Our church has been doing a series on “Choices”, and this morning the topic of the sermon outlined a choice between greed and gratitude. Until this morning, I had always associated greed with money. But, I learned that greed comes in various forms. A poor man can choose to be greedy with his time, a college student can be greedy in their efforts to seek status, and some political figures of our historical past are greedy with power. It was mentioned that our society actually values greed to some extent. The American Dream is to own a house, 3 cars, and have a 6 figure job. But why? What is our underlying objective in obtaining titles, deeds, and closets full of new clothes?
I found myself thinking how there are a few ways in which I have been greedy lately. Not with time or money, but with status. Over the last 2 months, I have probably expressed more negativity concerning the entry-level college graduate position that I do not have, more than I have given thanks for various “blue collar” job offers I received over the last few months. “What did I work so hard in college for?” I wearily asked Nicholas on several of my paydays. And while there were days I felt overcome with gratitude for the fact that I did have work, that gratitude was not consistent…I often had pessimistic thoughts running through the back of my mind, wishful thoughts about something better.
We all have something we choose to be greedy about. The bottom line is, the more we choose to express our gratitude for the things we do have, the less we find ourselves wishing we had something more or something better. Goals are great. But when your goals don’t align with fate, don’t let that make you any less thankful for the wonderful (and different) things we are blessed with in return.
Today, we all left the sermon with a blank thank you card, to remind us of the many people to whom we should be thankful. So today, I thought it might be fun to blog about something for which I am thankful.
11/13/2011
Today, I am thankful for FRIENDSHIP, for people who sharpen me.
I am first and foremost, thankful for my amazing husband, who makes my life complete. He is always making me laugh, lending a helping hand, and encouraging me. I could have never imagined feeling such a close connection with another human being, and I am grateful every day for our opportunity to share a life together.
I am thankful for lifelong friends. Friendship is such an important part of life…and without my closest friends I do not know where I would be today. True friends are people I can admire and look up to. They love you when you’re at your best, but they love even more when you’re at your worst.
My 2 closest friends are outstanding role models to me. Bets, a law school student, has the biggest heart a girl could have, has a close relationship with her family, exhibits an overall compassion for people, and when she dances she exchanges her usual quirky charm, with grace. Jenn, a soon-to-be medical student, is the perfect mixture of sassy and sweet. She has incredible learning capacity, is a thrill seeker, and fashion lover. Both of these women are fabulous with kids, leaders on campus, and we’ve known each other since we were wee-little 8 year olds. They are two of the people I know that I can always count on. For that, I am ever so thankful.
There are other friendships too, which warm my heart. I am finding that friendship can be found in ages all across the board…a cousin-in-law, a coworker, a brother, a sorority sister who resides hundreds of miles away, your father, or a little nephew.
What’s important about friendship is that the relationship is one that strengthens you, not one which tears you down. (NLT) Proverbs 27:17 says, “As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.”
I am so grateful for those who sharpen me!
No comments:
Post a Comment