Choosing Thanksgiving

I’m just finished the woman’s Bible study on Wed mornings at church. It is by James MacDonald called “Lord, Change my Attitude.” I have some attitude problems like everyone else, but this study really showed the gravity of my errors. It is the month of the Thanksgiving holiday, to give thanks. And that is one attitude that I realized I needed major help on. My attitude was one of complaining, and since this study I realized that complaining is not a harmless venting of feelings but something that makes God angry and is a sin. Ouch! James MacDonald defined complaining as “to express dissatisfaction with a circumstance which is not wrong and about which I am doing nothing myself to correct.” If I put that definition to my complaining about the slow driver in front of me, the little husband annoyances, my housing situation, etc. I am convicted.

In Numbers 11, God tells the story of Moses and the Israelites who were out in the wilderness because of their complaining. Over and over the Israelites complained about everything, and the consequences were severe, even death. Granted, a pillar of fire isn’t going to consume me for complaining…I hope. But I really don’t want that attitude making me an unhappy person and negatively affecting my relationship with God.
But there is hope and a way of combating our tendencies to complain. The answer is gratitude and thankfulness to God. First you have to decide, like so many things in the Christian life. Sitting around waiting for spiritual things to happen to you isn’t going to work. It takes decisions and actions. Decide to have a thankful attitude and back up that decision by reading the Bible. God’s word gives us the reasons for us to be thankful. Our relationship with God is strengthened and God gives us the strength to help us act gratefully.

Even if you do not feel thankful, you can choose to thank God for all the many wonderful things He has done and will do. Make a thankful list of these four things:
1. Things to be thankful for,
2. People I appreciate,
3. Spiritual blessing,
4. Everything else.

Review the list a couple of times a day. You can also make this a family activity and get everyone involved in reminding ourselves of our blessings.

This website also has some great thankful activities:
http://www.squidoo.com/thankfulhearts

Corn Syrup Conspriacies et al.

I am viciously anti-corn syrup at the moment. I still will eat foods and drinks that have it, but I get upset about it. If you have ever watched the X-files movie or a 60 minutes episode about corn in the United States. You can't help but get a little paranoid. It is out there and everywhere. Lets make nuclear material out of corn, why not? But corn syrup is sugar to the extreme. It just doesn't seem natural and most food/drink companies put it in their products without abandon. It is just wrong.

Ok, enough of that. And now for something more serious. ... Monkeys are evil. Non no.

Ok. really.

I submitted my first "filler" story article to a Christian magazine. It is around 300 words, so it is a short story. And today, I got my first rejection. I feel like a bona fide writer now. So on to the next magazine and keep submitting it until I'm blue in the face.