\u201cSo God created the large sea creatures and every living creature that moves and swarms in the water, according to their kinds. He also created every winged creature according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.\u201d Genesis 1:21 CSB
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As a person who loves the ocean, this verse touches my heart. It says it right here, it is good. God says so. I know it\u2019s true because there is nothing more healing than the breaking of the waves against the seashore. There are times, when I\u2019m at the beach, I am humbled that I get to sit there by this massive body of water. The sand between my toes, the sun on my face. Life doesn\u2019t get much better than that in my book. But I\u2019m aware, not everyone gets to enjoy it. I\u2019m aware of my sick friend, who as of this writing has now been in the hospital for 47 days. I\u2019m aware there are others who can\u2019t afford a vacation, or even a day off. I know there are people who would love to be at the beach, but for whatever reason can\u2019t be. It makes me more grateful I can be.
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I also know there are people who prefer the mountains to the beach. I can\u2019t understand it, but I know its a true statement. God said those were good too (Genesis 1:10 NIV). Whether you\u2019re a beach person or a mountain person, whether rich or poor, sick or healthy, there is always something to be grateful for in your life. I saw this post from my friend Mary the other day on Facebook. It was a picture of a precious little boy from a Third World Country. He had his hands up in a prayer position right in the middle of his face. You could see on either side of those tiny hands, sparkling eyes. His cheeks puffed out in a smile, sheer delight on his face. This starving orphan from another country looked happier than people I see walking down the street every day. People who drive nice cars, wear nice clothes, eat at nice places look more miserable than this starving child. Why is that? The answer to the question was in the anonymous caption:
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\u201cIt is not happy people who are grateful. It is grateful people who are happy.\u201d
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Isn\u2019t that truth? \u00a0The key to happiness isn\u2019t places, people or things. \u00a0The key to happiness is gratefulness. This starving child knows this truth because he\u2019s grateful for everything he has. \u00a0He\u2019s grateful for another day, because depending on where this picture was taken, his life could be in danger. He\u2019s grateful for the food he has to eat, the water he has to drink. \u00a0He\u2019s grateful because it isn\u2019t a commodity to him. We have so much of it we forget to be grateful for it. But go one day in 100 degree weather without water, you\u2019ll be thankful when you get some.
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And when you\u2019re grateful you are happy. When you are happy, no matter what you\u2019re doing, you are much more likely to \u201cseas\u201d the day. If you truly want to \u201cseas\u201d the day, \u201cseas\u201d life, it starts with gratitude. Start the day with gratitude. Thank God for the coffee you\u2019re drinking. Then go take on the world. See if doesn\u2019t make a difference.
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\u201cSo God created the large sea creatures and every living creature that moves and swarms in the water, according to their kinds. He also created every winged creature according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.\u201d Genesis 1:21 CSB As a person who loves the ocean, this verse touches my heart. It… Continue reading GRATITUDE IS KEY<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","without-featured-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=867"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/867\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":868,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/867\/revisions\/868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}