Gratitude Worksheet

In the spirit of Thanksgiving Day- check out this worksheet about Gratitude!

Gratitude Worksheet

Your Relationship Determines How you Feel Toward God

Check out this link from CNN about how your relationship might determine how you feel towards God.

Written by Liberty University's own: Tim Clinton and Joshua Straub.

Get Rid of Emotional Junk!

How much baggage do you carry around with you? If you could put all your emotional pains, relational hurts, and self-esteem or boundary issues in a bag- would it be heavy?

Do you think hauling all that junk around effects those around you? What about in your relationships- your marriage, parenting, dating, friendship...

Most of the time we unknowingly carry around these hurts and pains from memory lane. Other times, we simply need an "update" in our Recycle Bin of recent events. No matter the situation, we DO carry baggage. What would happen if you dropped it?

Maybe feeling like you need a resource?

Georgia Shaffer is a licensed psychologist in Pennsylvania and a certified life coach with over 19 years of experience. Georgia's new book, "Taking out your emotional trash: Face your feelings and build healthy relationships" is flying off the shelves! With permission from the Georgia, who would like to take a quiz to see if you need to "Dump Your Junk?!"

Here's the link to Georgia's site which includes her book information. Check it out, and take the quiz! http://www.GeorgiaShaffer.com

Falling in love with Fall...

When I was a little girl, I can remember making "leaf forts" with the leaves that our parents "let" us rake. My twin brother and I would make a skeleton out of bark, limbs, anything we could find and then stuff these colorful, crispy leaves into the structure. Believe it or not, these forts were pretty strong and actually really awesome. I can remember laying inside of one of our forts gazing up through the bright leaves into the crisp blue chilled sky. What a memory! I love fall. I love the memories it evokes.

I have had the blessed opportunity to experience the Fall Season twice. I was in upstate New York in early October where the leaves were on fire with brilliance. This week, here in good 'ole North Carolina, the trees are so beautiful and bright- they are literally distracting. I can't really drive as well as I ought because I'm focused on such beautiful, clear colors.

Someone told me the amazing chemistry behind the changing of leaves- something about the how the glucose in the leaves gets trapped when the photosynthesis stops (the signal of winter: shorter days and light). The trees "know" when to stop chemical exchange, thus leading to the changing of colors and eventually they fall off. Awesome, huh?

This season, like every other, seems so short- like it had just begun a couple days ago. Yet in a couple of weeks, these trees around me will become bare bones, exposing their skeletons to all. I could say the usual "life is short, like the seasons so enjoy it while you have it" kind of thing; I'm feeling more pulled to say simply that our earth is beautiful. Still cheesy, yet it's what I have been thinking every day when I see these colors.

The things God created, what they do, what they look like in these short seasons- are simply BEAUTIFUL.