Thankful

Ahhh, this looks as good a place as any to hang out today.

When I was down in that cold Methodist Church basement yesterday, I spent some time reading the bulletin board. A good, newsy bulletin board is a wonderful thing. And I found two great things on that board. The first was a little saying that goes like this: If you can't sleep, don't count sheep, talk to the Shepherd. I like that...I've been having such trouble sleeping lately. The night before last, I poured a large tumbler full of brandy and toddled off to bed at 6:30 in the evening. It was scary how well that worked so I won't be repeating that often. Counting sheep actually does work quite well for me, but I am prone to awake with a start several times in the night. The talking with the Shepherd idea is fine unless in the talking one forgets to leave it there with Him. It's His deal if we yield to Him.

The second thing was the Complete Serenity Prayer. I didn't know anything about the Serenity Prayer past the first verse. It has three verses and here are the words:

The Serenity Prayer
By Reinhold Niebuhr

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change
Courage to change the things I can
and wisdom to know the difference

Living one day at a time
Enjoying one moment at a time
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace.
Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is,
not as I would have it

Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
forever in the next.
Amen.

My favorite line is "taking this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it." There are so many things where we simply have no choice other than our own attitude. Try as we might, some things are truly beyond us.

Last night, I was visiting Kari at Just Livin' Large (see side panel) and she directed me to South Breeze Farm where Leah has an "I'm Giving Thanks" project going. I'm a little behind, but I hope to join in, too. Perhaps not by making Leah come here to check on my list, but by directing folks to her.

Have a blessed Sunday!

Picture Source

If you click on the words to the Serenity Prayer, it will take you to a site where beautiful pictures will accompany the words. Nice if you have the time.