Thank You! ~ Guest Post by Martha Orlando

"Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus."

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

"These are the times that try men’s souls." 

Thomas Paine

How are you faring in these unprecedented times?  How are you feeling?  What are you thinking?  How are you coping?

My husband, Danny, and I, because of his preexisting heart troubles, and because of our age, decide it’s best for us to shelter in place until the all clear is given.  In our state of Georgia, that will be in mid-June.  Oh, how far away that seems!!!

Being an introvert and an optimist, I have weathered this confinement fairly well.  I pray for those who are ill and those on the front lines keeping us safe, as well as our leaders, those in essential jobs, and those who have, tragically, lost their jobs due to this pandemic.  I also follow the news as best I can; I want to keep up-to-date with all the developments both in our nation and around the world.

Yes, in spite of all the trials and uncertainties swirling around us, the Lord has seen fit to keep my hopes and my spirits high.

Until the other day . . .

It starts with an unwelcomed feeling of restlessness.  I am distracted, finding it difficult to focus on the tasks at hand.  And as the day drags on, a dark and ominous cloud of sadness descends upon me.  I am being swept into a vortex of self-pity, wishing things were different, missing my daughter and her family with a vengeance, resentful that we cannot go see them, sorrowful that I can’t even pay my elderly mother a visit, lest I were to put her in danger.  My very soul is being tried!

Desperate for relief, I retreat to our deck, my place to go when my heart and mind are troubled.  

“Oh, Lord!  Forgive me for this pity party I’m hosting,” I pray through my tears. 

“I’m miserable, Father.  Please, please release me from it.  Show me what to do!”

And in the immediate silence that follows, I hear these words:  

"Be grateful!"

Like that unexpected moment when a ray of sunshine peeks through a break in the gloomy clouds, offering hope, I literally feel the weight of the burden I am bearing, float up and away from me.  In its place, a quiet joy.  A peace that passes all understanding.

“Thank you,” I whisper to the One who sees and knows, who cares and heals, who loves beyond measure.

  “Thank you.”

Since that miraculous touch of God on my spirit, I have promised Him that I would go back to a practice I followed for many years, and don’t really know why I quit.  It’s keeping a daily gratitude journal.  Have you ever done this?  There are no blessings too small to appreciate and recount in writing them down.  And once you begin, it becomes impossible NOT to see God’s gracious hand at work in your life.

So however blue, or frustrated, or out-of-patience you may be feeling at this moment in time, look around you.  Find something in your life right now for which you can be grateful.

And be sure to tell the Father, “Thank you!”

Amen!

Bio:  Martha Jane Orlando is a retired teacher, who resides in Kennesaw, Georgia, with her husband, Danny.  They love that their home is nestled in a forest; difficult to find in urban communities, so it is appreciated as a special blessing.  Martha is a published author, and invites you to plunge into the life-changing adventures of ten-year-old Davy in The Glade Series and Adventures in The Glade.  Please check out her novels at her author’s website, and consider ordering them for you or a loved one.  We have to keep inspired and filled with hope, don’t we?  And these reads are sure to do just that.  Martha Jane hopes that you will also consider following her bi-weekly blog, Meditations of My Heart, where she meets the miraculous in the mundane, and hopes you will, too!

What a wonderful, encouraging reminder to keep grateful, even in the midst of these trying times!

I am ever so thankful for each one of these posts of encouragement during the coronavirus, and I hope they have been as big a blessing to you as they have been to me.

Keep the faith, dear friends, and stay healthy and safe!
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