All i/c 21 Seal jacks 21 Plank jacks 21 Mountain man pooper 21 Cherry picker Capri lap – side shuffle across parking lot, nur, side shuffle, and mosey 21 SSH 21 Seal waves 21 Imperial walkers 21 Crab flippers
The Thang
Each HIM grabs 2 coupons.
Do 21 of the following exercises: Curls – bear crawl across parking lot, nur back Big boys – Lt. Dan across parking lot, nur back Abyss merkins – mosey across parking lot, Dan Lt. Back Rows (per arm) – side shuffle across parking lot, nur back High pull – side shuffle opposite direction across parking lot, nur back
3RD F Disciplines of a Godly Man A Great Friendship 1 Samuel 13-20
Man maker – muder bunny across parking lot Over head carry across parking lot
Bolt 45’s – 15 squats full up to half way down, 15 squats half way down to full down, & 15 squats full motion. All completed IC as a 4 count.
American Hammers – 50 IC
Cherry Pickers – 20 IC
Mosey @.5 miles to Holy Hill
The Thang
1st & 10 Routine per the Exicon…Well sort of….:)…..Perform 10 merkins and 1 burpee. Nur up the hill and run down. Perform 9 merkins and 2 burpees. Nur up the hill and run down. Perform 8 merkins and 3 burpees. Nur up the hill and run down. You recognize a pattern developing here. Pax took a break for the 3rd F (see below) after completing the round starting with 5 merkins. After the break for the message, all HIM completed the rounds down through 1 merkin and 10 burpees with a final Nur up the hill and the run down.
Mosey @.5 miles back to CHOP.
Count-O-Rama, Name-O-Rama, and the Circle of Trust. Prayers were offered for multiple needs within the attending PAX, but please keep all our HIM in your thoughts and prayers.
I heard a while back about a novelty company that made a lot of money on people having birthdays that they might not be real excited about. You know, like those milestone birthdays: 40, 50, 60. I’ll stop there. Of course, if you’re sad about how many birthdays this is, consider the alternative. That means you’ve stopped having birthdays, and that’s not good. This company actually produces a whole line of birthday products called “Over the Hill.” Maybe you’ve seen them. There are these black balloons with these words on them, black banners, cards; all kinds of dark little reminders that tap into the very things you don’t want this birthday to mean. A friend of mine was facing the classic Baby Boomer crossroads of turning 60 and was talking about it to an older man that he knew. And that man said something that made me laugh several times since then. He said, “Hey, how can I be over the hill when I’ve never even made it to the top yet?”
I’m Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “Time is Slipping Away.”
After I stopped laughing, I realized that’s how a lot of folks feel about their life. Where did it go? How can it be flying so fast? Especially when there’s so much I thought I would have or do by now and I haven’t. Job said it this way in the Bible, “My days are swifter than a runner” (Job 9:25).
I remember telling the quarterback of our high school’s freshman football team, “Hey, Chris, you’re going to blink your eyes and suddenly you’ll be a senior playing your last games.” He smiled, “Yeah, whatever.” One day in the senior locker room, he reminded me of what I had told him when he was just starting high school. He said, “Where did it all go so fast? Wasn’t I a freshman just yesterday?” I well know the feeling.
Our word for today from the Word of God, James 4:13-14 put our little journey on this planet into perspective. The Bible says, “Now listen you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this city or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.’ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.”
And at that point, now I’m… this is me talking, “It’s all about eternity.” A friend of mine was at a class reunion where he was talking with a classmate who had become a very successful physician. As the conversation turned somehow to talking about God, the doctor just said very candidly, “Frankly, I’m nervous about eternity.”
You know what? We should be, if we’re not ready for the God we’re going to meet on the other side. Actually, the Bible tells us that we couldn’t be more “unready” to meet God. Isaiah 59:2 says, “Your sins have separated you from your God.” The Bible makes it clear that we’re all in deep trouble with God because as it says, “all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory” (Romans 3:23). We’ve been so busy pursuing the elusive goal of happiness and success that we have forgotten eternity.
And waiting to get ready for it is just foolhardy. As the Bible says, “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth” (Proverbs 27:1). How many funerals have we been to of people who thought they had more time; maybe lots more time, and suddenly it was over.
We’re not ready for eternity unless every sin of our life has been erased from God’s book. And there’s only one person who can do that: the person who died to pay for that sin, and that is Jesus. In the words of the Bible, He “made peace (with God) through His blood, shed on the cross” (Colossians 1:20). The choice is simple. Either we put our trust in Jesus and His death for our sins, or we pay that death penalty ourselves – forever. Jesus came to give us heaven. Once you come to His cross and put your total trust in what He did there for you, death is no longer the end, it’s just the beginning! All death can do, then, is take you to heaven if you belong to Jesus.
If you don’t belong to Him, if you’re not sure you do, don’t risk another day without Him. The Bible says, “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart” (Hebrews 4:7). I urge you as soon as you possibly can today to say, “Jesus, you died for my sins so I don’t have to. You’re my hope. I’m Yours.”
Listen, our website is there to help you cross that line. And I’d encourage you to go there today. It’s ANewStory.com.
The days, the years really do fly faster than we ever dreamed; each bringing us closer to our last day. There’s just such peace in knowing you’re ready for eternity whenever it comes.
The Super 21 “Streudel Special”. 1 Merkin to 1 Big Boy Sit up. 2 Merkins to 2 Big Boy Situps. 3 Merkins to 3 Big Boy Situps, etc., etc., etc. But wait there is a twist….after each set completed of #1 though #5 you will do 21 Imperial Walkers. After each set completed of #6 through #10 complete 21 Mountain Climbers. After each set completed of # 11 through #15 complete 21 Monkey Humpers. After each completed set of #16 through #20 complete 21 Prisoner Squats. After the final set of #21 Merkins to 21 Big Boys then finish strong with 21 Burpees.
F3 Message
Count-O-Rama, Name-O-Rama, and the Circle of Trust. Please keep all our HIM in your thoughts and prayers.
Health clubs and spas love January! Business skyrockets as December bulges turn to January workouts.
A “new year” sounds like a great time to work on a new you. Thus, the infamous New Year’s resolution. “A firm decision to do or not to do something.”
Sadly, research shows that about 88% of our resolutions won’t happen.
It’s not that we aren’t sincere about wanting to improve. We really do want to be healthier. Spend more time with the family. Get out of debt. Do better in school. Clean out the junk. In our house. Or in us.
So why do our great intentions so often end in failed commitments?
My work has put me in the middle of many folks’ efforts to change. From their experience – and too much of my own – I’ve seen four reasons we fail.
1. We’re not specific.
Goals have to be more than general intentions. “I’m going to be a better husband” … “I’m going to get in shape” … “I want to make more of a difference” – nice ideas. Not likely to succeed. “I’m going to give my wife all of my attention at least once a day” … “I’m not going to eat after 6 o’clock and I’ll spend 20 minutes on the treadmill each day” … “I’m going to volunteer at the shelter” – those are specific – and measurable – enough to give a person a decent shot at real change.
2. We’re not accountable.
A resolution between me, myself and I is just too easy to forget. But when you announce to several key people the commitment you’ve made, you’ve put yourself on the line to do it. Like the Bible says, “Two are better than one … if one falls down, his friend can help him up.”
3. We give up too soon.
Babies learn to walk by a process I call “step … boom!” They fall down, but they don’t stay down. They get up! Next time – “step, step, step … boom!” Until one day they’re rocketing across the room. Sadly, when we fall down in our effort to do better, we too often stay down. But one day’s failure is just that. One day. Keep it that way. Get up and keep walking!
4. We have a power shortage.
Especially when it comes to the changes that really matter. Breaking the cycle that’s hurting the people I love. Conquering the dark part of me that has brought me down again and again. Moving beyond the pain of my past. Attacking that fatal flaw that has cost me so much.
Every new year has the same last name. “A.D.” 2015. A.D. “Anno Domini.” The year of our Lord. Measured by how many years it is since Jesus Christ came.
My whole life has been “B.C./A.D.” The me I couldn’t change before Christ took the wheel of my life. And the changed life He’s made possible since I gave me to Him.
I thought I could only trust me to drive. But I drove into too many ditches. Ran over too many people. Crashed too often. I couldn’t get me to the man I want to be. I need to be. That the people I love need me to be.
Like one of the men who wrote the Bible. He said, “I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t … Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?”
I know that feeling. And I’ve found the power to change where that Bible-writer found it. “Thank God!” he said – “The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord.” It took the Man who died for my sin to give me the power to beat my sin.
My personal B.C. – a man I didn’t want to be. My personal A.D. – the man I could never have been without the great Life-Changer.
8 HIM beat the fartsack on this frosty morning for a little frosty fun. Q was thinking of introducing Lt. Michael Murphy to the PAX bit do to excessive Merkins at the grit mill yesterday we met Cpt. THOR instead.
Warmup – 25 SSH, 20 Windmills, 20 cherry pickers, 15 smurf Jack’s, 20 mou train climbers, all IC. 10 arm circles forward 10 backwards to.
Approximately 1 mile run threw town ending at the old HOB elementry.
Captain Thor. 1 big boy 4 american hammers. 1:4 ratio until 10 big boys 40 american hammers are complete.
Mosey the short way back to CHOP
Toysoldier set 40 LBC, 25 E2KS, 15 BIGBOYS followed by 20 flutter kicks IC.
For.the 3rd F I spoke a little about my experiences 30 years ago on Jan 16th president George H. W. Bush announced the start of what would be called operation Desert storm a military operation to expel occupying Iraqi forces from iraq.
Well it didn’t quite feel like, as Madonna sings, “the very first time,” but its been more than a month since YHC Q’d thanks to COVID 19–THE “One-Niner” and it was great to be back! Had the opportunity to Q, thought long and hard about it, then jumped in headfirst.
Here’s the skinny:
WARM-O-RAMA:
SSH – 18 IC
Swartzjacks – 10 IC
Smurfjacks – 10 IC
Splitjacks – 10 IC
Windmill – 10 IC
Cherry Pickers/Hairy Chiggers/Crab Flippers – 10 IC
Chairmanlap mosey around the short block
THE THANG:
PAX walked perimeter of church building (safety brief walk around), as they would mosey this route between exercises.
Pretty simple…spell your full name, taking laps around the church between each letter. See image below. (For those who Fartsacked this is an easy one to catch up on; it’ll take you about 45 minutes.) Check it out:
Somewhere in the middle of the middle names PAX took a breather for the following 3rdF:
F3 is about leadership. In fact, our F3 Mission Statement is: to Plant, grow, and serve small workout groups of men for the invigoration of male community leadership.
That means what we do here on a micro scale is to spill over into our homes, workplaces, and into the communities in which we live. It means that what we do as a group must spill over into the communities in which we exist: Milton, Milford, and Georgetown.
We’ve done a little of that over the past few years, collecting toilet paper and cooking breakfast for residents at the Home of the Brave, collecting crayons for the young girl distributing crayons to sick children at AI, collecting peanut butter for the Milton Food Pantry, painting the future shelter near Lowes, bringing food to the collection container on the Georgetown Circle, etc.
I’m bringing this to your attention to say that we need to be even more attentive to opportunities for us to lead [together] in our communities during 2021.
I’m also bringing it up today to refer back to a word that has been added to leadership in F3 circles in recent years (at least as far as YHC knows). This is for personal application and its a word mentioned in Dredd’s book Q Source. It is the word virtuous. Virtuous Leadership. That is a very particular kind of leadership.
Virtuous is defined as: Having or showing high moral standards. F3 exists to bring about leadership in men which is marked by its high moral standards.
We can look all around us in the world and see leadership which is absent of moral standards. The political realm is one place this is easily seen. Truth be told, in the end, leadership absent of high moral standards isn’t really leadership at all!
This was the substance of the statement by President John Adams when he stated: “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other.”
Virtuous leadership means we’re not just leading in our homes, workplaces, and in the communities in which we serve, but that in each of those areas we are LEADING RIGHT.
In that vein the Bible says that leaders must “be above reproach…not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious (quick to argue, quarrel or fight), not fond of sordid gain, but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, just, devout, self-controlled.” (Titus 1:7-8)
This is the standard for leadership in Scripture because as go the leaders, so goes the home, the workplace, and the communities in which they serve.
In 2021 let us be HIM by striving to be men who practice virtuous leadership.
Names spelled in full, it was time to circle up:
COT:
Number-Rama
[Full] Name-O-Rama
Announcements: Just be smart and use common sense concerning how you feel and whether you post or not (see write up on GroupMe
Prayers: For those on IR and those in our community out of action due to Corona virus, get well soon; for the State of Georgia and their run-off elections today; for the nation (march & Trump rally in D.C. tomorrow, 1/6); etc.
Well, it didn’t feel like a Virgin Q, but physically, it felt like it was the first time YHC worked out in years–a full month of the “One-Niner” has ransacked YHC’s legs and lungs. Still, thankful for all the men who posted, humbled to have good health, and grateful to be back!
14 HIM beat the fartsack and made it out for the first Saturday workout for 2021. All though there was some chatter among the packs and maybe a couple jokingly threats of bodily harm to the Q we all made it through to look forward to many more beatdowns in the upcoming year
The Thang- Mosey to the old NAPA for a short pain station stop 10 Jimmeny Crickets,and a Toy Soldier set 40 LBCs, 20 E2KS each side, 15 big boys. Back to a Mosey to the school for some BOMBS partner up PAX #1 runs from end sidewalk to center sidewalk of front schoolyard and back while PAX #2 performs excercises then switches out until team reaches said number of excercises combined as a team
50 burbees, 100 overhead hand claps, 150 Merkins, 200 bigboys, 250 squats. All PAX held plank until 6 was in.
BOMBS were followed by a short 3rd F then a nice friendly mosey back to the AO. Once we reached the AO and fireplex demonstrated his dancing abilities thanks to music from the gentleman on the Harley. we finished up with a round of HOWLING MONKEYS all PAX held monkey humper position while all PAX 1 at a time performed 10 monkey humpers
3rd F Proverbs 27:17
Iron sharpens Iron so one person sharpens another at f3 first state the Q is physically sharpening all PAX that post in return all those PAX are sharpening the Q’s leadership abilities. At the end of the beatdown we all come together in a COT were we all come together and sharpen each other physically, mentally and emotionally
Warm-a-Rama 20 seal jacks i/c 21 crab flipper i/c 20 plank jacks i/c 20 harry rockets i/c 10 monkey jumpers i/c for site Q RIH 20 ssh i/c 20 Imperial walkers i/c 20 Windmill i/c 20 seal wave i/c
THE THANG
Mosey to ballfields
PAX divides into teams
Batter kicks pitch and bear crawls to first base, side shuffle to second base, nur to third base, and side shuffle home Batter completes trip around bases even if out Batting team does 3 burpees per out. Teams switch every 4 outs.
3rd F
Thanked other HIM for commitment and comrodery. Probe other HIM on hiatus to get back to coming out. Pray about Gtown adding another day or starting a site in Millsboro.
Bolt 46’s IC (4 Count) – 16 squats to halfway down (Q Lost Count). 15 squats halfway to full down. 15 full squats.
Cherry Pickers – 20 IC
The Thang
Mosey @.5 miles to O Holy Hill.
PAX performed 12 hydraulic squats in cadence with a weird 6 count, 12 best form LBC’s in 4 count cadence, & 12 best form merkins in 4 count cadence. Once complete Pax will nur up the hill and run down and plank for the 6. PAX completed 11 hydraulic squats in cadence, 11 best form LBC’s in cadence, & 11 best form merkins in cadence. Nur up the hill and run down and plank for the 6. Rinse and repeat in descending order until time became a factor. HIM completed 5 evolutions down through the round of 8.
Mosey @.5 miles back to CHOP
Count-O-Rama, Name-O-Rama, and the Circle of Trust. Please keep all our HIM in your thoughts and prayers.
F3 Message – 12/24/20 – see below for Billy Graham & Ron Hutchcraft posts gleaned from the Internet…
In His Own Words – Billy Graham’s 1993 Christmas Message
December 21, 2020
The joyful Christmas message of peace on earth and goodwill to men seems clouded this year by events at home and around the world that dramatize the terrible increase in violence and crime.
We live in a world dangerously torn by hate and conflict, and people feel powerless to do anything about it. Many also know that their own hearts are driven by destructive passions and motives they cannot seem to control or change.
The decline in moral values is having a tragic effect on our society. People are concerned about their children, their families and their country and are desperately searching for answers. In taking God and religion out of our lives, we have lost our moral and spiritual bearings.
This Christmas season let us consider our spiritual heritage. Let us listen carefully to the angels’ words that continue to offer us hope, especially at this critical time.
“Fear not.” the angels said on that starry night in Bethlehem. “For I bring you good news of great joy, which shall be for all the people. For today in the city of David there has been born for you a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.”
In a world more needy than ever, let us open our hearts to the child in the manger, who can bring us new life and new power over the violence, crime, and evils of our day.
The occasion was a city-wide art contest. They were told to paint paintings entitled “Peace.” While the judges were understandably attracted to this beautiful pastural scene that a local painter had painted. It was a green pasture. It was the puffy white clouds and the beautiful blue sky and a little boy going by with a fishing pole over his shoulder and a quiet brook and some birds. That got second place. First place – well, the picture was of an angry, stormy day at the seashore as the ocean was beating against the cliffs and the cliffs were stark and dark because of the darkness of the storm. The sky in this painting was angry and black, green and purple. You had to look twice to figure out what in world this had to do with peace. But if you looked halfway up the cliff these little baby birds were nestled underneath the wing of their mother, and they were sleeping totally oblivious to the storm that was howling all around them. Now it’s the Christmas season. It’s supposed to be about peace; but, if you feel the holiday pressure like I do, seems more like a storm, a stress which leads us into those birds.
Well, I’m Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “A Christmas Survival Kit.”
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Isaiah 30:15, “in quietness and trust is your strength.” What a great verse for the chaos that Christmas has become. You’re in the middle of it right now. The shopping – the entertaining – and getting all the cards out – “Oh, who did we forget. They sent us a card; we better send them one.” – All of the church events that are going on – maintaining all the family traditions that the kids insist on or you do – the guests are coming – family time – you know, they’re flying in – they’re driving in. Suddenly the Christmas season seems more like “Stress on Earth” than “Peace on Earth,” and then God speaks “in quietness and trust is your strength.”
If you are going to protect the heart of Christmas and not succumb to the hassle of Christmas, you must protect a quiet spot at the beginning of each day where quietness and trust will be your strength. Think about those birds in that painting. Peace was not the absence of a storm, it was peace right in the middle of it. They found their quiet spot. Well, the secret is the same for you. The more hectic the season is, the harder it is to get your quiet time with the Lord and the more you need it.
It would be tragic if Jesus gets lost in the process of you getting ready for His birthday. If anything, make your time with Jesus more top priority than ever. First of all because Christmas becomes an idol if it crowds out Christ. Secondly, you need to be with Him to keep everything in proportion. Unload your concerns on Him. Focus on the relationship with Jesus. It’s a love relationship above all else. Eliminate the overload. Ask the Lord if there’s things you can eliminate. Simplify as you ask for His wisdom. What’s your Christmas survival kit? “Quietness and trust is your strength.” It comes from non-negotiable times spent with the Prince of Peace, not peace that’s the absence of a storm but peace right in the middle of a storm.
All i/c 20 Seal jacks 20 Plank jacks Mosey around circle 20 Mountain man pooper 20 Cherry picker side shuffle around circle, switching halfway 20 SSH 20 Seal waves Nur around circle 20 Imperial walkers 20 mountain climbers
The Thang
Mosey up Bradford street to park past church on left. Each pair will play Frisbee golf through park and down Edward street to other field by other church doing an exercise as many times it takes to get to the hole. Hole #1 Burpees Hole #2 Lbcs – 40 extra at end of hole Hole #3 Lunge between shots Hole #4 Squats x 5 Hole #5 – throwing with non-dominit arm E2ks (per knee) x 5 Hole #6 Sshs x 5 Hole #7 Merkins x 5
3RD F
Wavewalker song lyrics (abbreviated)
How’s it so simple? Faith like a child I give you an inch and you take me a mile I feel the wind rush and the thunder roll And two feet on the water, only one way to go, yeah
I don’t gotta be afraid no more ‘Cause I know You’ll walk me through the storm I’m more than just a talker
I’m a wavewalker I’m dancing on water When the devil tried to shake me, I just pray harder Even in my darkest hour Got Holy Ghost power When I keep my eyes upon You, Jesus I’m a wavewalker (wavewalker)
I walk over my fears, over my doubt The supernatural, it feels so natural now
I don’t gotta be afraid no more ‘Cause I know You’ll walk me through the storm I’m more than just a talker I’m a wavewalker
This song made me think of Peter walking on the water to Jesus. How we need to keep our eyes on Him at all times.
1. a cooking appliance with a rotating spit for roasting and barbecuing meat.
2. F3 Definition of Rotisserie – You #$% is in for a Beatdown !!
PAX moseyed @.63 miles to the first pain station at MFD and completed 30 American Hammers in a four count cadence.
Moseyed from the FD @.49 miles to 514 Chestnut St. where we completed a toy soldier set of 100 LBC’s, 50 E2K’s each side and 25 Big Boys.
Moseyed .22 miles from 514 Chestnut to WBOC (OTS) where all PAX Bear Crawled for @8 parking spaces (@80 ft.) and completed ATM’s – 15 alternating shoulder taps (4 count), 10 tempo Merkins (4 count), and 10 fast merkins OYO. PAX Bear Crawled back (@80 ft.) and completed another evolution of said ATM’s.
Moseyed .21 miles from WBOC to 611 Federal Street where we completed a descending round of Super 21 without any recovery exercises between the rounds. 21 merkins, 21 LBC’s. 20 merkins, 20 LBC’s, etc. descending through the round of 15. Time was a factor and Q challenged each HIM to complete the descending rounds to 1 merkin, 1 LBC OYO at home.
Moseyed 1.16 miles from 611 Federal Street back to CHOP. Total – 2.71 miles overall mosey, not counting any mileage accrued for those that circled back to bring up our 6.
Count-O-Rama, Name-O-Rama, and the Circle of Trust. Prayers were offered for multiple needs within the attending PAX, but please keep all our HIM in your thoughts and prayers.
Chappie hosted coffeteria for all HIM in the Church Fellowship Hall. Thanks to Quattro for donuts and extra coffee.
Maybe it was the dumb voices I did. But the kids used to love it when I read “Winnie the Pooh” to them. Tigger with his irrepressible “hoo-hoo!,” bouncing everywhere. And Eeyore with his head down and his ever-present gloom.
I’d rather be Tigger than Eeyore. Maybe without the bouncing. I want to be the one who leaves sunshine in the room, not storm clouds.
That’s not so easy. There’s plenty to make us Eeyores. Overheated schedules. Grumpy folks. Medical battles. Family tension. Too little sleep. Long delays. Aggravating pain. Aggravating people.
Then there’s the antidote. Thanksgiving. Well, actually, giving thanks. That may be the difference between being the joy-bringer or the joy-killer.
The “inventors” of our Thanksgiving exemplify that difference. According to H. U. Westermayer, “The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts. No Americans have been more impoverished than those who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving.”
There’s Thanksgiving the holiday. Then there’s thanks-living, the lifestyle. It’s the difference between the dirty window and the blessing glasses.
When I look out a dirty window, the whole world looks yucky. Even the really good stuff is dimmed by all the caked-on dirt that’s coloring my view.
If you’ve decided your role in life is “victim,” it will be hard to see much that’s positive through that window. Abused … neglected … abandoned … misunderstood … passed over … wounded – that’s real hurt.
But to let those who hurt you define you is a self-imposed sentence of despair. Denying the many good things because they don’t fit the victim narrative. Living as a prisoner of your past.
Unthankfulness, for whatever reason, breeds some ugly offspring. In Romans 1, God describes how humans end up doing unthinkably depraved things – and where that downward slide starts. “They wouldn’t worship Him as God or even give Him thanks … their minds became dark and confused” (Romans 1:21 NLT).
Unthankful heart -> dark mind. Bitterness … resentment … depression … anger … rebellion against God. They come from an ungrateful heart.
Yes, you can choose to go through life looking out your dirty window, seeing all that’s wrong. Or, you can choose to put on your blessing glasses. That enables you to live – not in denial of the bad stuff – but celebrating the goodness of God all around you. If you have eyes to see it.
Henry Ward Beecher, said: “The unthankful heart … discovers no mercies; but let the thankful heart sweep through the day and, as a magnet finds the iron, so it will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings!”
And those blessings are always there. The ever-changing masterpieces of the Ultimate Artist all over the sky, the yard, the horizon. The smile of a friend, the laughter of a child, the roof over your head. The food in the fridge, the song of that bird, the car that runs, the job you have, the person who cares. We call them “God-sightings.”
Actually, thanks-living isn’t just an option for a follower of Jesus. It’s a command. “Always be joyful” – how am I going to do that, for heaven’s sake? “Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:16, 18).
When you look at life through blessing glasses, all kinds of good things blossom. Joy that’s from what’s happening in your spirit, not your situation. Peace that banishes anxiety. Faith that sees a God who’s bigger than whatever is bigger than you are.
Thanksgiving’s a great time to become intentional about collecting blessings, not burdens. Living “with gratitude in your hearts to God.” To “do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him” (Colossians 3:16-17).
For me, that thanks begins, not at a turkey-filled table. But at an old rugged cross. Where I once again allow myself to be leveled by the love of my Jesus. Who took my hell. So I can spend forever in His heaven.
Thanksgiving – and thanks-living – begin with the love that will never let me go.
