Gratitude Archive

I was laying in bed this morning about 5:32 am when a list of things popped into my head that were proceeded with, “It’s not a burden to…..”. It was a long list and a constant list of more and more things being added to it. Things like, “It’s not a burden to pray every morning.”, “It’s not a burden to care for others that are sick.”, “It’s not a burden to slow down and appreciate life.” And so one.

I really believe that in this quiet time with God this morning, He was reminding me of His purpose for me and why He placed me on earth. Simply, to do His will. Maybe I needed a reminder and I wasn’t aware I needed it. It all made sense. As I share some of the things He reminded me of this morning, I will tie it all back to what God’s Word teaches us and supports the list.

First, “It’s not a burden to pray every morning.”. We know that if we pray frequently that prayer becomes a part of our lives without much thought. Lately I have been struggling in my prayers and find it difficult to sit silently and focus on prayer. My prayers seem discombobulated and all over the place without focus. This reminded me that just being in prayer quietly with my Heavenly Father is all I need. I don’t need words because the Holy Spirit intercedes for me. It is not a burden with Him.

Psalm 59:16 But I will sing of your strength; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress.

“It’s not a burden to care for others who are sick.” Before both my parents became ill with cancer, I pretty much took all my free time to do things I wanted to do. My life is very different now. I am centered in caring for the people that cared for me in my young life. My “free time” activities have changed. God has showed me through the Bible that we are to care for parents and others. The most amazing thing is now as I care for them is I have plenty of time in my day. God has provided ample time for me each day to do everything He requires me to do plus time for myself. I am lucky, I have always had a wonderful relationship with my parents. If you didn’t and your parents need you, cleanse the relationship with forgiveness so you can help properly.

Ephesians 6:1-3 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.

“It’s not a burden to slow down and appreciate life.”. Remember the Bible story of Mary and Martha? One sat at Jesus’ feet to learn everything she could while the other became upset and restless because her sister would not help prepare the dinner? (Luke 10:38-42) How many times have I become busy and overwhelmed doing the things on my list that truly could wait? Busying myself with the tasks of the world instead of the tasks of my Lord.

Luke 10:38-42 Martha and Mary
Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

“It’s not a burden to love myself.” I have blogged about my past and being very unhappy about my weight, my income, as well as my popularity. This was a time I didn’t understand I was a child of God and was chosen by Him. I know now that God designed me how He wanted me for His purpose and if I look into the mirror and not love myself I am dishonoring His work. I know I am perfect in His eyes and what the world thinks does not matter.

1 John 1:3 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

“It’s not a burden to say kind words.” In the past, I have been judgmental and very unkind with my words. I am not proud of the things I would say just to hurt someone. I thought it made be a better person to point out others’ flaws. I was wrong. I try my best to say nothing if the words I am about to say are not kind and in the interest of being Christlike. This is a learned practice and doesn’t come easy but I always feel better when I withhold words that aren’t the best for the situation.

Proverbs 18:20 “Words satisfy the soul as food satisfies the stomach; the right words on a person’s lips bring satisfaction.”

My friends, I pray that you make your list of what is not a burden in your eyes anymore. When God brought this list to me, I realized that I have grown in my relationship with Him. I see that God is providing all the time and skills I need to do His work and not feel burdened any longer. Thank you for reading my blog. I pray for all of you and am grateful for your love.-LoLo

You may know that shortly after I started my ministry I found myself in the emergency room receiving a blood transfusion. I suffered so many years from extreme anemia and now I was so weak I could barely drive to the hospital. I just knew a pint of blood would heal me. I so felt like the woman in the Bible that suffered like I did.

Matthew 9:20-22 ²⁰ But  a woman who had been suffering from a hemorrhage  for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak.  ²¹ For she kept saying to herself,  “If only I touch his cloak, I will be healed.”  ²² But when Jesus turned and saw her he said, “Have courage, daughter! Your faith has made you well.” And the woman was healed  from that hour.

I knew that as I sat on that ER gurney that someone here on earth took the time to give blood to save me and heal me. Someone that maybe took their lunch hour to donate or maybe when their child was a gymnastic or dance practice, or quite possibly as a result of them once needing blood. I was grateful. A person I did not know cared enough about me to share their blood to save an unknown recipient.

Suddenly a thunder bolt struck me, this is exactly what Jesus did. He shared blood to benefit billions of believers. He so unselfishly shed His blood to save us all. I had never looked at a human blood donation in a way to see the original original act of Christ to save us. He gave blood.

As I watched the blood flow into my veins I reflected on Jesus’ blood leaving his body to give us the blessed life God so wants us to have as a Christian. Blood flowing inward just as the Holy Spirit came into me to remind me of the sacrifice Jesus made for each and everyone of us!

Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace

Just as the person that donated blood, Jesus “donated” His blood to reconcile the world to God and to offer everlasting life for Christians. This person gave a small part of themselves to save another while Jesus gave all of Him to save all. I am not saying in any way that the person that gave my blood donation is equal to Christ. I am saying that when I received my transfusion it opened my eyes fully to what Jesus did at the cross and how His blood transforms us.

Hebrews 13:12 And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood.

I remember seeing blood drives in the past that said, “Give blood. Give life.”. This sums up Jesus’ sacrifice and crucifixion so simply. Jesus gave His blood and we now have life. Think about it, four simple words explain as Christians the gift of life given through His blood.

Mark 14:24 And He said to them, “This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.

My friends I thank you for reading my blog and knowing that God is always here for us. I pray daily for your and for you I am grateful-LoLo

Almost one year ago (January 1st) I wrote a blog on how I was going to live a remarkable life in 2020. Everything I saw and accomplished would be remarkable. I would tell everyone that asked that I was remarkable. It was my word for the year. Well remarkable it was indeed. I said my vision would be perfect, 20/20 vision in 2020.

Initially I felt nothing could be farther from the truth. What was remarkable in 2020, I saw nothing happening according to plan. Pandemic, unemployment, deaths, difficult election, financial ruin. How was this perfect or remarkable in any way?

And then, I remembered the definition of remarkable.

Remarkable adjective: worthy of being or likely to be noticed especially as being uncommon or extraordinary

The thing I was missing was I thought remarkable was a positive adjective. I thought to be remarkable was to be outstanding in a good way and that is what I had planned on being in 2020. I missed that nowhere did it say this, it said, “likely to be noticed…uncommon and extraordinary.” I have to stop skimming the words when I read and focus more on the actual written words.

I scratched my head recently and realized I have lived a remarkable year. Remarkable according to the true definition and not my definition. There definitely were many things I noticed this year and without God I would have never made it. We as a nation were hit over and over with constant surprises and unforeseen events. God is the only way I could move through this year and know I would be okay. I repeated Psalm 46:5 over and over this past year.

Psalm 46:5 “God is within her, she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.”

It seemed many nights I went to bed wondering what the next day would bring. I couldn’t watch the news because I had no faith in it to be true. I relied on my husband for updates on the coronavirus, the stock market, election information and so on. I removed myself from the constants of the world to focus on God and His powers to get me (and you) through this year. I listened to sermons that were positive reminding me that God was in control. I moved away from sermons that talked about this being the end of times, sorry preachers, this has been preached about for a few thousand years. Only God knows when this will be, let’s not try to figure that out.

Psalm 91:11 For he will command his angels concerning you
    to guard you in all your ways;

What was remarkable for me this year? Many things have happened that I didn’t think would. My biggest account for my job froze their budgets and cancelled their orders ($10,000) leaving me without income. At first I freaked out but then I quieted myself and breathed deeply. What would I do with my time without this account? This allowed me to dig deep within myself to recognize I was focusing on money too much. When God stopped my ability to sell and make money, He pointed me to focusing on my ministry and understanding how to help people in a pandemic. I learned how to pray for people through texting prayers. I dropped gratitude hearts off on peoples’ porches so I still shared gratitude hearts without holding someone’s hand. I made a plea for my donors to help place a large order to Kenya for gratitude hearts since they were suffering from locust and coronavirus threatening them. I was blown away by the people that donated to help keep these artisans working through their troubles. It wasn’t about me making money for me, it was about me sharing money with others. My vision became clearer on this in 2020.

Proverbs 22:9 The generous will themselves be blessed, for they share their food with the poor.

Another remarkable thing that happened is that we were all locked down and had to remain in our houses unless we were an essential worker. This gave me a lot of time to study God’s word and try to absorb more of the Bible for a better understanding. I don’t have good reading comprehension so I rely on learning at times through visual learning. I do this by watching and listening to video messages to help me comprehend. I watched “The Chosen”, many Rick Warren messages, “The Life of Jesus Christ” movie, did a few Bible studies and practicing praying more genuinely. I found my days were longer than before because I was immersing myself into good and not wasting time. I would look at the clock expecting it to me 1:00 in the afternoon and it was only 10:30 in the morning. My vision became clearer that when I am in and with God I see more clearly.

1 Timothy 4:15-16 Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.

The last thing I would like to cover is seeing my family differently in 2020. In past years I have been very busy and quick to say I didn’t have time to have a cup of coffee with my parents or to sit and have a meaningful conversation with my husband. This changed dramatically in 2020. Once again we were facing cancer with a family member and during a pandemic. His compromised health had to be protected and I needed to be the one that did errands, got groceries and visited as to have them not become lonely and isolated. I saw God grow me spiritually to understand my role in taking care of my family. He softened my heart and strengthened my vision in yet another way.

The Fifth Commandment says: “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you” (Exodus 20:12). My parents have cared for me when I was young, paid for my schooling, held my hand when I was brokenhearted, stayed up all night with me when I was sick, as well as paid bills for me when I was a single mom without money. I definitely can care for them as God has asked.

I feel the year of 2020 (or 20/20 vision) had given me great clarity. As I removed my dirty glasses and cleaned them with the cloth or fabric of the Bible I do see perfectly. I see that no matter what we walk though, God has a purpose and an opportunity to grow. May God bless you. My gratitude and love-LoLo

Philippians 4:7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

Times are tough, people are hurting, illness is spreading and we are all growing tired. We need healing and hope that we are living in a good world instead of the world that is beating us down daily. When I am beatdown I always turn to Luke 10:30-37 for restoration.

³⁰ In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. ³¹ A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. ³² So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. ³³ But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. ³⁴ He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. ³⁵ The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’ ³⁶ “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” ³⁷ The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”

I look at the three items the good Samaritan shares with the wounded man. Wine, Oil and cloth bandages. This is the reverse order than listed in the Bible but it is my approach to understanding.

The wine was to clean the wound and to be used as an antiseptic. No wounds will heal without being cleansed properly. Wounds of the skin or wounds of the heart have to be purified in order to heal. I know that when I cut myself that my husband always bathes my wound in isopropyl alcohol and it hurts immensely but I know it will prepare the wound for healing. The wine also represents an agent that would keep infection away in the future days as my cut heals.

It is the same when our heart is wounded. First it hurts immensely and then Jesus steps in to purify and heal. Jesus’ cleansing and my husband’s cleaning of my wounds are representative of what the Good Samaritan was doing. Taking the first step in love and kindness for our neighbors. Jesus also offers the protection of helping my heart not hurt in the future. He does this by interceding in my heart as The Holy Spirit when the pain flares again with a new wound. This gives me the confidence I will always heal with Jesus.

John 15:12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”

Let’s look at the olive oil that the good Samaritan spread onto the man’s wounds. Olive oil is soothing and provides a barrier or sealant to allow the wound to be undisturbed during healing. My husband may cover my wound with an antibiotic cream for the same reason, to protect my cut. Jesus provides a blanket of protection over my soul and heart in the same manner. This blanket of protection is never ending and won’t wear off after healing.

Psalm91:9-14

If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,”
    and you make the Most High your dwelling,
¹⁰ no harm will overtake you,
    no disaster will come near your tent.
¹¹ For he will command his angels concerning you
    to guard you in all your ways;
¹² they will lift you up in their hands,
    so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
¹³ You will tread on the lion and the cobra;
    you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

¹⁴ “Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him;

The final element in this parable are the bandages. The outside covering of the wound that I like to think of as our faith. When this man wore the bandages, he could be reminded that someone else cared about him and took the time to show kindness and help him. Just as my husband places a Band-Aid over my cut to show me he loves me and will care for me here on earth with his kindness and love. I reflect on those bandages in the parable as my faith for Jesus. I want to wear those bandages (faith) out for everyone to see. I want people to know Jesus taught me kindness and how to appreciate others’ kindness for me. Kindness is love. God is love.

Colossians 3:12-14 12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

The final thing I would like to talk about in this parable is how the good Samaritan promised to pay all costs incurred by the man while convalescing at the inn. This too is a beautiful reminder that Jesus not only takes care for us in the present, as we are healing, but in the future too. He died for us, His blood spilled for us, and he ascended to Heaven to continue to love and protect us. God sent Jesus to show us His unconditional love for each of us no matter our color, our thoughts, our difference. We are all neighbors and we are to love and show kindness without thought. The priest and the Levite we both too concerned about what others would think or how much time it would take to help the man. The good Sarmatian cared not but loved.

Galatians 20:20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

As I end this blog I ask you to consider loving those you don’t feel love for. It may be a political party, an ethnicity, a type of person, a religious affiliation. I ask you to turn in prayer and ask God to soften your heart because these are His children. He created each of us for a purpose and that purpose was not to hate but to love and be kind. We are vessels that God uses for good. Don’t let your vessel become cracked and leak but keep yourself strong and unmarred. My love and gratitude for you-LoLo

2 Timothy 20-21 Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.

I know that situations are constantly hitting us right and left like a boxer throwing punches. Bam to the finances, wham to our health, jab to our mental health and the blows go on and on……. Do you currently look like a prizefighter with swollen eyes, blood dripping down your lip, staggering and trying to stand up?

As beat up as we may seem, God is delivering blessings constantly to all of us. I will say that I know it is easier to recognize trauma or defeat than to look for something good in every situations. I am going to share some things that have happened to me this year that made me initially feel like a death blow that I found growth and gratitude in.

I will never forget March 16th of this year. I had around $10,000 in orders for my biggest client than suddenly were cancelled. There was a multitude of orders from this client for big events they had planned for the summer. The events were halted and budgets frozen because of COVID. It was one email after another. Please cancel my order, please cancel my order, please cancel my order. Budgets are frozen and no payments will be made began ringing in my ears. It was like looking at a bathtub drain and the water swirling down the drain was my commissions on $10,000.

Initially I lost my breath. All this work and money gone on the first day of many more days to follow in COVID lockdown. I had worked hard the two weeks before the cancellations to secure and write these order and now it looked like wasted time. After the orders were cancelled, my email inbox sat empty. There was nothing I could do so I prayed.

“Heavenly Father, ” I started feeling like that prizefighter,” I am so unsure of what is happening. Everyone cancelled every order Father. There is a virus brewing that we know nothing about but we are all fearful. I am so confused but I will stand in trust and faith that You are handling this God. I will sit quietly and patiently. Please help me to understand if I am meant to Father. In Jesus’ holy name I pray. Amen” I felt a bit of peace but I felt anxiety begin to swell in my gut like I was just punched again. “I have to be faithful” I thought to myself. Tomorrow is another day.

Well tomorrow was another day. Another day of no emails, no phone calls, nothing. Silence. I had to say this verse over and over.

Psalm 28:7
The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.

Yes Lord, my heart trusts in You and I will see what you are leading me to. Well it turned out with all that down time from my promotional products job it freed up time for me to reevaluate my ministry. If you are unfamiliar with my ministry, I anchor people to God’s love by holding a gratitude heart. http://www.gratefulgratitude11.com

I also had events cancelled that I was to meet with single moms and gift them and their kids gratitude hearts and pray for them. I had assisted living communities I was scheduled to speak at and these too were cancelled. All this time on my hands yet no one to gift hearts to. No holding hands, no hugs, no face to face praying. Where was the golden blessing?

The golden blessing came when I had an offer to hand out hearts at a countywide food distribution.  This particular Saturday morning anyone in need of food that lived in our county would receive food, no questions asked with proof of residency.  They told me 600 families has registered but more were expected.  I recruited three of my friends to help me that day.  We were able to come early and hand out hearts to each car if we wore masks, gloves and kept our distance. 

We arrived at 6:45 am because we were told cars would begin lining up at 7am even through the distribution would begin until 10am.  My friends and I said a quick prayer, posted a Facebook Live and moved towards the cars.

I approached the first car, “Hi, I am LoLo and I have a nonprofit ministry that anchors others to God’s love by gifting gratitude hearts.  May I give each of you a heart?”  It always amazes me that when I hand someone a heart that they immediate are surprised at the weight of each heart.  They are solid soapstone.

That opportunity to gift hearts turned into over three solid hours and handing hearts to people I did not know, praying over them and literally losing my voice.  When I got back home, I counted the leftover hearts in my trunk.  I took 1,204 hearts with me that morning and I returned home with 239 hearts.  My math says that we shared 965 hearts in that short period of time.  We had to split into two teams of two to make better time and share more hearts and unfortunately, we only made it to half the people receiving food boxes that day.

                                                                   Matthew5:16                                                                                                                                             In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

If my business were still booming, I would not have had the time to hand out these hearts.  I would have never seen the many eyes that brightened that day as I gave them a heart.  I would have never been able to pray for multiple people and assure them that Jesus loves them and is with them always.  I would have never seen my friends serve the way they did that day.  My heart would have never known how special all of God’s children are and how diverse yet united we are.  Most of all, I would have never known how much this ministry means to me.  It was not about the money; it was about sharing love with others.

My friends, if you feel like that boxer taking blow after blow, know that God will heal and soften those hits and bring you out better according to His will.  No one or nothing can beat you down when you have our Almighty Father fighting you battles.  May God bless you.  My love and gratitude for each of you.  LoLo

Isaiah 41:10                                                                                                                                           Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.