I think many of you heard about this blog by following me on twitter. If not, and you have no idea what twitter is, then you don't know what you're missing! I invite you to join me on twitter. It is really great to keep in touch with people and meet new friends. You just send out short status updates of 140 characters or less. You can check it out here.
If however, you are already a twitter addict (like me), you have probably seen that I am trying to start a new trend called ThankfulThurs. Every Thursday I am focusing my tweets on things that I am thankful for. It all began July 23rd. During my time with the Lord I felt convicted that I had been complaining a lot about little things. I had lost sight of what was really important in life and began focusing on things that, in the long run, didn't matter. That day I decided that everything I would tweet would begin with "I am thankful..." I liked it so much that I decided to continue it all weekend.
I'll never forget that weekend at Women of Faith in Seattle. The event was great! We laughed. We cried. We had a blast! I believe that many lives were changed and God was glorified. What more can you ask for?
When the event was over, I had quite a commute back to Nashville from the other side of the country. I opted for a later flight Sunday afternoon as opposed to the 6AM flight so I could sleep in a bit. That weekend I had enjoyed tweeting thankful thoughts so much and felt like God was developing a more gracious heart within me. Even thinking back to that now, I can see God's hand in preparing my heart for the trip that awaited me. Flights were delayed, then canceled, I was all by myself and felt so lonely. To top it off, I was under a great cloud of temptation in the area of food. If it were not for my newly developed attitude of gratitude, I guarantee I would've run to the nearest restaurant and drowned myself in a pool of chocolate.
Don't get me wrong. My circumstances were horrible! But through it all I kept tweeting about the things I was thankful for: thankful that I knew I would eventually get home. Thankful for God's wisdom to call American Airlines right after my flight was canceled, ensuring me one of the few remaining seats on the last flight to Nashville. Thankful for great friends (Lisa Whelchel) that would come and spend time with me during my 3 hour delay. Thankful for the grace to resist temptation to eat things that were not good for me. You see, rather than focusing on the things that were going wrong, I fixed my gaze on Jesus and all of His blessings. By the time I did finally get home (at 2AM), I wore a big smile on my face and bubbled over with thankfulness for how God provided for me during that trip.
I learned a valuable lesson that weekend. I believe that thankfulness benefits us more than it does anyone else. It completely changes the way we see things and makes room for God to work in ways we would not see otherwise.
I figure that if we can suggest the latest tunes we love on #MusicMonday or recommend our favorite tweeters on #FollowFriday, why not pass on something that can change someone's life on #ThankfulThurs? Have you ever noticed that thankfulness is contagious? Will you join me in centering your tweets on things you are thankful for every Thursday? Tweet thankful thoughts often and be sure to put "#ThankfulThurs" at the end. Let's make this a trending topic so when people click on the trending topics list, they will see the fingerprints of God. And don't forget to retweet to all of your friends!
Let's start a thankfulness revolution!
Disa
"And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful. Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts." Colossians 3:15-16 NLT
If however, you are already a twitter addict (like me), you have probably seen that I am trying to start a new trend called ThankfulThurs. Every Thursday I am focusing my tweets on things that I am thankful for. It all began July 23rd. During my time with the Lord I felt convicted that I had been complaining a lot about little things. I had lost sight of what was really important in life and began focusing on things that, in the long run, didn't matter. That day I decided that everything I would tweet would begin with "I am thankful..." I liked it so much that I decided to continue it all weekend.
I'll never forget that weekend at Women of Faith in Seattle. The event was great! We laughed. We cried. We had a blast! I believe that many lives were changed and God was glorified. What more can you ask for?
When the event was over, I had quite a commute back to Nashville from the other side of the country. I opted for a later flight Sunday afternoon as opposed to the 6AM flight so I could sleep in a bit. That weekend I had enjoyed tweeting thankful thoughts so much and felt like God was developing a more gracious heart within me. Even thinking back to that now, I can see God's hand in preparing my heart for the trip that awaited me. Flights were delayed, then canceled, I was all by myself and felt so lonely. To top it off, I was under a great cloud of temptation in the area of food. If it were not for my newly developed attitude of gratitude, I guarantee I would've run to the nearest restaurant and drowned myself in a pool of chocolate.
Don't get me wrong. My circumstances were horrible! But through it all I kept tweeting about the things I was thankful for: thankful that I knew I would eventually get home. Thankful for God's wisdom to call American Airlines right after my flight was canceled, ensuring me one of the few remaining seats on the last flight to Nashville. Thankful for great friends (Lisa Whelchel) that would come and spend time with me during my 3 hour delay. Thankful for the grace to resist temptation to eat things that were not good for me. You see, rather than focusing on the things that were going wrong, I fixed my gaze on Jesus and all of His blessings. By the time I did finally get home (at 2AM), I wore a big smile on my face and bubbled over with thankfulness for how God provided for me during that trip.
I learned a valuable lesson that weekend. I believe that thankfulness benefits us more than it does anyone else. It completely changes the way we see things and makes room for God to work in ways we would not see otherwise.
I figure that if we can suggest the latest tunes we love on #MusicMonday or recommend our favorite tweeters on #FollowFriday, why not pass on something that can change someone's life on #ThankfulThurs? Have you ever noticed that thankfulness is contagious? Will you join me in centering your tweets on things you are thankful for every Thursday? Tweet thankful thoughts often and be sure to put "#ThankfulThurs" at the end. Let's make this a trending topic so when people click on the trending topics list, they will see the fingerprints of God. And don't forget to retweet to all of your friends!
Let's start a thankfulness revolution!
Disa
"And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful. Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts." Colossians 3:15-16 NLT
Disa,
ReplyDeleteI am Thankful for 2nd chances... So many time I make unwise decisions and follow the flesh more than I do the Spirit... But thank you God, your Love is EVERLASTING.. and you give stupid ppl like me 2nd chances.
I am thankful for the man that God has put into my life. I truely fell blessed on Thankful Thursday.
ReplyDeleteSo true! I believe it changes our outlook on all situations when we are grateful for the small things. Our mind is focused on Him and others catch that and notice!
ReplyDeleteI am Thankful for you Mandisa. For sharing your thoughts & stories with us on Thankful Thursday.
ReplyDeleteI am thankful for my husband, our life together, and thankful of God reminding us of the covenant we made with Him in our marriage to put Him first.
ReplyDeleteMandisa,
ReplyDeleteThank you for this post,it is really encouraging and inspiring.
I'm thankful for his word...just when I think that a scripture has poured out every drop of rhema....God surprises me and blows my mind!Psalms 23 is a very popluar scripture...I learned it in sunday school, heard it preached in church and as a child i recited it before I went to bed at night. But on August 9,2009 as my church began to recite this familiar passage before my paster gave the message...I began to cry out!! I only made it passed the " The Lord is my Shepard and i shall not want" before the tears began to fall heavily from my eyes...I could barely speak and breathe after that. I felt as if the dead places in me were coming alive! Thank God for Thankful Thursday!!!
ReplyDeleteSo many things to be thankful for this #ThankfulThurs. thankful for my friends, my husband, my family, my Savior, my story, my song (even though I sing it out of tune), my blessed, if often chaotic, life.
ReplyDeleteI'm thankful for my family and friends and God's miracles in my life and those I love.
ReplyDeleteI am thankful to be part of an amazing organizatoin called Mercy Volunteer Corps and that God is using me to serve the people of Detroit and to become an advocate for social justice. I am thankful for people in my life who support me and show me compassion and love every single day. I am thankful for God bringing YOU in my life, as my role model and inspiration.
ReplyDeleteI am thankful for the many ways that the Lord has taught me and carried me through the past 8 years as we focused on letting Him work through us to minister healing to hurting young women's lives even though we didn't have things the way WE THOUGHT THEY SHOULD BE!!! He is merciful and His grace is always sufficient. Glad He has a sense of humor too!
ReplyDeleteSo thankful for friends and family! I have a wonderful church and I am so grateful for it. As a prodigal son I came back to the fold and they welcomed me with open arms. It wasn't always easy but without the help of an Almighty God and great friends and family I would have never made it through some of the darkest days of my life!
ReplyDeleteGolly Disa, you are something else, and I am so thankful. I have started to really look forward to your postings and tweets. You've become a friend of mine, even if you don't know it.
ReplyDeleteI tend to be an introvert, and a loner. I have a history that I'm not proud of and it prevents me from venturing out. I've found the internet is a place I can hide behind the keyboard and still find myself amongst believers.
I know..I know...if I'm a believer how can I say the things I've said....to be honest, I don't know. That is one of my big struggles. My mind plays tricks on me, and I get scared. That's all there is to it. I do have a lot of faith that someday there will be a break through, however, right now, I'm here...and just thankful to be alive.
Thanks, Disa...
I am thankful that His grace is sufficient for me and for the fact that His grace abounds in such a graceless age! Thank you Lord!
ReplyDeleteI am thankful for God's provision in trying to bring me through an increasingly hard trial. I am thankful that I am coming out of the storm and into the sunlight step by step and day by day. I see the glimmer of hope at the end of the tunnel.
ReplyDeleteDisa, you are an inspiration to all of us and especially to me as I struggle for the weight loss and for trying to be a testimony in this world. Your music is inspiring to me and so is your life. Thank you.
ah.. what a great "trend" to start Disa! :-) I Yep.. found your blog because I do follow you on twitter..& I remember your tweets from that weekend & thought, what a great idea..!
ReplyDeleteI am thankful for many things.. posted a few today on twitter.. in the morning, I wasn't feeling so great about myself, but, I chose to post how I am thankful that no matter how I feel, He is with me.. ha.. then I thought, hey that's a twist on one of the lines in your song.. sweet.. put a smile on face the rest of the day.. late this afternoon I posted another because of the joy which had been bubbling over & due to a hilarious post/poll tweeted by our pastor.. so, posted how I was thankful that God has a sense of humor.. hahaaaa.. :-)
Hi Disa! I am greeting you with a big smile and a loud silly hello like I would any of my friends because I feel a connection to you. We are sisters because of our faith for one... and then we are sisters because we have a similar struggle. I have often said I wish I didn't have to eat food. It would be so much easier to have a bad habit that I could just quit cold turkey. You can't quit food cold turkey. You have to continue to eat it every day, and see the infomercials, and drive past HUNDREDS of fast food restaurants on your way to ANYWHERE! I say all of this and have to tell you that my friend Suzanne was helping at the Women of Faith conference in Seattle this summer and she got your book (you gave her a hug) and let me borrow the book for the past month. Your honestly was refreshing. I have been so transparent about everything else in my life except my struggle with food. It is embarassing. After reading your book I pledged to start my healthy choices lifestyle again. I am not doing so great. Just had a bowl of ice cream... with chocolate and whoop cream on top. sigh. I am thankful that tomorrow is another day. With grace anew. And with a whole day full of opportunities to make healthy choices for the temple God gave me. I am now following you on this blog and hope you write more often now that I am a dedicated reader. ;) I meet with my friend Suzanne every Monday at the YMCA and told her just this last week that I have a goal to loose 100 lbs by the time I am 30 next November. I was delighted to read on your blog tonight that we have similar goals. You are closer to your goal. I am just beginning to begin. But we are in this together sista! I am praying for you and thankful, SO THANKFUL!, that you are sharing your journey with the rest of us. May God continue to use you fully... every last pound... to HIM be the glory! remember sister... we CAN do ALL things through CHRIST who STRENGTHENS us! He has given us a sound mind, and self control... praying for those emotional food messages to get stopped dead in there tracks with the truth and strength of our Savior. I love you! Hugs!
ReplyDelete~Jami