Appreciation Part IV

Do you want to be appreciated? Then you must learn to be appreciative. This can be difficult when it seems like nothing is going your way. We get frustrated when things do not run along smoothly.

When we run out of toilet paper at the exact moment we need it most, what comes out of our mouth? $%&*#@*&

What if, every time there was toilet paper within arms reach, we said a quick prayer of gratitude? "Thank you, Lord!" How might that small, new habit impact your life? You would start to feel better about yourself and the world around you.

"But I put that toilet paper there myself." you might say. Good for you! How did you earn the money that bought that toilet paper? You have a job? Who do you think provided the job for you? Scripture says:

"But remember the Lord your God,

for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth,"

Deuteronomy 8:18

And who reminded you to pick up toilet paper? I rely on the Lord all the time to help me remember things. Do you make a list? Who gave you the idea to make a list?

"Every good and perfect gift is from above,

coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights,"

James 1:17

If we cultivate the new habit of thanking God for every, little blessing that we usually take for granted, we will find that we have so much more to be thankful for than we previously thought.

I actually started with the toilet paper thing. Seriously. And you know what happened? Things just more and more started going my way. At least that is how it seemed -- once I got in the habit, I found so many things to be grateful for!

Soon I became known for exclaiming. "Jesus is real!" whenever the smallest blessing came my way. :) I now have a reputation for having an attitude of gratitude. I challenge you to cultivate an attitude of gratitude too.

I thought this passage (http://www.netscientia.com/perspective.html) might help you do just that:

If you woke up this morning with more health than illness...you are more blessed than the million who will not survive this week.

If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation ... you are ahead of 500 million people in the world.

If you can attend an idealogical meeting without fear of harassment, arrest, torture, or death...you are more blessed than three billion people in the world.

If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep...you are richer than 75% of this world.

If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace ... you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy.

If your parents are still alive and still married ... you are very rare, even in the United States and Canada. If you can read this article of perspective, you are more fortunate than over two billion people in the world that cannot read at all.