Getting into Spiritual Shape – Prayer and Thanksgiving

When we hear the word “thanksgiving,” our minds usually drift to turkey and stuffing.  We can, however, express our thankfulness on a regular basis.  As a matter of fact, we should strive to regularly incorporate giving thanks into our prayer life.  When we stop to think about all that God does for us, we really do have a lot to be thankful for.  Sometimes, we need to stop and take an inventory of it all to truly appreciate all that God has done.  Take a minute and walk with me through an average day.

The alarm goes off and you get out of bed.  You say good morning to your spouse, get the kids off to school and then head to work.  A few hours later, you meet a friend for lunch.  After finishing up the afternoon, you walk back out to your car, and begin the drive home.  On your way, you stop and purchase a few things at the store and then head to the house to have dinner with your family.  Perhaps after a few more errands, you watch the game, do some reading and then begin to wrap up the day.  Before calling it quits, you spend a few moment reading the Bible and praying.  Then, it’s off to bed to begin the process over again tomorrow.  Granted, this is a pretty uneventful day, but let’s look at it a little closer.

To wake up and get out of bed requires a certain amount of health and ability.  We can thank God for that.  Our family is a gift from God.  So are our friends.  For that matter, so is our transportation and the job we have.  If we have the means to go to the store, we can be thankful.  Food to eat?  Yep, more to be thankful for.  House with furniture and a television?  Thank God once again.  The opportunity to spend time with God?  A tremendous gift.  God really does so much for us.

A few years ago, I received a kidney transplant.  I will be forever grateful to the young man who donated a kidney to me.  His gracious gift touched every area of my life.  It impacted my health, my finances, my family, and my ministry.  Everything I have now traces back to some degree to his gift.  The same is true of God.  Everything we have is a gift from Him.  The Bible tells us to “be thankful in all circumstances” (1 Thessalonians 5:18, NLT).  God has done so much for us.  We need to stop and thank Him for all that He has done.  The next time you talk to God, take a minute (or two or three) and thank Him.  Make a list of all of the things He has given to you.  List all the ways He has changed your life.  When you do, you will see how much you really have to be thankful for.

What’s Up Doc (with Cartoons Nowadays)?

I’m I the only one that don’t get kids’ cartoons today?  Forget cartoons, kids’ programming in general doesn’t make much sense to me.  I can tolerate Spongebob, but everything after that is a call for the remote.  When I was a kid (back in the days before fire was discovered and the wheel was invented), I remember watching “Looney Tunes.”  We watched Scooby-Doo (no Scrappy thank you very much!), and we got to see Charlie Brown once a year during the holidays.  Even my older kids had it better than kids now.  When they were grade-schoolers we watched Bugs, Daffy, and the gang on Cartoon Network.  Nickelodeon was the home of Rugrats. 

Now, my youngest wouldn’t even know who Bugs Bunny is if we didn’t own a DVD player.  Every show on Nickelodeon is a group of “tween-agers” screaming hysterically about something.  The animated stuff on Cartoon Network makes you scratch your head in disbelief.  These aren’t the rantings of a middle-aged grouch.  Everything else seems to age well.  Music’s alright.  Movies are alright.  Television has its moments.  Even movies aimed at kids are fine. Kung Fu Panda was a hoot, and I would adopt the penguins from Madagascar.  But this new era of cartoons and kids’ programs is severely lacking.  I can only hope it gets straightened out before my kids have kids (and that better be a while).  Maybe I should just leave them my Looney Tunes DVDs.  They way the economy is going, that might be all I can leave them anyway.