Happy Thanksgiving everyday...

Yep, I'm still giving thanks for everything like hot chocolate, music from the 1970s (James Taylor, Chicago, Bread, Elton John, Tony Orlando, The Carpenters, Captain and Tennille, Anne Murray, John Denver), and so many songs from when I was a little kid.

I remember my older sister had a 45 rpm record player and single albums with songs like "Song Sung Blue", "Monday, Monday", "Seasons in the Sun"... Something by the Allman Brothers, the Osmonds, and Elton John. Oh, and ABC, 1-2-3 by the Jackson Five! I think the flip side was "One Bad Apple". Remember "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother (Osmonds?)"? ...and something by the Partridge Family.

Ah, good memories. I used to walk through the wheat fields singing all the angst-ridden love songs from my sister's record collection.

Oh, and remember those little transistor radios? I had a cool orange one. I loved mornings at our house. Dad always had the radio on in the mornings. I think KMOX even played some music back then. It was a mix of news-talk radio with a wake up call to the tune of "Seventy-six Trombones"or some rousing John Phillip Souza piece in the morning. I distinctly remember singing "Delta Dawn" along with the radio while locked down in the kitchen doing dishes.

So grateful for wonderful memories of my family. Sadly, we are scattered around the world.

Still thankful for the incredibly challenging courses and wonderful new colleagues to share new memories with (Yes, I know that's a dangling preposition). I'm looking forward to creating wonderful memories with friends and family this year and in the years to come.

Time Flies When You're Having Fun

It's sooo true.  I have been surprised by joy at every turn since I arrived in Oregon 8 weeks ago!

Last night, in class, the topic was gratitude.  Woo hoo!  I got to share with my class how my life has turned around since I really began to grasp what gratitude does for our attitudes.  

Now it might be easy to sum up my life's experiences in the past 6 months as gratitude + positive words =happy change in life's circumstances.  It might even seem like I'm preaching about a formula.  But the truth is, I earnestly sought God first and foremost.  I asked him to make HIS desires MY desires, so that when I asked for stuff, I was asking what HE wanted for me.

Partnering with God is not an option.  Jesus said that apart from him we could do nothing; that he is the vine, we are the branches.  So remaining tied in, connected to the source of life is KEY!

THEN add to that gratitude + positive words and hopes and dreams...and THEN eventually you'll see your circumstances turn around OR maybe you won’t.  Maybe your circumstances will still be the same, but your perspective will change!  

When I started this experiment, I also said like Job, "even if God slay me, I won't curse him."  I was committed to maintaining a faith-filled attitude which started with being grateful daily; FINDING something, anything to be grateful for on a daily basis.  And I realized that even if my circumstances DIDN'T turn around, that I would still be happier and more fulfilled because I was looking at the glass half-full or even 3/4 full! And eventually I saw my cup full and running over.  I began to be grateful for even the tiniest things; good weather, sunrises, a smile, the sound of laughter.  

I love what C.S. Lewis said, (paraphrased) I do not pray because it changes my circumstances.  I pray because it changes ME.

But the neat thing is this.  God honors his word.  So I decided to believe what Jesus said.  If Jesus said it, I began to trust that it could be my reality.  Jesus said that we would ask for anything in his name and it would be given to us.  He said that what we believe in our hearts and SPEAK with our mouths would become reality!  Some call this a "name it and claim it" philosophy.  I think it’s more self-fulfilling prophecy.  What we say about ourselves tends to come true.  You know what I mean.  What’s that old saying?  “Whether you think you can or think you can’t, either way, you’re right.”  What you think you are capable of, you are right.  If you’ve already made up your mind that you can’t, well, you can’t. 

What I sought God for first, then got ahold of with my spirit and developed a grateful attitude about, then spoke with my mouth ( I prayed for it, I wrote down what I wanted, I told others what I wanted) came true.  So many of the things I asked for and believed that I would actually get, have already come to pass.  I can't wait to see the rest of my dreams come true.  But they didn’t come to me the way I thought.  In fact, my circumstances did change.  But then, our circumstances ALWAYS change.  Nothing remains the same forever.  So you could argue that my positive thinking and my words did nothing to affect my situation, and you might be right.  What I do know is that my perspective changed, my attitudes changed.  I was a joyful person again.  

But the good news is that Jesus didn't just say, "Whatever Gigi wants and believes will be reality."  He said that anyone could ask our heavenly Father and it would be done.

Here's hoping that you dig to know Christ a little deeper and that all your dreams become realities.  

Here’s hoping that we never forget that even if our circumstances don’t change like we hoped, that even then because we practice gratitude, our hearts will be changed, our attitudes will be refreshing.  So, no this isn’t really prescriptive.  This is NOT a formula of  Gratitude + Positive Words = happy circumstances.  No, if you are looking for a formula,  it’s more like gratitude + positive words= happier me with the ability to recognize the good around me and accept changes as they come my way with grace and joy and hope.