories remind us that our Lord loves us so much, and He will do whatever is necessary to rescue us and bring us back to safety.
If any of His children is far from home, He wants nothing more than to bring that child back home. If we have strayed, His goal is to lead us back on the right path.
It doesn’t matter how far we’ve gone or what we have done. He welcomes us back with open arms.
And even if we are walking close to God, we each make mistakes. We stumble at times, we might say the wrong thing, we might react poorly to circumstances, or we might struggle to let go of an undesirable habit. Whatever the case may be – God doesn’t give up on us.
God never gives up on us. Our sins may drive us farther and farther away from Him—but even then, He still loves us and yearns for us to repent and turn to Him for the forgiveness and help we need. The Bible says, “But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness” (Psalm 86:15).
Billy Graham
Let’s praise God for His unfailing love and faithfulness in our lives!
Thank you for reading. I hope you have a blessed weekend.
Both photos above were taken on Monday, June 19, 2023, just 10 minutes apart. I stood on the back porch watching the sky change, moment by moment. Nothing compares to God’s artwork. 🙌🤍🙏
© 2018-2023 Bridget A. Thomas
Bridget A. Thomas 