Bridget A. Thomas
Every day is a gift!
One Thing At A Time
We have a million tasks we need to cram into our twenty-four hours. Many people have complained – if only I had more time! I have said this myself on many occasions. So what’s the solution? Multitasking of course. What is multitasking? Multitasking is defined as dealing with more than one thing at a time. In today’s fast-paced world, we pride ourselves on multitasking.
If you are one of those who pride themselves on multitasking, I am here to burst your bubble. It’s not all it’s cracked up to be. It turns out that our brains really aren’t doing two things at once. Instead our brains are just quickly shifting from one thing to another. One of my techie friends recently told me that computers don’t even do more than one thing at a time. Computers just do things amazingly fast. So if a computer cannot multitask, why do we think we can? What’s more is that research has found negative side effects associated with multitasking.
- Multitasking can cut our productivity down by as much as 40%.
- Multitasking diminishes our ability to tune out distractions.
- Multitasking decreases our cognitive ability.
- Multitasking actually slows us down.
- Multitasking makes us lose time, not gain time.
- Negative side effects of multitasking even occur later on when one is no longer multitasking.
- Multitasking takes away our energy.
- Multitasking weakens our memory.
- Multitasking can lead to stress, depression, and anxiety.
(Information on multitasking was cited in articles on verywellmind.com and psychologytoday.com.)
I feel that sometimes multitasking is okay, if one task does not require brain power. For example, if you are folding laundry while watching television or if you are listening to music while working. Our brains don’t need to focus on the laundry or the music. But I do feel strongly about cutting back on multitasking in general, especially when the things we are doing requires our attention. We all know how dangerous it is to text when driving, for example.
Why do I feel so strongly about cutting out multitasking? Well all the side effects above are a good start. Personally when I try to do too many things, I feel frustrated and fruitless. But there is more. This is similar to my recent post on eliminating distractions. I don’t want to miss the life that is right in front of me. I don’t want to miss out on things God might be trying to reveal to me. I don’t want to miss out on precious moments with my loved ones.
Perhaps you are familiar with the story of the sisters, Martha and Mary, found in Luke 10:38-42. On this particular occasion, Jesus was at their home. Martha was running around tending to preparations while Mary sat at Jesus’ feet. Martha complained about her sister not helping. “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her” (v 41-42). How sad that Martha missed out on time with the Savior because she was distracted! It even says in verse 40 that “Martha was distracted.” When we have a gathering at our homes, we want to make sure everything is perfect. I have been there and I am sure many of you have too. While it is admirable to put our best hospitality foot forward, we should not allow it to take away from the fellowship.
This is just one example. There are many other times when we are multitasking and miss out on things. We might be intent on listening to our favorite sitcom, but miss something the person right in front of us said. Or maybe we are on the telephone with someone, but we allow our mind to start worrying about a project at work. I am sure you can think up some examples as well. Let me put it to you another way. We don’t like when someone is ignoring us because they are focused on something else. So let’s set a good example and not do the same.
Life is made up of small moments. These moments can hold so much meaning, if we are present. And these meaningful moments can turn into deep conversations, and lasting memories. I want to be able to look back on these moments with joy, not with regret. How about you?
© 2020 Bridget A. Thomas
Lasting Habits
A few weeks ago, I shared with you the list of things that I wanted to work on during the month of July. Today I want to share with you some things that I learned about making new positive habits and releasing negative habits.
Monthly Plan. A new month is like a mini New Years. It can be seen as a fresh start and a new beginning. I think using each month to start something new, or lay aside something old, is an excellent way to keep yourself motivated and on track. We tend to like the things in our lives to be tied up in nice, neat packages. And by using a particular month to work on a certain habit, it is a way to make these changes look more appealing and easier to swallow. If you are consistent with making a small, yet powerful change for an entire month, you will feel empowered to continue with that habit. The ultimate goal is to make new good habits, or lack of bad habits, so ingrained that we don’t think about them anymore. They just become second nature and not something we have to struggle with.
Daily reminders. Every morning, remind yourself of your goal. This will help keep it in the front of your mind throughout the day. You could also use sticky notes and place them in key places where you will see them to help motivate yourself.
Set yourself up for success. Try to find ways to “trick” yourself into following through. For example, if you want to exercise first thing in the morning, wear clothing to bed that could work well for both pajamas and workout clothes. Then when you get up, you don’t have to change clothes. Try to make it as simple as possible for yourself. If you have the opportunity to take your eyes off the task at hand, you will quickly run in the wrong direction, like Julia Roberts in Runaway Bride.
Accountability. It will help you to stay on track if you are held accountable. You can do this a number of ways. Either tell a trusted person (or several) about your plan. They can check in with you and help encourage you when you are slacking. Or you can hold yourself accountable. In your journal each evening, have a daily “check-in” by writing down how you did. Another option is to blast it on a blog or social media. When you tell the whole world what you are working on, you will not want to fail, and this will push you to keep going.
Don’t beat yourself up. If you fell off the horse, just get right back up and start again. We are human, which means we are not perfect. We simply have to try our best. This might mean some days are not our best days. But that’s okay. We can begin again.
Adjust. It’s okay to adjust and tweak as you go along. For example, perhaps you tried exercising in the evenings, but errands and daily life got in the way. Switch it up and try the mornings instead.
Reward yourself. If you were consistent with your habit, think of a way you can treat yourself. Examples could include going somewhere fun with your family, taking a bubble bath, or getting that new book you have been eyeing. Get creative and do something for yourself that will motivate you to keep going.
What will I be working on in September? My top goals are to clear the clutter in my head so that I can hear the voice of God and to be consistent and concrete with my prayers.
Since today is the 1st day of a new month, this is the perfect time to work on a change in your life too. Take a moment to give it some thought. What is one thing you would like to accomplish this month? As Christians, we have a responsibility to live our lives well. This flows into everything we think, say, and do. We are to be a shining light in this dark world. So living our lives well, will in turn help us to walk out the calling and purpose God has for us. With that being said, what change would you like to see? A better sleep pattern? Daily Bible reading? Praying every day? Exercising? A new hobby? Or you can also lay aside a bad habit, such as not spending so much time on your devices or quitting smoking. If you are stuck and don’t know what to do, ask God to show you something you can work on in your life. If you come up with something, I would love to hear what it is!
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do. – James 1:22-25
© 2020 Bridget A. Thomas
Creative Therapy
My grandmother was a master crocheter. Crocheting is something she learned as a child, and she never let it go. When I was young I remember her trying to teach my sister and me how to crochet, but it didn’t stick. In my adult years, I decided I wanted to learn. But I didn’t tell my grandmother about it. Instead I bought books to teach myself how to crochet so that I could surprise her. I am so glad I was able to do that before she passed. I am not a master crocheter like she was. Usually I stick with simple things like blankets, scarves, or hats. My grandmother, on the other hand, could create dolls, purses, and many other elaborate items. After learning to crochet, I tried knitting as well. I never stuck with it because it seemed to take a lot longer to complete an item. Then I was introduced to looms, which I enjoy using a lot. But for many months I had not touched any of these things.
Recently in the pandemic, I picked it back up again and I am so glad I did. I forgot how therapeutic it was. When we were riding in the vehicle recently, I brought my latest project along. My husband said to me, “Isn’t that tiring?” And I said, “No, it’s soothing.” He replied, “I should try it.” I agreed and he laughed. He was kidding, but I wasn’t. It really is a great art to learn, especially if you are looking for a stress reliever. It is believed that any kind of yarn-crafting can relieve depression, reduce anxiety, build self-esteem, reduce or postpone dementia, relieve insomnia, help relax, aid prayer, help with grief, and relieve stress.
But crocheting and knitting are not the only creative arts that can improve mental health. Drawing, painting , collage, coloring, and sculpting can help heal emotions, improve self-esteem, manage addictions, relieve stress, improve symptoms of anxiety and depression, and cope with a physical illness or disability.
Crafts can also help us in this area as well. Crafts can help us recover from traumatic life events, relieve stress, build self esteem and find moments of calm.
Writing and poetry can also be very therapeutic as well.
If you prefer music, playing an instrument can also help with stress, insomnia, and depression. Singing, playing instruments, and dancing are also found in the Bible. Music is definitely a great way to boost your mood, especially if it is praise music. Praising God turns our attention towards Him, and takes our focus off of our worries.
“Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts.” – Psalm 105:2
If the events of 2020 have been bringing you down, I want to encourage you to try creative therapy. If you already are gifted in one of the pastimes I mentioned, maybe it’s time to pick it back up. Or if you have never tried any of these hobbies, perhaps now would be a good time to learn.
© 2020 Bridget A. Thomas
Eliminating Distractions
Over the past couple of weeks I have talked about Seeking God and my July Challenge. Mainly one thing that I have been working on is eliminating distractions. I strongly believe that distractions are one of the devil’s tactics to get us Christians off course.
In today’s culture we have so many things coming at us – texts, emails, alerts, phone calls, instant messages, social media posts, etc. It can be overwhelming. It is wonderful that we can use technology to stay in touch with loved ones who live hundreds of miles away. But technology has also created a lot of distractions in our lives. You cannot go anywhere without seeing people who are glued to their phones. If you are driving in the car, you will see other drivers scrolling through Instagram posts while at a traffic light. If you go to a restaurant, you will see people at other tables scrolling on their phones as they wait for their food.
The world can distract us in many other ways, as well. Some people use alcohol or drugs to distract themselves from life. Others use shopping to give themselves momentary happiness. We often let other people influence us, which can be a distraction as well. There’s also television, video games, and so much more.
With all these distractions, we have less time to focus on the things that matter – God and our families. Could it be that we missed out on a meaningful conversation with our loved ones because we were too busy looking at Pinterest? Could it be that we missed something that God wanted to tell us because we were too distracted with a Netflix binge?
Some of these things are not necessarily bad things. It is essential to have a little down time in our lives. But I do feel that the world today does too much of these things, and misses out on so much of real life!
This is how Jennie Allen put it: “So if I were your enemy, I would make you numb and distract you from God’s story. Technology, social media, Netflix, travel, food, comfort. I would not tempt you with notably bad things, or you would get suspicious. I would distract you with everyday comforts that slowly feed you a different story and make you forget God. Then you would dismiss the Spirit leading you, loving you, and comforting you. Then you would start to love comfort more than surrender, and obedience and souls.” (Proven by Jennie Allen © 2017.)
I, for one, feel so strongly about this that I often hold fasts from these things. As I talked about in my last post, I tried to cut back significantly on these things during the month of July. It is also a normal practice for me during Lent. And on the Sabbath I try to stay off all of those things completely.
When I get to the end of my life, I would hate it if God showed me how much I missed out on because I was too distracted.
What joy overwhelms everyone who keeps the ways of God, those who seek him as their heart’s passion! – Psalm 119:2 TPT
This reminds me of the Israelites in the desert. They were distracted by a negative report from ten men and missed the positive report from two men. As a result they remained in the desert forty years longer than necessary. And the two men who gave the positive report (Joshua and Caleb) were the only two adults that made it into the Promised Land. Sadly, the rest died in the desert.
Could it be that we too will miss out on a promise or a gift from God because we allowed something else to take our focus?
Now that my July challenge is over, I do not want to forget what I learned. I do not want to fall back into a life of distraction. I want to hold tightly to the Lord and hold everything else loosely in my hands. He should be our number one priority – always. Let us look up, keep our focus on our Lord and Savior, and lay down the things that keep us from His best.
Heavenly Father, I pray that You help us to open our eyes, our ears, and our hearts today. Help us to see the things You want us to see. Help us to hear what You are trying to tell us. And help our hearts to always remain tethered to You. We know that satan wants to keep us distracted from the path You have for us. But we are taking a stand. We will not allow the enemy to get a foothold in our lives. Please give us the strength we need to cling to You – every moment of every day. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
© 2020 Bridget A. Thomas
Daily Reminders
In my last post I mentioned that in the month of July I held a personal challenge. Today I wanted to tell you exactly what that looked like. I started by making myself a list of daily reminders.
- Pray every day – there were specific things on my prayer list that I wanted to make sure I remembered each day.
- Do only one thing at a time – in today’s fast paced culture we pride ourselves on multitasking. But multitasking is not always a good thing.
- Tell the Lord I love Him – this is something I forget most days. I am quick to ask Him for things, but forget to express my love.
- Praise God – if you have been following my blog, then you know this is something I wrote about extensively as the world faced the pandemic.
- Choose joy – too often I allow little annoyances in life to bring me down. But we have a choice. We can let irritations get to us or we can choose joy.
- No negativity – the Lord has been reminding me a lot lately that general negativity and complaining creates a wall in my relationship with Him.
- Slow down – I had many things on my plate and felt the stress of it all. The pandemic taught me to savor my time and everything else would fall into place.
- Be intentional – this is a little phrase that reminds me to focus on the things in front of me. Too often we go through the motions of life, but we are not always paying attention to what is right before our eyes.
- Be present – similar to “be intentional” and “do only one thing at a time.” Our bodies might be in one place, but our minds can often be a million miles away.
- No expectations – as a child when my birthday rolled around, I was focused on what presents I might get. My father used to remind me that I shouldn’t expect anything. He was right. But it’s not just about birthdays or gifts. It is about every moment of every day. (I wrote more about this on a recent Christians Read blog post.)
- Stay off phone / devices – technology is a blessing and a curse. Devices are a huge distraction in our world today. I imagine the enemy getting a good laugh at all the Christians who have their noses stuck to a phone because the more time we spend on our phones often equals less time working for the kingdom of God. I am sorry if this sounds harsh, but it’s true.
- Check email once a day and not at all on Sundays – checking email got to be such a robotic habit. More often than not, I wasn’t expecting emails, just looking to see if anything new had come in. (I do not have notifications turned on for this on my devices because that would drive me up a wall.)
- Do not get on Facebook except for one Bible study small group which I was a part of – I have a love/hate relationship with social media. It can be a good tool to stay in touch with people. But it can also be a pit of negativity and distraction.
- No blogging / WordPress – Sorry to say I needed to eliminate this for a time because I allowed it to take up much of my time. Focusing on God needed to be my number one priority.
- Words With Friends only on Friday and Saturday – in case you are not familiar, this is a scrabble type game that you can play with your friends. At one time I used to play it daily. But I have been cutting back over the past several months. So this was not a change for me. Just a reminder. It is nice to play a fun game with a friend at times. But for me, I have to limit my time on things like this because it can become too much of a habit. I want my heart tethered to the Lord and that means eliminating distractions.
- Kneel before the Lord – every morning I take a moment to kneel before the Lord and hand my day over to Him.
- Exercise – it is no secret that exercising is good for our physical health and mental health.
- Amazon / General internet searches: only handle necessities. For everything else, make a list for future reference – Often times when I am looking for something on Amazon or searching the internet for something, it feels super important in the moment. I have to get this new product right now. I have to find the answer to this question right now. That is how it feels. But in reality, those things aren’t that important. I have found that if I write them down, later on I won’t care as much and will scratch it off my list.
- Books: limit the number I read at any given time – I am always eager to start a new book, but this means whatever book(s) I was already in the middle of reading fall to the wayside.
I realize this list might seem a bit overwhelming. I am not going to lie. I did not do a great job in all of these areas. Exercise for example. My husband and I might have ridden our bicycles only once in the month of July. But having a list helped me to stay focused on the right things.
Also, some things came into play that were not on the list. For example, the Hallmark channel and the Hallmark Movies and Mysteries channel held Christmas in July. So, watching Christmas movies almost daily took up a lot of time. But watching these movies with my husband was a nice way for us to spend time together. And this also helped me to just “be” and not “do.”
I also returned to crocheting in July. (More on that in a future post!)
But I must say that one thing which really helped me in July was to have daily check-ins with myself. In my journal, I wrote the following questions each day: How did I do with my July challenge? What did I learn? This truly helped me to stay focused and to keep my distractions limited. If I had a bad day, I could see that right away and this helped me to refocus the following day. Mainly I tried to slow down and eliminate doing too much out of habit. I will be touching more on some of this in the weeks to come, so please be sure to stay tuned!
Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him. Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. – Psalm 62:5-6
© 2020 Bridget A. Thomas
Seeking God
Hello, my friends! Yes, I am officially back. I have missed you and our conversations. I hope you all have had a lovely July. My July was a good one, overall. My husband and I celebrated our 13th anniversary early in the month. That was wonderful. Over a long weekend we took day trips to some local places. We had fun and enjoyed the time together. Also in July I returned to the office after working remotely for three months. Some loved ones moved out of state. I am happy for them, but sad for me! (Please say a prayer for them as they embark on a new journey.) And there was another loved one in the hospital. (He is at home now, but still needs healing and recovery. A prayer for him would be appreciated.)
As you can imagine, July had its ups and downs. But the main thing I wanted to mention today was that in July I held my own challenge to help adjust my focus. Mainly what I needed to do was to draw closer to God. I wanted to take some things off my plate, so that I could spend more time with Him. But this is not something that can be checked off of our lists, because drawing closer to God is something we should do every day of our lives.
In 2019 my one word for the year was “Seek” because I wanted to seek God with all my heart, mind, and soul. As we moved into 2020 and I picked a new word for the year, “seek” moved to the back burner. So I recently picked up the word “seek” once again. But not for a month or a year, it is for life. I have said before that seeking God is a lifelong journey. But this struck me more than ever recently as I reevaluated things in my life. Seeking the Lord needs to be on our minds every moment of every day. So, that is the main reason why I took a break in the month of July. I wanted to spend more time seeking the Lord and adjusting my focus.
Why is seeking God so vital? If we don’t seek God, then our focus could drift to other things that aren’t important. Or it could be that we still go through the motions of working for God, but our motives have faltered. When we seek the Lord, it helps us to stay on the right path. It helps us to stay tethered to Him. It helps us to honor Him with our words and actions. And seeking God helps us to have peace and joy in our hearts because we know the One who holds our days.
Jesus should be our number one priority. We should seek Him diligently and passionately as we would a prized possession that was lost. Jesus is our lifeline. We should cling to Him tightly. Then no matter what we face, we can face it with strength, because we know we have the Lord by our side. We will have peace in our lives when we seek Him wholeheartedly. And having that strong relationship will flow into every area of our lives.
You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. – Jeremiah 29:13
More to come on my July challenge next week!
© 2020 Bridget A. Thomas
Offline
Hi Friends! Just a very short note to say that I will be offline over the next few weeks. I have to take some time off to get a few things situated and to refocus. More details to come at a later date! But I am looking forward to connecting with you when I return. Until then, God bless and stay safe!
Let’s Praise God Together
Over the last few weeks, I have been writing about the subject of praise. Today I wanted to praise the Lord with you. He is so worthy of our praise. But praise is something we often overlook in our daily lives. I would like to make this a habit in my life and I hope that you will too. So, let’s start today by offering God this prayer of praise.
Dear Heavenly Father,
We humbly come before You today to offer You praise. You are so worthy, You are so glorious, You are so awesome and amazing. You are above everything we know, for You created everything we know. So how can we even come up with the words that truly describe just how magnificent You are?
We want to thank You, Lord, for all the blessings in our lives. Even through these uncertain times, You have blessed us beyond measure. You have been by our sides every day. You never left us. You have continued to provide for us and watch over us. Thank You, God.
Every single day You look out for us, protect us, and cover us. You keep a shield of protection around Your children all day and every day. There are so many things that You do in our lives each and every day. It would blow us away if we knew of the trillions of things that You did behind the scenes to protect us, to guide us, and to bless us. Lord, we thank You. We can never say “thank You” enough for all of the wonderful things that You do for us. You are our shield. You are our strength. You are our hope. You are our joy.
While it’s true that some days may be difficult, we still know that You are working all things together for good. Thank You, God. It amazes us to know that You can take the difficulties in our lives and make something beautiful out of them. You are loving and merciful and compassionate. And You love all Your children beyond measure.
Thank You, Lord. We thank You. We praise You. You are so wonderful and amazing.
Father, it brings tears of joy to think about how You hear all of our prayers. You are always there for us, Lord. When we call out to You, whether our prayers are full of praise or petitions. Thank You, Lord, for hearing us.
It is so wonderful to know that You guide us every single day. You hold our hands, guiding us like sheep, down the right path. When we are feeling down, we thank You for being there for us, for being our comforter and our friend.
You are so good to us, Lord. It says in the Bible that Your thoughts about us cannot be numbered. How amazing that is to think about! You think of us so much and so often. All day and every day. What a comfort that is to know how much You love us.
God, we thank You for adopting us into Your family. We thank You for calling us Your children. Thank You for our true inheritance. Thank You that we are now joint heirs with Jesus. When we accepted Jesus into our lives we were washed clean, we were made as white as snow. We can never express enough thanks for this precious gift.
Lord, we thank You for the Bible, Your Holy Word. What a precious gift You have given us that we can pick up and read Your words at any given time. And there’s so much power in Your word, God. We thank You for this wonderful gift You have given us.
Lord, we put our trust in You and You alone. You are the only one who can truly guide us, protect us, keeping us safe and secure. The things of this world are temporary, but You are eternal. The things of this world are weak, but You are strong. You are our strength, Father.
God, You fill our hearts with joy. Your love overflows on us, all day and every day. You shower us with love and with blessings. You fill us with peace.
We praise you. We love You, Father. We thank You for all that You are.
In Jesus’ Holy Name we pray, Amen.
Thank you for praying this prayer with me. I hope you enjoyed praising God. If you have anything you would like to add, please comment!
© 2020 Bridget A. Thomas
When to Praise God
Over the last few weeks, my posts have been about praising God. Today I want to discuss when to praise God. Many of the posts have already touched on why we should praise God. I also talked about how to praise God and where to praise God. So that left the question of when to praise God. When talking about where to praise God, before giving specific examples, I mentioned that we could really praise God anywhere. And likewise, when it comes to when to praise God, we can praise Him at any time. However, in this post, I would still like to discuss specific examples. And I will share a Psalm that will help you in these scenarios.
1 – When things are going well. It might seem obvious to praise God when things in life are going well, but I feel like this is often overlooked. When things in life are going well, many times we don’t give God a second thought. When life is good and we are being showered with blessings, we should praise Him and thank Him for all He does for us. Many of the Psalms are hymns or thanksgiving songs. So if you need a place to start, you can use an appropriate Psalm to get you on the right path. Psalm 100 is a favorite of mine.
2 – When things are not going well. I wrote about this in another post a couple of weeks ago. Many of us are quick to run to God and ask for His help when things are not going well. But we might stop short of praising Him. Praising God during difficulties is not a natural response for most of us. But as I mentioned in a prior post, praising God in our troubles will help turn our outlook around. Yes, we will face trials in life. But when we praise Him, in the midst of a storm, it helps us to remember that God is still in control and will see us through whatever we are facing. It’s also ok to cry out to God for help when we need it. Many of the Psalms are considered laments. Lamenting to the Lord helps us to pour out our concerns to Him, while it reminds us that He is still God, He is still on the throne, and He has the ability to help us with what we are facing. If you are looking for a Psalm that reminds you that God will get you through whatever you are facing, Psalm 121 is another favorite of mine.
3 – When we are repentant. If we have sinned and grieved God, it’s essential to first confess to God in prayer. But I believe thanking God for showing us that we have made a mistake and thanking God for forgiving us is important as well. Psalm 51 was written by David after he committed adultery. However, it is also a beautiful Psalm that you can read at any time when you want to draw closer to the Lord.
4 – When we are weary. Perhaps you have just been going through the motions of life, and your days are a bit humdrum. Or maybe you feel lost and don’t know which way to go. Praising God will help get you back on track. Psalm 23 is a well known Psalm and it is also very comforting when life has you feeling disoriented.
5 – When we are waiting. Whether we are sitting and waiting in a doctor’s office, or waiting for a breakthrough, I believe it’s safe to say that no one likes waiting. When we are waiting, we tend to feel restless. We might even be anxious or worried. Praising God in our waiting reminds us that He is in control and that His timing is not our timing. In these times, Psalm 27 would be a good place to start.
6 – When we need protection. If we are traveling or if we feel our safety is at risk, praising God will help us feel better about what we are facing. We will remember that God has us in the palm of His hand. And praying through Psalm 91 will also bring you comfort.
These are just a few examples. I could list out many more scenarios. But I think you get the idea. No matter what we are facing, praising God will bring joy and peace into our lives. It will help turn our monotonous moments into treasured times. Praising God draws us closer to Him and helps us to feel His presence. Who doesn’t need more of that? I hope this post helps. If you have anything to add from your own life, please share in the comments!
© 2020 Bridget A. Thomas
Where to Praise God
Over the past several weeks I have been writing posts that deal with praising God. Last week I talked about how to praise God. Today I want to focus on where to praise God. The bottom line is that you can praise God anywhere, whether you are alone or with others. But I will get a little more in depth on places where I personally have been praising God.
1 – At Church. Under normal circumstances we often praise God when we are at church. Right now with the pandemic going on many of us have not been going to church on a regular basis. So during this time you can still praise God when you are attending church virtually. God designed us to fellowship with others and that is something that is emphasized a lot in the New Testament. When we are with other Christians we can encourage one another and edify one another. Praising God together with your Christian brothers and sisters will not only help you grow in your relationship with the Lord, but it will also help you grow in your relationships with those around you.
2 – At Home. Right now many of us are spending a lot of time at home. So praising God at home will definitely be something you want to seek right now. But even without a pandemic, praising God at home is still very much appropriate. Home is where we spend much of our time. We might be around family or we might be alone. If we are alone then you can feel free to praise God more comfortably. But even with other people around, praising God should still be something we do. We want to bring the Holy Spirit into our homes so that those around us will be greatly influenced by our attitude of praise.
3 – Outdoors. There is some thing about being outside in nature that is so special. When I am outside, whether I am sitting, walking, or riding a bike, I love to praise God. I love to talk with Him and spend time with Him. It feels like there is nothing blocking me from reaching Him when I only have the sky above.
4 – In Our Vehicles. I also often praise God when I am driving. I love to sing praises to the Lord, but I don’t consider myself to be a very good singer. Ha! So if I am alone, this is a perfect chance for me to sing to my heart’s content. And I also like to talk to God when I am driving. I feel I can pour my heart out to God when it is just Him and me. And a bonus to praising God when driving is that you won’t get so upset with other drivers. 🙂
Those are the places where I have been praising God the most over the past few months. I hope you found this helpful. But if you have any ideas of your own, please share!
© 2020 Bridget A. Thomas
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Bridget A. Thomas 