{"id":5961,"date":"2022-07-31T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-07-31T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.barbdahlgren.com\/?p=5961"},"modified":"2022-05-03T21:00:09","modified_gmt":"2022-05-04T02:00:09","slug":"today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/?p=5961","title":{"rendered":"Today"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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It Is Good to Be Thankful: Appreciation makes the world a better place\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today is always the first day of the rest of your life. It is also \u201c\u2026the day the Lord has made\u2026\u201d and we are admonished to \u201c\u2026rejoice and be glad in it\u201d (Psalms 118:24). Just think about it! Each new day is a gift from God. So I want to spend it by rejoicing, being glad, and offering thanks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s my little morning ritual. When I awake I immediately thank God for a few things. First, if I\u2019ve gotten a good night\u2019s sleep, I praise God for it. Sleep is such a precious commodity for me. I\u2019ve always functioned best with around eight to nine hours. I can get by a few days with less, but I\u2019m not at my optimum. I consider sleep a gift from God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Secondly, I\u2019ve been thanking God if my knee feels good. My right knee is tricky. It likes to \u201cgo out\u201d but forgets to take me along. It buckles with no warning. So I try to bend it a few times in the morning and thank God that I can still do that. There may come a time when I can\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even on mornings when I haven\u2019t slept well or the knee feels tricky, I try remember to thank God for a brand new day. Each day is a day the Lord has made and we are commanded to rejoice and be glad in it, so I want be thankful for each new day. As my old cartoon pal Maxine says, \u201cAny day on this side of the flower bed is a good day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even during days that seem so busy or out of control, we can rejoice because God is with us. Each day we can ask God to help us focus on the most important things of life. God gives us what we need to make it through another day\u2014our daily bread (Matthew 6:11, Luke 11:3).  God\u2019s mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:23).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each day is an opportunity to learn more about Jesus. Each day we can ask God to fill us with His thoughts. Each day is a chance to make a difference in the world through a smile or a word of encouragement. Each day we can spread the joy of Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today is very special. It\u2019s not my birthday. It\u2019s not my anniversary. I\u2019m not on vacation. I didn\u2019t win the lottery. It\u2019s not Christmas or New Years. So why is it so special? Because today is a gift from God. Today is the first day of the rest of my life and with God\u2019s help, I can rejoice and be glad in it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*****<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord..<\/em>.\u201d ~ Psalms 92:1 (KJV)<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It Is Good to Be Thankful: Appreciation makes the world a better place\u2026 Today is always the first day of the rest of your life. It is also \u201c\u2026the day the Lord has made\u2026\u201d and we are admonished to \u201c\u2026rejoice … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5961"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5961"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5961\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5961"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5961"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5961"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}