Wednesday Thanks

This is the last update on our "Month of Generosity and Thanks" thankfulness chain! Be sure to check it out on Sunday - it's amazing how long the chain got by simply thinking of one or two things each week that we are thankful for!

These are the things our congregation was thankful for this week:

Family
Parents
School
Thanksgiving
Mashed potatoes
The Macy's parade
The Walk to End Hunger
Stuffing
Christmas decorations
Oatmeal
Donut holes
Warm mornings
Babies
Laughter
Friends
Chocolate
Clean pants
Hugs and kisses
Good health
God
A great hike
Angels
A new house
My kitty
Losing weight
A great year
Fun-packed weekend
Grandchildren
Love
Stars
Happiness
Hearts
Smiles
Understanding
Siblings

What are you thankful for today?

Thanksgiving

"Thanksgiving puts power in living, because it opens the generators of the heart to respond gratefully, to receive joyfully, and to react creatively."

--AnonymousLooking for a way to respond in thanksgiving?

The Walk to End Hunger is only two days away! You can still donate to support Megan and Mike Adams, Beth Johnson and family, Melissa Early and family, and Beth Hewitt and Jason! Just go to http://www.walktoendhunger.kintera.org/, on the left side of the page, click "Sponsor Participant." You can then type in one of our names and donate!

As of this writing, Megan and Mike are listed in the top five fundraisers for the event with $800 raised! THANK YOU to all who have donated! Neighbor's Inc will be so excited to receive these donations!

Sermon Notes - Nov. 22nd, 2009

"The scriptures invite us to be 'overflowing' with gratitude. How splashy is that? How much thanks - and where?

"If our thanksgiving is beginning to look like Niagara Falls perhaps we are getting the hang of it. "Maybe it looks like a bubbling fountain - overflowing with lushness and full of refreshing 'thank yous.' "I think about all the times when I don't overflow with thanks and wonder how much I think it costs to say words of appreciation, gratitude, or love. Words are free. And they are powerful - the 'I love you!' carries power far beyond the eight little letters needed to shape the sounds.

"This is the perfect week to take a small amount of time to send a note, email, card, flower, hug, whatever-it-takes to offer someone the blessing of being showered with abundant grace!"
--Pastor Penny Zettler

Sunday at SPUMC - Nov. 22, 2009

We celebrated another week of living thankfully - through our generosity - at church today!

Our Education hour was hopping with all kinds of wonderful discussions:

* The children talked about how God gives us courage to do what is right! (And they continued practicing for the Christmas Program! Mark your calendars for Dec. 20th!)

* The Confirmation class talked about those who share their faith with us by being role models of faithfulness.

* Beth led the last class on Philippians this Sunday - Thank you so much for your leadership!

* Beda led The Wired Word, discussing the latest news about mammogram guidelines.

Worship celebrated Thanksgiving a little early - talking about OVERFLOWING gratitude! Jill even did a spectacular stunt with the children's chat to illustrate what "overflowing" really looks like! (Here's a hint - what happens when you mix soda with Mentos candies?) In the end, the focus was that we have SO MANY blessings in our lives that we should be sharing with all those we meet - whether it's sharing words, kind gestures, money, gifts, our presence... There are so many ways to be generous in our daily lives and its up to us to figure how. It's up to us to figure out how to be "overflowing" with God's love.

How are you overflowing this week?

Praise and Thanks

"Gratitude... takes nothing for granted, is never unresponsive, is constantly awakening to new wonder and to praise of the goodness of God."
--Thomas Merton

I don't know about you, but I take things for granted all the time... My warm home, food on the table, nice clothes, a loving family... all kinds of things, everyday. I take them for granted and I forget to say "thank you."

Part of being generous is being generous with our words - our thank yous, our praises of others, our acknowledgement of the blessings in our lives! That's why we've been making a paper chain of thankfulness at church - a reminder of ALL the things we have to be thankful for! That's why we've been starting meetings and small groups asking people to say something they are thankful for - an "out loud" reminder. That's why we keep talking about - and writing about - the blessings in our lives... it's so easy to take them for granted and to never say "thank you."

And when we take notice, when we appreciate, when we say "thank you" - we are being generous with our gratitude. We all like to be thanked and appreciated for the things we do - let's remember to thank those around us, too!

Who will you thank today?

Wednesday Thanks

Half way through the week - looking for a pick-me-up? Here's some more things our congregations is thankful for! Feel free to add yours in the comment section!

Good health

Antibiotics

Diane

Eric's soup

Zoo

2010 will bring 2 new Great-grandchildren

Faith

Family

Penny

Emotional support

Megan

20+ year olds

Husband

Understanding people

Fun people to work with

Hot tea

Freedom

Markers

Good friends

Good parents

Missionaries

October rain

Courage

Prayer

Family

Hope

Support

Healing

Kim

Wind

Melissa

Beautiful frost on the ground

Quilts

Smiles and hugs

Sunshine

Warm shiney weather

Productive days

Understanding husbands

Opportunity for growth

Dogs

Stars

Coloring

Hearts

Young children

Those who follow through

Teaching Thankfulness

Our theme at church this month is generosity and thankfulness. Each Sunday (and other times while in church groups/meetings) we have been asked to write something we are thankful for on a chain link and we are making a large chain... it has been fun...something EVERYone can do....

It got me to thinking... I teach at a Junior High...special ed students to be specific...learning and behavior mostly. On Thursday I got to thinking about my students while I was at a church meeting writing on chain link...I was thinking "I wonder if my students would be able and WILLing to do the same activity...

I thought about it for awhile when I got home. I didn't want them to perceive it as a "baby" thing...as Junior Highers often do....I tried to come up with a clever poem to read to them...but I couldn't... I tried to come up with some things I am thankful for...but I just thought they would ignore me...

It was then that I spotted my Turkey.....

and thought...ah ha? I will offer them a sucker if they play along! And play along they did! I am proud of them... many came up with several things...some didn't want too...many passed up the sucker and some asked "can we do this again?" So...I will keep it up as long as they want to play! I think it is good for them!

(Submitted by Beth Johnson. Have a story about thankfulness or generosity you'd like to share? Email it to Megan at findmeg@hotmail.com)

Thankfulness

It's Wednesday - half way through the week and time for a pick-me-up!

This month at church, we're asking our congregation to write down one or more things they are thankful for on strips of paper so that we can make a gigantic paper chain of all the things we are thankful for - as a reminder of all the blessings in our lives.

When we can count our blessings, it makes it so easy to look at all we have to give!

Here are some of the things our congregation is thankful for so far...

Parents

Family

Madden 09

Dogs

Friends

Thanksgiving

An extra hour of sleep

Daylight savings time

Grandchildren

A warm home

Jobs

Food

St. Paul's Church

Memories

Love

Anniversaries

Kisses

Being cancer-free

Good health

Great Grandchildren

Children

Moms

Pastor Penny

Bright tomorrows

Sunshine

God

Peace

Husbands

Warm sweaters

Girlfriends

60 years of marriage

What are you thankful for today?