Sunday Seven

1. Today I'm celebrating day 7 of 40 days of no complaints. Although each day presents many reasons to complain, I am finding way more reasons to express gratitude to God. Thank God for all the goodness He gives us daily.

2. Seeing a friend face-to-face at a coffee shop was all the encouragement I needed to go on this week. Friendship is a balm. I'm grateful to God for friends who truly care.

3. My husband and I will celebrate 16 years of marriage tomorrow. I'm thankful to God for giving me my amazing family. We find strength, joy, and purpose each day as we continue to live as God instructs us to live. I love Zeke with all my heart. I'm blessed to be his. 

4. My family and I enjoy cooking and baking. We cook daily and we bake every week. We decided to make a cake from scratch to celebrate our family's birthday. I'm excited about and I pre-tracked it because it is not going to be free from the good stuff. 

5. Today is the Houston Marathon. I have wonderful memories of running this race with my friends and with Zeke. I am praying that my friends have an amazing, safe, and fun time!

6. I took my Christmas decor down the first week of the year. I thought about what I wanted the house to look like for the winter. As a personal resolve to enjoy the winter, I redecorated the house to reflect coziness. There are a lot of books on display. I updated the family pictures. I also brought a plant to the living room. I enjoy having a plant or two inside. I appreciate the visual aspect but because they are alive, they are also enchanting the air. The winter doesn't have to be bleak. It can be what we decide it to be.

7. There is always something happening beneath the surface. There is life, activity, and movement. I'm choosing to live as if beneath the surface of my life, God is my source.

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Got Barriers?

 

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Start with Gratitude

 I am starting the year with my 40 days of No Complaints Challenge. Listen to this episode! 

Do you want to join me as we become more grateful? Read this. 

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40 days of No Complaint Challenge 2022

Start with gratitude. The year is just starting and I want to be in a position to become more grateful. Gratitude is a matter of the heart, not a matter of behavior. I learned to put myself in a position where God can truly change me from the inside out. 

I started my challenge yesterday. I believe this is the first time I start it on a Sunday. Sundays are my favorite days of the week because I get to go to church and worship. 

Yesterday was a great day. Today, my humanity crept up. Before I got on my knees to pray I saw my living room was pretty messed up when I clearly told the kid to clean it. Immediately, I remembered the challenge. Good thing I was about to pray.

I asked God to help me see the good. I did. I started thanking God for the blessings of a home where kids have so much fun they are free to dishevel covers and pillows. I thanked God for our health. I thanked God for a home filled with family. 

My heart kept thanking God throughout the day. I am not sure if you can use more gratitude in your life. 

You can be part of this challenge with me. You don't have to do it for 40 days. Even 3 days will help you. It is a free and easy challenge. I am posting daily videos to encourage you on my Facebook Group  so feel free to join even if you are not part of the challenge. 

If you want more details on the challenge, Here is how to get started. 

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Sunday Seven

7 gratitude lessons.

I'm starting a 40-days of no complaint challenge today. These lessons were learned in the past 2 years as God taught me and continue to teach me what it means to be truly and permanently grateful.

1 • Gratitude is always a matter of the heart. 

2 • Gratitude continues as a matter of the mouth. 

3 • If you need to grow in wisdom, master gratitude. 

4 • Only when we recognize we have a problem with complaining can we truly change. 

5 • Repenting from our sin of complaining brings us true freedom. 

6 • This process will only be a habit change unless we feed our hearts with God’s words. Bible reading fuels a life of gratitude.

7 • We will complain again. When the complaint is unfruitful, we will need to remember how to get back to a place of gratitude. Remembering to recognize, repent and read will lead to lasting change.

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42

I started the day as I often do, on my knees in prayer. Today, I thanked God for the privilege and blessing of life. I submitted my life to His service. I drank coffee and read the Bible. God has been using Isaiah 30:15 lately. I treasured those words. My mom sent me a message. I will call my parents later. A few friends started sending me messages from far away. A phone call from Australia. A friend working among armed groups in the continent of Africa stopped to send a blessing. A friend in northern California sent a message. Social media made birthdays wildly fun. You get hundreds of messages. This year, I am planning on being present with my sweet family near and far. 

I went to CrossFit and had a great workout. When I came home, I took a shower. When I came out of the shower my family surprised me with gifts and they prayed for me. I got a ninja blender, some thick winter socks, ferrero rocher, a candle and birthday cards from each one of the kids. 

We had breakfast and went to Dallas. We went to Sam Moon where I bought a few pieces of jewelry. We took the littlest one to American Girl then we went to the mall. I got my Starbucks birthday reward. The kids went ice skating. Most did not enjoy it but it's okay. You have to at least give it a try. 

We headed back home after that. I took a nap on the way back. My sweet neighbor stopped by with a gift and for a visit. We are so blessed with neighbors who are loving friends. 

We all got ready for the next day which is the first school day of the year. 

I received a lot of phone calls and messages from near and far. I enjoyed speaking with my family and friends. Their good wishes and blessings were so meaningful and important. 

I'm most grateful to God for family. I treasure our family and our habit of celebrating birthdays. We ended the day by reading out loud, sharing our favorite part of my day, and prayer. 

God is good. I'm grateful for a quiet birthday. My heart is filled with gratitude. 

More celebrations here:

• 2006
• 2008
• 2008

• 2009

• 2010
• 2012

• 2013

• 2014
• 2015 

• 2015

• 2017

• 2018
• 2019
• 2019 
• 2020
• 2021

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