Thankfulness & Happiness go Hand in Hand - A Dose of Encouragement

When you think of Thankfulness what comes to your mind?

When you think of Happiness what comes to your mind?

When my husband and I think of thankfulness we often talk of God's protection over the years.         

       One winter Sunday evening we were driving home on the same road on which we then travelled twice every Sunday to go from our home in Banbridge to the church we attended in Lurgan. The drive takes 20/25 mins depending on traffic but on Sunday evenings there is normally very little traffic on that road.


        A certain section of the road has a few quite significant dips so that as you drive up towards one of these you have no real view ahead and the road is clearly signed to tell drivers about this in advance. So as we drove along in the dark around 8.30pm and came to the slight brow of a hill before one of these dips we suddenly saw several lights of cars coming towards us but as well as this we saw a set of lights coming towards us on our side of the road. 


       This is a country road with a very narrow footpath and hedges or walls etc. so usually no room to manoeuvre. A large lorry (truck for my American friends) was trying to overtake 3 or 4 cars and was still on the wrong side of the road; he had obviously ignored the signs about the dips in the road and also the road markings which clearly showed that no overtaking was allowed on that stretch of road.


        The only thing my husband Fred could do was to swerve in to the side of the road as the lorry tried to cut back into his proper side in front of the lead car. Up until then there had been no break in the narrow footpath but at the exact place that we had to cut in there was a gap in the footpath and in the hedge because there was an entrance to something there. 

Just enough room for our car to get in out of the way as the lorry skimmed past us.

Obviously God had brought us to the right spot at the right time

 and saved our lives.

There are big things in our lives that can cause us to be thankful & happy like this time and the other times He has protected us in the car. 

 You can read about these occasions at:
4 Accidents and a ????  (pt1)
4 Accidents and a ????  (pt2)
4 Accidents and a ????  (pt3)
4 Accidents and a ????  (pt4)
4 Accidents and a ????  (pt5)



But there are also the other smaller things everyday that we sometimes forget to be happy about. 

We have had several times when we have been thankful to God because of his hand of protection but so many other times we forget to be thankful for the things that make us happy.  Most of us will have something each day which makes us happy but often we forget to thank God for that (however small) thing He has provided in our life.

Then also we often forget to thank others who in some big or small way help us out.

One example is the time I was happy to have been able to help someone I only knew online, with somethings that I used to have to ask others to help me with.

Isn't that nice that Caroline acknowledged the help I had given her, she didn't need to do that, but thankyous are always appreciated.


Then there are the friends that you make that no matter what happens throughout the years you know they will always be your friends.  The ones who know you for who you really are.  Such a gift to be thankful for.

Who or what are you thankful for & happy about today?

So many times we are drawn to think on the more unpleasant things in life which lead to unhappiness and they can keep us from being thankful for anything when we are in that frame of mind.  

What can we do to keep the right frame of mind and not get into that attitude that can get worse and worse as we dwell on the hurts and unpleasantness caused by others?

 

We can remember that God has not promised us that everything will always be perfect for us, that every day will not be full of happy events, that many days will bring upon us the more unpleasant things in this imperfect world.

 

One of the saddest times in my life was when I miscarried my first pregnancy.

All those years ago most people did not know what to say or how to comfort someone but God sent me someone – not a particularly close friend, not someone who had gone through a similar experience, not someone who was even married.

He sent me someone who simply said they were sorry about what had happened and were praying for me and then they gave me a card with a little poem.  Somehow that card got lost – I just don’t know how or when but then one day I saw the same poem

 

I bought this box and it sits in my study now (empty) but it reminds me to be thankful and happy that God will care for me through the worst of times.

Memories of times when we proved God's comfort and love are GOOD! 

God’s word also reminds us that: 

• God’s love to us never ends.
• God’s mercy to us never ends.
• God’s faithfulness to us never ends.

So let's not forget that:

• God has promised to be with us at all times, the best and the worst.
• God has given us His Holy Spirit to guide us in all our days.
• God is still with us even when we don’t feel we are close to Him.
• God is still demonstrating His love even if we are not looking for it.

Meditate & Delight - Unique Gift Ideas

Searching for that different, unique gift for a special occasion can prove to be a hard, time-consuming, eye-tiring search of the internet for us each time a birthday, anniversary or Christmas comes along!

Do you need some help to pick out something different for the people you want to encourage and show your love?

I like to support smaller businesses within the UK who give thought and care to their individual products so today I want to introduce you to 

Meditate & Delight

This is a small business venture by a talented girl and I was very impressed by her unique designs and ideas which will make lovely gifts.

Let's meet the seller herself - Katie Wood

Disclaimer:  I have not received any products or money from Katie or Meditate & Delight - this is simply a review of her business because I wished to support her.

Katie tells you about her collections and business here:

Hi, I'm Katie, owner of Meditate and Delight.

I am based in the West Midlands in England. I am a huge lover of God's word and believe in the power of the scriptures. So, around 3 years ago I decided to paint journals and write scriptures on the covers.

I wanted people to have small reminders of an encouraging or uplifting verse each time they used their notebook. Whether at home during quiet time or at work during a meeting, I wanted scripture to be at the forefront of daily life.

Since then, I have begun to produce other products and currently I sell hand-painted journals, cards, vinyl stickers, mugs and t-shirts. Everything with a Christian message. All to bring life-giving truth into our daily environments

I got started when I saw one girl on Instagram painting Bibles.

Nowadays there are loads of people doing this but years ago it was only one or two people doing it. I thought "I could do that" but for me it was less about the 'prettiness' of the Bible, and more about the scripture. So - since it was too expensive to stock Bibles at the start of my business - I decided to do notebooks instead. I wanted scripture to be more prominent and visible. As a reminder of amazing truth. Since then I have expanded to multiple products with scripture on/inside.

(I do paint hardback Bibles, but by request only. This can be done on any hardback (non-shiny) Bible. Many translations are available.)

In terms of inspiration, I get ideas from the scriptures themselves in many cases. Other times I see trends on social media. For example, at the beginning I did more landscape paintings (mountains, beaches) but nowadays I do more florals. The 4 journal designs being released in the Christmas Collection 2020 are all floral designs. Again, I saw stickers everywhere on social media so I did some digital designs and had them printed by a sticker company. They have been very popular.

So far I have added the products to my Etsy Shop here and there, when I have the money/time to create them. However, going forward I will do 4 collections a year - starting with this Christmas Collection 2020, which I am so excited about!

So 4 times a year I will produce and create a collection of various items and release them all at once. Once they are gone, they are gone.

In the Christmas Collection 2020 there are:

• 4 designs of hand-painted journals - a few of each design are available. They are all floral designs and have scriptures on the front and back.

• Professionally printed Christmas cards - a pack of 5.

• Various professionally printed vinyl stickers which are for indoor or outdoor use and are weatherproof so are great to stick on water bottles, notebooks, cars etc.

• Slogan t-shirts and glass items.

• Also a variety of ceramic hand-painted Christmas decorations.

The products in this collection are probably my favourites of everything I have ever made.

The collection was released on Tuesday 3rd November.

I do custom, bespoke orders but usually only when people message me and ask. I have taken down the custom order listing from my Etsy shop. I find it easier to produce a variety of hand-painted journals and list them ready to be shipped. But I do get people messaging me asking if I can paint them something specific - either a Bible or a notebook/journal. And I am happy to do that. Depending on the design it takes around 2 weeks to paint and varnish and dry. I create a mock-up digitally and send that to the customer before I start painting for them to see/suggest edits. Once the design is approved, I start painting and that takes around 2 weeks.

I sell within the UK and also internationally and have sent products to America and France and even as far as Mozambique.

You can view all of my products and order at my Etsy shop.

Meditate & Delight on Etsy

Follow me on Facebook & Instagram to see more photos of my products and behind the scenes of the making process.

Meditate & Delight on Instagram

and

Meditate & Delight on Facebook

Feel free to send me a message too and I'm happy to answer any questions.

I hope you enjoyed reading about Katie's unique gifts and if you need any help with your Christmas shopping or for birthday, wedding, anniversary or just those little gifts to say "thinking of you" in these times take a little note of what she has and do look around her shop to see ALL her items.

Hercule Poirot's Christmas - Book Review

I am reading through the novels of Agatha Christie in the order in which they were written and writing a review on each one.

Hercule Poirot's Christmas

1938

Description

It is Christmas Eve. The Lee family reunion is shattered by a deafening crash of furniture, followed by a high-pitched wailing scream. Upstairs, the tyrannical Simeon Lee lies dead in a pool of blood, his throat slashed.

But when Hercule Poirot, who is staying in the village with a friend for Christmas, offers to assist, he finds an atmosphere not of mourning but of mutual suspicion. It seems everyone had their own reason to hate the old man…

My Thoughts

This is the 32nd book by Agatha Christie and the 19th Poirot Mystery


Another one of the Poirot murders that is hard to forget once you have read it because of the memorable incident of the death - hint but not quite a spoiler -the sounds!  


The title comes from the fact that it is Christmas time and Poirot is the detective of the story but otherwise in my mind it is not really a unique descriptive title for this mystery, which does happen at Christmas time but could it have happened other than at Christmas?

If you have seen this one as the TV adaptation it must be noted that there are definite differences there to the actual novel Agatha Christie Wrote and again we must ask the question why. 

Why did they have to make those changes?

I love locked room mysteries and mysteries in a similar vein when we need to know how did the murderer get in? when did they get in? 

As is so much a part of Christie storytelling we also need to look for the misinformation and the twists in this one.

Another good murder to solve and of course Poirot is the best detective to do just that.

So we end up with an enjoyable read as we try to work it out along the way and if we read carefully we could solve it.

Agatha Christie is quoted as having said the following about this book and I have to say I imagine her laughing as she wrote the true words - 

‘You yearned for a “good violent murder with lots of blood”. So this is your special story – written for you.’

So another  "TIC"  from me.

If thinking of reading this book in the future why not pin this pic to go back to later.

How to Learn Psalm 34 v 1-4 - Bible Memorization with FREEBIES

I could never do it!

          Do what?

Memorize Psalm 34 verses 1 to 4!

          Yes you can one verse at a time.

Many people think they could never manage to memorize 4 verses of the Bible together.

But they might consider learning 1 verse.

Over the years you have probably memorized some verses from all over the Bible - all individual verses or perhaps two verses like Proverbs 3 v 4-5.

So why not learn a short passage of 4 verses just doing it 1 verse at a time.

So let's look at 3 things:

• Memorising Tips

• Some Freebies to help you.

Memorising Tips

If you read the blog post on 

10 Ways to Learn Scripture - Bible Memorization
you will know that I shared 10 ways to tackle this but some ways are more helpful than others to different people and to different verses or passages.
If you didn't read that blog post it might be good to go over to it now HERE
and then come back to see which of the 10 ways I would recommend for this one.



I am going to help you with this passage using
        Ways  1,  2,  3,  4,  7,  8,  9,  &  10  
because of the structure and Rhythm of the verses.

1.  Read the verse often, every day, multiple times in the day.
     Repeating it over and over.

2.  Write out the verse often, every day.
     Writing it out over and over and over.

3.  Feel the excitement of a verse that is an exaltation of praise to God.
     Think the praise as you say or write the words.

4.  Personal Testimony - Action from you and result from God.
     Think about the request from you and how God answers our prayers.

7.  Understand the meaning of the verse.
     Think of what it actually says and means and it will remain better in your mind.

8.  Make it easy to see the verse clearly &  regularly each day.

9.  Make or Use Bible Verse Graphics

10.  Sing It.


Each verse in this passage contains 2 parts - yet both make up just one sentence so there is help here of the second part relating to the first so that the verse makes sense.


In fact in the other blog post mentioned above you will have seen me take various verses from Psalm 34 as the examples for the different ways.




So let's look at each of these 4 verses on their own and then you can put them together.


Psalm 34 v 1

I would use any or all of  1, 2, 7, 8, & 9 

1.   Read it like it is in two sections

2.   Write it on two separate lines

7.   Understand that the second part of this verse is a natural result of the first part

8.   Stick copies of this verse on the mirror, fridge door, etc.

9.   Make or Use Bible Verse Graphics 
      (this graphic is available to download as a free printable in my Resource Library)

Here's a video I made just to show you one way and you can use this by replaying it as often as you like to learn it within a day or two depending on how often you practice it.












Psalm 34 v 2

I would use any or all of  1, 2, 7, 8, & 9 

1.   Read it & Concentrate on the two first words in each part and then get the "what each will do" straight in your head to go along with it.

2.   Write it on two separate lines

7.   Understand that the second part of this verse is a great result of the first part

8.   Stick copies of this verse on the mirror, fridge door, etc.

9.   Make or Use Bible Verse Graphics 
      (this graphic is available to download as a free printable in my Resource Library)

Psalm 34 v 3



I would use any or all of  1, 2, 7, 8, & 9

1.   Read it like it is in two sections but making a request

2.   Write it on two separate lines.

3.  Feel the excitement of this verse because it is an exaltation of praise to God.
     Think the praise as you say or write the words.

7.   Understand that the second part of this verse is reinforcing the first part.

8.   Stick copies of this verse on the mirror, fridge door, etc.

9.   Make or Use Bible Verse Graphics - because this is portrait shaped it will make a good phone screen saver 
      (this screen saver is available to download as a free printable in my Resource Library)

Psalm 34 v 4

I would use any or all of  1, 2, 7, 8, & 9

1.   Read it like it is in two sections - there is excitement here over what happened.

2.   Write it on two separate lines.

4.  Personal Testimony - Action from you and result from God.
     Think about this as a prayer from you and how God answers our prayers.

7.   Understand that the second part of this verse is God responding to the first part which was a prayer.

8.   Stick copies of this verse on the mirror, fridge door, etc.

9.   Make or Use Bible Verse Graphics - because this is portrait shaped it will make a good phone screen saver 
      (this screen saver is available to download as a free printable in my Resource Library)

Bible Verse Graphics

I post a Bible Verse Graphic every morning on my

 Facebook Page for Sandra's Ark  

so if you want to be encouraged by a verse each day or have a graphic you can Share to your timeline or Save in Facebook then click through to my Facebook Page and be sure to like and follow the page to see those graphics in your feed each day.

Did you notice something was missing?

For the 4 separate verses I said we would use

1,2,3,4,7,8,9,10

and as we went through the verses above we did not include no.10

because no. 10 is going to be the way to reinforce the whole passage for us

We are going to pull all 4 verses together in a song.

Rhythm

Often we see rhythm in verses of the Bible and especially so in the Psalms.

They were meant to be sung but we can use the fact of the rhythm of the words to help us learn this passage.

As I said above each verse contains 2 parts

v.1   I will bless .....
        his praise shall .....

v.2   My soul shall .....
        the humble shall .....

v.1   O magnify the Lord .....
        and let us exalt .....

v.1   I sought the Lord .....
        and delivered me .....


and if you say the words aloud you will notice the rhythm between them repeating throughout.

When we recite something rhythmically it really helps us to learn it.

PLUS

Let's not forget the best and easiest way for most people to learn scripture

We sing it!

Watch the video below of Fred and I singing this passage as a song we learnt as teenagers and have not really forgotten over all these years.

This song is fantastic for this passage as it does not leave out any words or add in any words but takes the exact verses straight from the Bible.

 

You can come back anytime and replay the video here to practise or you can find it on my YouTube channel  Scripture Memorization in Song at Sandra's Ark

We can also pull all 4 verses together by repeating them straight through as we colour a picture around them.

Here you will see an example of a colouring page I made for Psalm 34 v 1-4 and it is also available as a freebie on the Blog with the link at the end of this post.

Here you will see the 4 Word Search Puzzles I made for Psalm 34 v 1-4 and these are also available as freebies on the Blog with the link at the end of this post.

Other posts on the Memorization of Scripture are

Top 10 Ways To Learn Scripture - Bible Memorization.

How to learn Psalm 46 v 1 Plus Free Phone Screen Saver - Bible Memorization

1 John 3 v 1 - Memorizing the Bible

Psalm 19 v 14 - Memorizing the Bible

SEE OTHER POSTS about Psalm 34 below:

Reading Through The Bible - Reading Plan by Order of Size of Books

Sunday Scripture Psalm 34 v 1

Pondering the Psalms - Psalm 34

10 Ways to Start a Good Daily Habit

10 Bible Verses of Encouragement about Fear

FREEBIES

Don't forget to get all your free downloads to help with memorizing this verse

or pin the appropriate pics to remind you to come back later.

We have your  

Free Bible verse graphics for verses 1,2 & 4

ALSO

your  Free Word Search Puzzles for each of the verses

 

your  Free Bible Verse Colouring Page of Psalm 34 v 1-4 in A4 & Letter Size

AND 

your Free Phone Screensaver for verse 3

  

Don't forget to download your free printables of Psalm 34 or pin this pic to come back later