Thankful Thursday

Thankful Thursday 6-17-2021

Instruction Book

Thankful Thursday dawns with one beautiful morning outside here in central Pennsylvania. As I walked outside with my son to say goodbye as he headed into his day, I asked him if I should meet him later with a water bottle for his activities this evening. He looked at me and said, “Mom, I’m coming home before tonight’s activity. You don’t have to meet me.” I thanked him for the updated and shared that I mentally had not yet reviewed today’s entire plans for the family.

After sending him on his way, I got my morning coffee and spent some time in devotions and scripture. This grounding time of my day is so important as it creates not only the stepping stone for the plans ahead, but also the “how-to” guide for I the attitude I bring to each situation. No matter what we face in life, the Bible holds answers and direction for where we are right now in life.

If you feel as though you are floundering a bit, need a bit of reorienting, or just want to be grounded again, carve out a bit more time to be with Jesus. Take in His Word. Let His presence surround you, hold you, and care for you. He loves you.

I am grateful for the nurturing. This fuels me to make the changes I need and to love others as I am called. I pray you find nurturing and fuel as you spend time with Jesus today too!

Blessings to you!

Thankful Thursday 6-17-2021 Experience Opportunities:

All are invited to Worship both online and in person. In person options occur Sundays at 8 am, 9:15 am, & 10:30 am. Masks are optional when seated at all services. To learn more about online worship, click here. Or want to revisit a message that really spoke to you? Check out our Sunday Sermons.

On Facebook (Gravel Hill Church) and Twitter (@GravelHill): A Moment To Praise and A Moment To Praise For Kids! find postings from our worship leader, Joyce. She shares a small devotional, scripture, and worship song.

Thankful Thursday 6-10-2021

The Unexpected

Thankful Thursday greeted our home with an unexcepted knock at the door. Upon opening it, a smiling man from the utility company said hello and informed me his crew was there to replace the telephone pole on our property. He then asked for permission to access the work area by way of our front yard. This added excitement shifted today’s plans slightly, but I am grateful for the work done to sure up the connection with our utilities.

While doing the tasks listed on my calendar, I remember to remain connected to God. On days like today with His guidance, I shift direction, reprioritize tasks, and adapt to the new element in my day. I have found the key to making these shifts easier: gratitude. I thank the Lord for good in the new direction and for the protection He provided by not having me continue on with my original plans. Only He knows where those actions may have led and the good I would have missed without following His lead.

As Jeremiah 29:11 reminds us, ^“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare^[a] and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” This gift of hope calls us to continue to turn to Him with everything. He loves us.

Blessings to you!

Thankful Thursday 6-10-2021 Experience Opportunities:

All are invited to Worship both online and in person. In person options occur Sundays at 8 am, 9:15 am, & 10:30 am. Masks are optional when seated at all services. To learn more about online worship, click here. Or want to revisit a message that really spoke to you? Check out our Sunday Sermons.

On Facebook (Gravel Hill Church) and Twitter (@GravelHill): A Moment To Praise and A Moment To Praise For Kids! find postings from our worship leader, Joyce. She shares a small devotional, scripture, and worship song.

Thankful Thursday 6-3-2021

Peace

Thankful Thursday holds weather loaded with calm humidity and pregnant with anticipation of action to come today. This anticipation pause while wrapped with layers of dewiness calls for continuing the foundational routines of life while both reflecting on the adventures that have been taken and dreaming of opportunities yet to come. Approaching this activity with gratitude unlocks emotions of joy and happiness in your life.

As I write this, a peaceful calm envelops my soul. This moment of happiness hugs my heart. I appreciate the moments of foundation for my day. Their solid necessity and expectation free my creativity to wander and explore possibilities.

Lifting gratitude and praise, I rest my mind and body in this peaceful place. I rest in Him. John 14:27 speaks to this gift. The energy I need will come when needed and go to new opportunities that await.

I pray that you may find gratitude for where you are, make time to be with Jesus, and in doing so find the rest and energy you need in your day today.

Blessings to you!

Thankful Thursday 6-3-2021 Experience Opportunities:

All are invited to Worship both online and in person. In person options occur Sundays at 8 am, 9:15 am, & 10:30 am. Masks are optional when seated at all services. To learn more about online worship, click here. Or want to revisit a message that really spoke to you? Check out our Sunday Sermons.

On Facebook (Gravel Hill Church) and Twitter (@GravelHill): A Moment To Praise and A Moment To Praise For Kids! find postings from our worship leader, Joyce. She shares a small devotional, scripture, and worship song.

Thankful Thursday 5-27-2021

Calm and Gratitude

Thankful Thursday welcomes us with some gorgeous weather. This sunny welcome helps lift my spirit as I prepare to greet the day, the tasks ahead, and the people I will meet in the moments to come. With a grateful heart, I appreciate each of the gifts in my day.

The routine tasks offer a calming sense of stability. And cleaning the bed sheets mean that tonight we get to climb into a fresh and clean space of comfort prepared especially for each of us to have a good night’s rest.

The relationships I get to nurture today hold bountiful blessing for the future. The first and foremost important one is with Jesus. Making sure I get into His Word to hear from Him and allowing my heart to receive His direction, encouragement, and love remain key actions to take for the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) to come forth in my life. This fruit enhances my interactions and relationships with others in my life.

Do I do this perfectly every day? Not at all. I am human. God loves me. And by His grace and mercy, I return to Him each day to be renewed and refreshed. This gift overflows onto my approach to daily tasks and fortunate connections with others. For these gifts and so much more, my gratitude overflows!

I invite you to think about what and who you are grateful for. When you discover those answers, say a prayer for them and a word of thanks for having them in your life. Wishing you calm and gratitude today!

Blessings to you!

Thankful Thursday 5-27-2021 Experience Opportunities:

All are invited to Worship both online and in person. In person options occur Sundays at 8 am, 9:15 am, & 10:30 am* (*mask optional when seated). To learn more about online worship, click here. Or want to revisit a message that really spoke to you? Check out our Sunday Sermons.

On Facebook (Gravel Hill Church) and Twitter (@GravelHill): A Moment To Praise and A Moment To Praise For Kids! find postings from our worship leader, Joyce. She shares a small devotional, scripture, and worship song.

Thankful Thursday 5-20-2021

Space and Time

Thankful Thursday builds space for me to pause and reflect. It is here where I make the time to think on life and choose to look for God and the good He graces in life. Today’s focus: space and time. While often overlooked or rushed through, these two gifts offer an abundance and fullness of life.

As I was reading through Twitter, a post made me pause my scrolling to truly taking in its message. The message had extra space between the lines of its words. The words of gratitude recognized the space captured their attention causing them to also pause their scroll and take time to reflect on the shared words.

Throughout history, poets, authors, philosophers, and more have provided reflection on these elements of space and time. Often referring to the actions taken by humans, each makes an attempt to share their perspective of the impact and the intangibles driving these actions. And the Bible shares perspective:

“There is a time for everything,
    and a season for every activity under the heavens”

These words from Ecclesiastes 3 (click to read the entire chapter) capture the moments of life we are experiencing right now. While they were written in a different era, the timelessness of their meaning hold strong today in the spaces we live.

Spaces change. Time moves on. The events of life continue. Who we look to in life influences how we choose to approach life.

Blessings to you!

Thankful Thursday 5-20-2021 Experience Opportunities:

All are invited to Worship both online and in person. In person options occur Sundays at 8 am, 9:15 am, & 10:30 am* (*mask optional when seated). To learn more about online worship, click here. Or want to revisit a message that really spoke to you? Check out our Sunday Sermons.

On Facebook (Gravel Hill Church) and Twitter (@GravelHill): A Moment To Praise and A Moment To Praise For Kids! find postings from our worship leader, Joyce. She shares a small devotional, scripture, and worship song.

Thankful Thursday 5-13-2021

New Life Directions

Thankful Thursday delivers mail holding invitations to celebrate the graduation of familiar faces to our family. These milestones and celebrations provide the chance to think about everything and everyone that has been a part of life helping to reach this point. Remembering all these pieces helps provide the foundation of the faith that in moving forward you will continue to get through the unknowns ahead of you.

In reflection you will find both the tough times and the fun times along with the sad times and the good times. All these moments weave together to create the fabric of your life. Each of us consists of varied, colorful stories creating beautiful masterpieces.

Some know the path they will continue towards. Others may still need to make their decision. Regardless of the point at which we are on our journey, God is with us always. When we seek Him in our decisions, He will make our choices work out for His good. With this knowledge, we can always proceed forward in confidence and faith.

Blessings to you!

Thankful Thursday 5-13-2021 Experience Opportunities:

All are invited to Online Worship. To know more about online worship, click here. Or want to revisit a message that really spoke to you? Check out our Sunday Sermons.

On Facebook (Gravel Hill Church) and Twitter (@GravelHill): A Moment To Praise and A Moment To Praise For Kids! find postings from our worship leader, Joyce. She shares a small devotional, scripture, and worship song.

Thankful Thursday 5-6-2021

This Side of Heaven

Thankful Thursday sees the sun shining. The sun offers its gifts of warmth, light, and energy continuously. Somedays clouds come between the sun and us blocking its direct gifts. From past experiences and the knowledge shared from scientists, we know the sun is still there providing for us.

Another son also provides for each of us continuously: Jesus Christ. He offers us the gift of eternal life. Nothing on earth can keep you from a relationship with Him. Satan will try to distract you or turn you away from being in relation with Jesus. But the experiences and knowledge of Christ’s provision, help you to know His relationship is always there waiting for you to enter into time with Him.

This relationship waits of each of us. It is not something another person can do for us. No one can have a “second-hand” relationship with Christ. We each have the choice to accept it through another gift we have also been given: free will.

Through free will, we can choose to enter into the gift of relation with Jesus Christ. It is a daily choice. One to make each day. Because it is always there waiting for us to be with us on this side of heaven through to the other side.

Blessings to you!

Thankful Thursday 5-6-2021 Experience Opportunities:

All are invited to Online Worship. To know more about online worship, click here. Or want to revisit a message that really spoke to you? Check out our Sunday Sermons.

On Facebook (Gravel Hill Church) and Twitter (@GravelHill): A Moment To Praise and A Moment To Praise For Kids! find postings from our worship leader, Joyce. She shares a small devotional, scripture, and worship song.

Thankful Thursday 4-29-2021

A Refresh & Spark

Thankful Thursday hears praises lifting from my lips. Rain showers kiss the ground and provide a much needed drink for the plants. The showers also help to rinse my vehicle helping to clear the yellow coating of pollen.

After also vacuuming my vehicle last night and the rain clearing the way today, the word ‘refresh’ keeps running through my mind. A cleansing. Getting back to the basics. These actions allow my perspective to gain foundational grounding with a new spark of life.

Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins did the same for each of us. It cleared humanity’s understanding of living and made the perfect sacrifice for us to have a direct relationship with God through Jesus Christ. The gift of the Holy Spirit awaits each of us every moment if we choose to look for it. Jesus shares about the Holy Spirit in John 15:26: When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me.

When we receive the foundational grounding of the Holy Spirit, Jesus gives us further instruction in the next versus on what we should do with this spark of new life. And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning (John 15:27). Live a life sparked with the Spirit of truth.

Blessings to you!

Thankful Thursday 4-29-2021 Experience Opportunities:

All are invited to Online Worship. To know more about online worship, click here. Or want to revisit a message that really spoke to you? Check out our Sunday Sermons.

On Facebook (Gravel Hill Church) and Twitter (@GravelHill): A Moment To Praise and A Moment To Praise For Kids! find postings from our worship leader, Joyce. She shares a small devotional, scripture, and worship song.

Thankful Thursday 4-22-2021

The Washer

Thankful Thursday sees freshly made beds and clean laundry making its way back into closets and drawers in our household. While handling these tasks, I could help but think about the amount of work it would have been to do this much laundry before the automatic washing machine was invented. It would have been a LOT of work!

In my Google search, I found the year 1767 as the first year a washing machine was invented, but it was only in 1937 when the first automatic washing machine came to be. Looking back, 170 years seems like a long time to evolve from a manual to an automatic washer. But I’m so grateful for each of the inventors contributing to trying and make it a little better. Each attempt helped refine the direction.

Whom did it benefit? The greater good. People around the world benefit from the automatic washer allowing them more time.

Time used to build relationships. Care for loved ones. Contribute to projects easing another area of life for the greater good.

Deuteronomy 6:10-12 offers a reminder: we have not gotten where we are on our own. The LORD provides what has been, what is now, and what is to come. And He does so through people like you and me. I’m grateful for the gift of time from those who have come before me to work towards bettering life of those around me. And if God so chooses to use me to create a blessing for those to come after me, I keep myself open to His guidance to do so.

Keep washing. Use your time well. Contribute to the greater good. And thank God for all His help!

Blessings to you!

Thankful Thursday 4-22-2021 Experience Opportunities:

All are invited to Online Worship. To know more about online worship, click here. Or want to revisit a message that really spoke to you? Check out our Sunday Sermons.

On Facebook (Gravel Hill Church) and Twitter (@GravelHill): A Moment To Praise and A Moment To Praise For Kids! find postings from our worship leader, Joyce. She shares a small devotional, scripture, and worship song.

Thankful Thursday 4-15-2021

Masterpiece within Masterpiece

Thankful Thursday hosts an abundance of birds. As I sit and read my devotions, a variety of these winged creatures treat me to their beauty. Their songs make their way through the windows lending a soothing natural background to my time with God.

When you think about the detail and intricacies of a bird and then expand it to vast multitude of birds in our world, the capacity of our Heavenly Father becomes mind blowing! Greater still to also apply that same energy, thought, and care to the creation of each living species on the earth including us: humans! Each of us intentionally and purposefully created as stated in scripture:

Ephesians 2:10

Our world is a masterpiece. Each nuanced layer and living thing within this world is also a masterpiece. As we align ourselves to God and live according to His purposeful call upon our lives, His glory shines even more brightly through our connections and interactions with one another. Enjoy the beauty of the masterpieces surrounding you in this world. And may you connect well with God to live into the masterpiece He created you to be.

Blessings to you!

Thankful Thursday 4-15-2021 Experience Opportunities:

All are invited to Online Worship. To know more about online worship, click here. Or want to revisit a message that really spoke to you? Check out our Sunday Sermons.

On Facebook (Gravel Hill Church) and Twitter (@GravelHill): A Moment To Praise and A Moment To Praise For Kids! find postings from our worship leader, Joyce. She shares a small devotional, scripture, and worship song.