I've been reading so much lately about being thankful, grateful. Do you think the Lord is speaking to me??? I have so very much to be thankful for and I do think of that often, then something strikes me wrong and I forget. So enjoy your articles. I think of you so much, had planned to call you this last week, don't know what happened. Right now I'm swamped with getting ready for Thanksgiving, 21 here for dinner and 15 for overnight. So glad Jeremy left his bed here instead of taking it like planned, so have another queen size.
I pray the Lord is giving you His peace as you adjust to everything there. God bless, Anne
Are You a Whiner?
Ever be around someone who drags you down?
You feel exhausted just listening to them!
When Israel traveled through the wilderness, their first response to problems was to whine.
I’m thirsty.
The water’s too bitter!
We’re tired of manna.
Sound like a whining toddler!
[Sometimes I get like that.
Nothing looks good to eat.
What do I have to wear?
Why can't everyone do it my way.
I've become a whiner!]
Know the simple manners we teach our children—“Please” and “Thank you”?
Israel forgot them.
Know where it led them?
How long will this wicked assembly keep complaining about Me? I’ve heard the complaints of the Israelis that they’ve been murmuring against ME. So tell them that as long as I live—consider this to be an oracle from the Lord—as certainly as you’ve spoken right into My ears, that’s how I’m going to treat you. Your corpses will fall in this wilderness—every single one of you who has been counted among you, according to your number from 20 years and above, who complained against Me. You will certainly never enter the land about which I made an oath with my uplifted hand to settle you in it, except for Jephunneh’s son Caleb and Nun’s son, Joshua. Numbers 14:27-30.
They never entered the Promised Land.
They saw God’s miracles, but refused to thank Him.
In Romans 1, we see the spiral of sin. It gets darker as it gets deeper.
How does it start?
Ungratefulness.
For although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Romans 1:21.
Wonder why society is so bad?
It starts with people not giving thanks.
But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. 2 Timothy 3:1-5
The list is long.
Ungratefulness seems like such an insignificant thing.
Just a trite “thank you” over our food, before we eat.
Gives an appearance of godliness—of manners, but it doesn’t reach our heart.
Children don’t appreciate what their parents do.
They feel entitled.
They expect the good, not as a gift, but as a demand.
They are ungrateful.
Teach your children gratefulness.
Start when they begin to talk.
And persist in reminding them that it is important.
They will stand out in this world who has forgotten to be thankful.
Thankfulness must be disciplined to become a habit, a response.
Even then, we must work to make it reach our heart.
Why?
Because when we forget to be thankful, we forget God.
When one of my boys had trouble with his disposition, I required him to tell me ten things which he was thankful—every time he complained.
I accepted the obvious—food, shelter, for the first time, but he could not repeat his list the next time he complained.
He had to think of different things.
It started getting more detailed, and required more thought. Not just a trite list.
It started changing his attitude.
He stopped complaining.
It works for me, too. When I start getting anxious, or fretful, or discontent, or...
As times get harder is there less reason to give thanks?
Just the opposite.
We should see what we had. And lost.
Freedoms are taken away.
Being with our loved one, who may be dying.
Meeting at church.
Singing.
Having family get-togethers (without neighbors reporting you.)
We see what’s important, when it’s no longer there.
And whine about the loss!
God tells us to remember Him.
When we do, those things—those important things—won’t be forgotten.
And we will be grateful for what we have now.
Anxious about the future?
Give thanks to God.
Those cares of this world will lift.
And we will show God honor.
What helps you not to whine, but to give thanks?
Anne Egli
November 24, 2020
Esther
November 24, 2020
I love your tactic to deal with whining with your son! I will have to try that one.
With small children when we are waiting in the car or some other such whine-inducing situation we play the Thankfulness Alphabet game...each person takes turns saying something they are thankful for that starts with the sequential letters of the alphabet. It really does help to adjust the overall mood!
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Faith
Find more articles about faith here:
Are You a Whiner?
Are Your Works Approved?
Do You Think You're Stressed?
Is Your Soul Feeling Ragged?
God Speaks to the Heart of the King
What about the Details?
Have You Felt the Long-Suffering of God?
How Does God Lead You?
Do You Have Enough?
Don't Carry More than You Need
Cast the Seed
God Is Faithful
Are You Deceived?
Are You Essential?
Are You Safe?
Are You Tired of the Same Old Thing?
Does the World Make Sense?
Have You Seen God's Majesty?
Do You Feel Judged?
If You Only Had One More Day To Live
Are You Understood?
Do You Long for the Word of God?
Slow Down and Smell the Dead Leaves
Are You Hospitable?
Our Heritage Is Bought by Blood
Are You Disturbed?
Are You Depressed?
I Did It My Way
Finding the Simple Life with Meaning
The Simple Life
Do You Have the Right Words?
Did Your Dream Die?
On the Other Side of the Fence
Marijuana, Mental Illness, and Violence
Confessions of a Desperate Mom
Saving for Tomorrow
A Wedding Remembered
Who Will Stand in the Gap?
Are You a Protector or a Ruler?
Who Are You?
Are You an Image Bearer or a Wad of Cells?
Are You a Watchman?
Where Do You Find Meaning?
The Lamb of God as Told by a Scribe
What Love Is This?
Remember: The Symbols of Passover Explained
Tea and Rest
Do You Have Peace?
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When Life Is Awful
Are You Strong Enough?
Rules
Seasons
Be Faithful through Suffering
Do You Know the Word?
Wake Up! Strengthen What Remains
Are You Spit in God's Mouth?
Is Jezebel in Your Midst?
Do You Stand Against Satan Himself?
Are You Tired of Being a Mom?
What in the World Is Happening?
It's Not My Story
How Would Your Faith Compare?
Are You Sinking?
Are You a Rule Follower?
Useful for Him
An Intimate Moment with Mary
The Worldview that Makes the
Underclass
Thoughts to Ponder
What Does It Take To Know the
Heart of God?
See the Story in the Stars
Do the Scriptures Burn You?
Being in His Presence
Contentment: It's Not for the Timid
How Secure Are You?
How Do You Respond To Stupid People?
The Earthworm Is My Hero
Heart Issues or Issues of the Heart
Things Aren't Always What They Seem
More faith articles are found here:
under the Table of Contents. Also available in book form.
Or here:
under the Table of Contents. Also available in book form.
Articles on Suffering can be found here,
under Table of Contents. Also available in book form.
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Proclamation
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Christmas: Stories behind the Songs, part 2
Author of Biblical fiction, married to my best friend, and challenged by eight sons’ growing pains as I write about what matters.
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Anne, all of us long for what we lost, rather than thank for what we have. Isn't that being human?
Glad you are able to have your family close.
Do pray for those who can't during this season. It is cause for many tears.
Esther, what an excellent game and educational! Mine were merely for survival—mine.
I spoke of a book we read together back in my Christmas letter of 2009, The Glad Game—the poor minister and his daughter received a care package from their supporting church. The little girl was hoping for a doll. Instead she got a crutch. The father seeing her disappointment said, "We can be glad that we don't need the crutch." And thus the "Glad Game" started. When her father died and she went to live with her great aunt, she taught everyone in her community the "Glad Game." It changed how they lived.
Being Thankful is a choice (sometimes hard to make), but will change how you live.
So appreciate your sharing!