Some thoughtful thoughts...

from a quick read I just finished called "The Quilt" by T. Davis Bunn.

You know when you read a book and you just don't want to forget some deep thoughts that seemed to express a concept in your own heart that you could never put into words so gracefully??

It was about an elderly woman who decides in her last arthritic-hands driven days, she is being asked by the Lord to make her last quilt. Now, this just isn't any old quilt. This is a quilt in which "not a stitch is out of place, not a piece of material is laid wrong". It must be the "very best quilt she's ever made". And the most important thing about it is that "for every stitch that goes into this quilt, she wanted everyone who worked on it to say a prayer. And it can't be just any prayer. It has to be a prayer of thanksgiving." Because..."far too little thanks is given these days, and with everything the Lord gives us, all we can think of is what we don't have. Like a bunch of spoiled children." It was not to be a quilt that anyone laid claim on, but the Lord.

For more thoughts on this matter of contentment with what we have, please hear my pastor Paul's words on our present richness...
http://oursfc.org/Sermon/sermon.php?ID=217
http://oursfc.org/Sermon/sermon.php?ID=218

Here's a few more of Miss Mary's quotes on men that I want to remember in my marriage...
"That's the only thing that makes most men worth living with, fact that they've got a little bit of the little boy inside them. Keep that little boy laughing and you've got a happy man on your hands."
"Every man needed the chance to set down his guard from time to time, she'd always told anybody who'd listen. The problem was, most men got so used to working in a world that called for invisible armor all the time, they forgot they were even wearing it."

And some thoughts on God's word and thankfulness too...
"He read from Romans 1:21 'For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.' Nor gave thanks to Him, Mary repeated. Isn't that something. We're not just talking about some little act we can take on when times are good and there's a few extra minutes lying about. Paul says just plain as the nose on your face that this is one of the most basic responsibilities we have. We must glorify our God and we must give thanks to Him. All the sins and all the confusion that Paul talks about for the rest of that chapter stem from people not doing those two things."
"...give thanks to the Lord your God every day...it truly is the way to knowing the peace that surpasses all understanding."

Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition, WITH THANKSGIVING, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. -Phil 4: 5-7

Enter His gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; gives thanks to Him and praise His name. For the Lord is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations. -Psalm 100:4,5

Hope some of that blesses your socks off too.
Aloha.