Monday, November 21, 2011

Give Thanks from your heart!

Women of Faith:
Someone asked me these questions this week:

What if you woke up this morning to only those things for which you gave thanks for yesterday?

What if you gave thanks for as many things as you complained about? (Am I failing to see or look for the good?)

Appropriate questions for Thanksgiving week, a week of spending: family time and “shopping” time.

And the readings of the last few weeks made me think even more: have I used my talents for God’s glory (Mt 25: 14-30); and to serve “the least” of His people (Mt 25: 31-46)?

'Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.' … He will answer them, 'Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.'
Mt 25: 43-46

I have so much I don’t appreciate, and I have so much I don’t really need—things that I wouldn’t even miss if they were gone. And I have been given so much that others would like to have—that others need, want and even pray for—certainly not just possessions, but the gifts of the Spirit and the love of spouse, family, and friends.

So in this week of Thanks and in this week of “shopping mania” let us give
God THANKS for His plan: in a vocation which allows us to give as a spouse, in the blessings of being a parent, and in the trust that His gifts of Eucharist and Scripture will be the only “daily bread” that we need to sustain us.

Let’s SPEND our time and GIVE our hearts to serving and changing our hearts and priorities to trust in God’s plan.

God does not judge me on the possessions I have or do not have, but rather on what I choose do with the gifts He has given me: physical, spiritual and emotional.

What is in my heart and to whom have I given it? For what do I give thanks to God today? Where am I spending my blessings, both time and money? Where will I “give” my heart, my time and my money this week? How am I “blessing” someone else this week? Am I more concentrated on “spending” love (that of God) or money (that of the world)?

Am I “complaining” about what I don’t have or appreciating what I do have?

Do I feel blessed for what’s in my heart (that which is a gift from God) or for what’s in my home (that bought with money).

Heavenly Father, Your glory is in things not of this world, but in what You SEE in my heart. Thank you for the blessings You give me that are not of this world, but those that are of life itself. Thank you for the talents I have—help me to share them with others. Thank you for the lives around me—help me to love without judging. Help me to spend my time this week shopping for what will fill my heart, not that which will fill space. Amen.

May your Thanksgiving be filled with blessings and your shopping be FOR a change of heart.

In Thanksgiving for HIS season,
Charlotte

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