November Newsletter for my church

Attitude of Gratitude

At the October Women’s meeting, Diana, Betty, Shirley, Lillian, Eldora, Caryl, Linda, and I had a great time of fellowship. Our church is pretty famous for fellowship and eating. Once I heard Linda’s 3 year old grandson called our church, “The Restaurant Church”. Every time he came to church, he saw us eating. This time was no exception. Lots of donuts, breakfast cakes, deviled eggs, quiches, and all the sweet stuff that would cling to my waist were there. After we ate, we talked about business items such as collecting food for Golden Gate Seminary students, collecting winter coats for the homeless, and collecting children’s Christmas gifts for the Women’s Crisis Center.

We then had a time of sharing what God is doing in our lives. These were some of the reports: “I thank God for giving me patience to deal with family responsibilities”, “ I thank God for giving me a peace of mind”, “giving me wisdom to choose the right thing to do”, “giving me energy to do things I need to do”, “giving me insight to adjust my expectations”, “giving me an opportunity to help my grown daughter”, “I thank God for having a family and working with a good boss”.

As I listened to each person’s praise, I realized the power of gratitude. Our attitude of gratitude was like a sweet fragrance spreading in our midst and rising to the throne of God. We became tender toward one another. Is it my imagination or my wish? When we ask for prayer requests, we tend to focus on our own problems and disappointments, but when we share what God is doing in our lives, we tend to focus on God and His work in our lives. My point is this: Let’s praise God more and talk about ourselves less. Then a sweet fragrance will fill our life, an aroma that can transform our home and our church.