There is a Difference Between Gratitude and Thanksgiving
Have you ever thought that there is a difference between gratitude and thanksgiving? There actually is. Gratitude is a feeling whereas thanksgiving is more of an action. If someone does something for me, I can feel grateful. My offering of thanks to that person is an action. One can feel gratitude without thanksgiving. One cannot feel thankful without feeling grateful. Thanksgiving is gratitude in action. Looking at life in general, the person who lives a grateful life counts his or her blessings privately. The person who is thankful honors the giver of those blessings. For instance, I’m grateful that I woke up feeling relatively healthy this morning. I’m thrilled that I’m not sick or in the hospital since many people in the world today woke up sick or in the hospital. Now what if I take my healthy day and squander it doing bad things—if I eat or drink to excess while sitting on the couch watching bad movies? What if I drive like a maniac, act like a jerk at work, and don’t help out around the house? I may have gratitude for health, but where is my thankfulness for my health? I have taken a healthy day and I have made it into a self-serving day. Again, thanksgiving is gratitude in action. How do we feel about God’s gifts to us? Grateful or thankful? Do we express our gratitude with outward thanksgiving to God or are we privately grateful with no action? Using the example above, if I wake up healthy today, then I should go out and do something productive and wholesome in thanksgiving for my health. If my health is a gift from God, then I should honor Him with thanksgiving. If the two greatest commandments are to love God and love our neighbor, then a grateful heart becomes a thankful heart by becoming a charitable heart. The gratitude for health on a given day leads to a thankful heart that expresses it in service to others. Another way to define these terms is that the grateful heart is content, while the thankful heart is helpful. Going to the Psalm verse above, to “magnify Him (God) with thanksgiving” calls us to action. To “magnify” the name of the Lord means to “make greater” His name by honoring Him. And we honor God not so much with praise but with action. For to love God means that one must love others. Gratitude is an inward feeling of joy and contentment. Thanksgiving is an outward display of gratitude. It is an outward display of joy shown in loving action. The goal then is to develop a grateful heart, one that recognizes the gifts of God, and turn it into a thankful heart, which glorifies God through loving expressions toward others. Gratitude means we are pleased with ourselves. Thanksgiving offers things that please God. Thanksgiving is gratitude in action.
Show your gratitude toward God by doing something selfless today.
Fr. Stavros Akrotirianakis | November 2020 | Prayer Team 365 original article
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Care program for congregations who commit to the Earth Care Pledge. This requires them to accomplish a certain number of actions toward caring for God’s earth in four areas: worship, outreach, education, and facilities. Last spring, Session approved a study committee to determine if our church should become an Earth Care congregation. The purpose of Earth Care is to promote proper stewardship of God’s creation while also seeking justice for those in need.
Over the summer, Session members completed evaluations in the above four areas. Using the evaluation form provided by the denomination, we ascertained that we qualified in three of the areas, with worship falling a bit short. Nonetheless, in September, Session approved the Earth Care pledge, which pledges our church to pursue Earth Care in all four areas throughout our ministry. It does not mean everything will be about Earth Care, it simply means we will incorporate elements of it in specific ways. It may be as simple as singing hymns that celebrate and honor God’s creation. The Green Summit which was held at our church last year is an example of outreach that earned us points toward accreditation as an Earth Care Congregation. The number of ways we can show honor to God by caring for His creation are innumerable. In general, any costs to be a part of this program would be channeled through our various ministries. Now that the Earth Care pledge has been approved, next steps will include earning the necessary points in the area of worship, and completing an application to be certified as an Earth Care Congregation. That will be submitted at the beginning of next year. Once certified, we will need to earn the necessary points in each category to continue being certified. The Earth Care Team has been brainstorming ways to incorporate earth care activities into some of our ministry. Current members of the team are myself, Logan and Rachel Hazard, Donna Brundage, Megan Marvil and Warren Bakes. If you would like to be a part of the team, visit with any one of us and we would be happy to have you join the team. There is a wonderful hymn I recently discovered which most of you know. It is titled “How Can I Keep From Singing”, and when I stop to fully consider the wonder and mystery of God’s handiwork, I want to break out in a song of praise. I bet you will feel the same way! In His Name, George
the earth. People fight over every imaginable thing they can think of, land, resources, people, and of course pride. Hearing that North Korea was sending troops to help Russia against Ukraine, and all of the horror happening in the Middle East, makes me wonder why people even answer the call to arms.
In North Korea, I doubt they have a choice about where they go or who they fight, they simply do as they are told. Some nations see something they want and they rally their populace to go seize their neighbor’s goods no matter the cost. Other nations answer the call to arms to defend themselves and simply survive. Sadly, many nations follow an ideal of religious fervor and declare their call to arms as an act of worship. Sometimes the call to arms is a worthy call, like defeating slavery or tyranny. Yet all too often, I see older leaders directing war from the safety of their castle and sending their young out to die for their desires. War has been such a constant part of the human story that I am not sure if there will be a day when the call to arms is no longer needed on this earth. Thankfully, in the US, we have not drafted soldiers into the military since the Vietnam War. Our men and women now answer the call to arms on a voluntary basis. Our veterans chose to serve their country willingly. Some saw the benefits of discipline and education, others sought adventure, and some chose to defend those who could not defend themselves. Some of them have worked faithfully in peacetime and others have borne the burden of the battlefield. Our veterans have ensured that I did not have to bear arms against an enemy myself. They have shielded and insulated me from the day-to-day grief of war. I have only had to experience these tragedies from pictures or videos or a few eyewitness testimonies of loved ones. There is no way to express my gratitude for this. Seeing pictures of fallen soldiers, or the many monuments in DC, my heart is overcome. How would I be able to bear witness to the actual battlefield? Every Veteran’s Day I look forward to being able to give back some of the immense gratitude I feel for the many men and women who have answered the call to arms for my country. Perhaps the best way to show my gratitude would be to serve as an agent of peace. Could I offer peace in the day-to-day conflicts of my life? When my neighbor is hurt or offended could I stop to listen? When someone from the opposite political side calls names could I invite them to remember the human behind the name? Instead of hating the people who do awful things in the world, could I pray for them? When someone is facing a tough moral decision can I offer love and understanding without advising them to death? When someone cuts me off on the road can I offer a smile instead of anger? Helping to resolve the little conflicts I encounter could be my tiny seed of peace in a big world. Perhaps my small acts of peace will call me to a different kind of arms. The kind that battles in prayer and fights with kindness. The call to love my enemies and pray for those who misuse you. If I act in peace, maybe there will be one less person calling for war. Thank you to all the veterans who answered the call, may God grant you peace. In His Name, Bonnie
Smiling, he asked, “Child, what are you doing?” The girl looked up and replied, “I was worried about your journey, but don’t know any prayers, so I thought I’d pray the alphabet to God and let him assemble the prayer.” With a soft chuckle the man kissed the girl’s forehead, said farewell, and set out. Some time later he found himself in the forest and heard the sound of some large creature ahead. Not knowing if it be man or beast, he remembered some recent rumors of a bear roaming the timberlands. And so, hoping to avoid danger, he stepped off the path to walk around, certain he’d find his way with only a little delay. As night fell, and he increasingly realized that he had become lost, his heart became fearful. For some time he had believed that the animal he’d heard earlier was stalking him. It was dark and growing cold. He had not eaten for some time and he was thirsty. He had strayed from the only safe road through the woods. Again he imagined that he heard a rustle in the undergrowth. He froze, fear gripping his heart. Then he remembered his daughter that morning and the promise in the Scriptures that the Spirit makes intercession for us when we do not know what to pray. The man dropped to his knees then and there and said, “Dear God, hear my prayer… A, B, C, D…”
In His Name, Mikal
The whole of Psalm 33 is a beautiful and encouraging call to worship. (Please go read it!) But the verse I want to share today is especially comforting to me when I need to reset my perspective - when the world feels like it’s imploding, when everything is falling apart, when goodness itself feels threatened, and when I find myself anxious about the future that lies ahead for my son. “For the word of the Lord is right and true; he is faithful in all he does. The Lord loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love.” Psalm 33:4-5 Four statements. Four truths to which I can anchor. Four beautiful reminders of who it is we trust.
Within a few minutes of reading this verse, I am strengthened and encouraged. It reminds me that, while we do live in a broken world, we also live in a world that is made by, sustained by, and loved by a good and faithful God! I can trust that. Have a Terrific Tuesday, Naomi :-)
“So don’t worry about tomorrow. Tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” full schedule with many activities and events that I have to be at in a period of time. Or maybe it’s busy in my mind — a long to-do list (that will maybe get done) or the endless emails or scheduling that need to be handled. Or perhaps it’s just the never-ending “I wish I had time for” list that sometimes occupies my head and makes me feel busy. Whatever it might be, sometimes life is really busy. Lately, I have been noticing my tendency to find chaos in the latter, wishing I had time for things, feeling like I’m lagging in my ability to simply stop and live and enrich my life outside of the necessities. “I wish I had time to bake cookies with my kids, I wish I had time to go for a quiet hike by myself, I wish I had time to sit at the piano and play for pleasure not for work, I wish I wish I wish”. In other words, I create a sense of busyness in my mind out of those things I cannot find time for instead of simply living in the day and time I am in. Each night I spend a little time with each of my kids before they go to bed. My nine-year-old son, Clark, has a book that I occasionally read from to him, called “The Jesus Storybook Bible”. This particular night I chose to read the chapter entitled, “The Singer” which was all about the Sermon on the Mount. After reading the chapter, we opened his Bible to a few of the passages from Matthew of Jesus preaching this same sermon. I read specifically through Matthew 6:25-34, where Jesus talks about worrying and how futile it is to do so. After all, he takes care of the wildflowers and the birds, why wouldn’t he take care of you? While that whole passage is so wonderful, the one verse that really stuck out to me this time was Verse 34: “So don’t worry about tomorrow. Tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Isn’t that so true?!? I felt like I should probably put that on my wall to read every day!
Life is truly busy, there is no question about that. I wonder though — what would happen if we could set aside our worry and our endless list of things we wish we could do, or feel guilty about not having time for, and focus only on our day and tasks at hand? Would we have a better perspective on being busy? I wonder if we could take our list of guilts and wishes and turn them into hope. Hope for our future, joy for what may come, and confidence that, as Jesus says, “Tomorrow will worry about itself”. In His Name, Jenny
As with the members of the early church, fellowship gatherings can occur in different ways - large or small, one-on-one or Bible study groups, conferences, or retreats. On Friday evening and Saturday, October 4-5, I participated, with a joyful heart, in such a fellowship gathering as over 70 1st Pres women came together at the Women’s Conference. What sights and sounds to behold! The laughter, the joy, the hugs, the love. The conversations, the teachings, the connections. As Presbyterians, we love communing over a meal and Friday evening didn’t disappoint. After checking in at the registration desk, we gathered in the gym for a pleasant dinner before moving into the sanctuary to open conference with worship, uplifting praise music, and Bonnie Piovesan as the keynote kickoff presenter. She led us on a journey about connecting with landmarks in the Old Testament and New Testament, finishing with … “Is there an OT landmark that resonates with you and why?” Is there a NT landmark that God may be calling you to hold onto?” We moved into Krueger Hall where we spent time contemplating and discussing Bonnie’s questions. During this “Connection Hour”, we also had fun reading the inspiring “connect” questions with women at our tables and then pinning our answers up on the “Post It” wall to share with the congregation. Connecting with two women at my table who I had seen many times, but never spoken with, was very special. Saturday was a day full of learning, sharing, contemplation, prayer, insight, and building friendships. After some participated in the Neighborhood Prayer Walk (one of Yvette’s favorite activities), we shared a great meal and were blessed with a swag bag filled with wonderful treasures like a prayer journal and a delightfully fragrant moisturizer. Once we all settled down from the excitement of our swag bag treasures (and in some cases swapping items), we gathered in the sanctuary to listen to our keynote speaker, Laurie Short. With many women having read one or more of her books and/or heard her preach at 1st Pres, we were excited to hear Laurie present “The Community God Wants Us to Be”. She did not disappoint! We then spent time discussing key points that would help us better connect as a community. Afterward, we were introduced to the four “Prayer Stations: Exploring Ways to Pray” set up by Susan Lauer. A detailed brochure helped us move through each thought-inspiring station giving us new, different ways to experience prayer. Thank you, Susan, for this meaningful encounter! Later in the day, after fun fellowship time over lunch, we moved to our assigned breakout sessions where we explored topics of “Breath Prayer”, “Target of Courage”, and “Faith Like A Web” presented by Yvette Wyatt, Bonnie Piovesan and Kierstie Renninger, respectively. There is not enough space in this blog to describe these thought-provoking, informative sessions. (The presenters would be happy to chat with you about them.) To close out the conference each woman chose a prayer partner continuing the idea of connection with the hope of carrying it forward to 2025, in the context of a women’s two-day retreat. (S’mores over the campfire anyone?!) It’s hard to express the moments of vulnerability, thoughtfulness, joy, friendship, and, of course, connection I saw during the conference…seeing several women sitting quietly in the youth room praying while listening to soft music (“Contemplative Centering Prayer Station”) or asking each other the “Get To Know You” questions and hearing some surprising answers or small touches like scripture trivia cards on the tables as conversation starters. It was such a pleasure to be part of the planning team and attend this event with the beautiful, faithful women of 1st Pres. May we stay connected every day and throughout the years to come. Blessings and Prayers! P.S. It was gratifying and encouraging to receive positive verbal and written feedback about the amount of work put into this event and appreciation for the level of professionalism, imagination, and thought put toward organizing it all. The Planning Team was touched by these expressions of appreciation! “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer” Acts 2:42 NIV In His Name, Cheryl Much Thanks & Gratitude to:
The Planning Committee - Ann Smart, Bonnie Piovesan, Kierstie Renninger, Naomi White, Susan Lauer, Teri Burch & Yvette Wyatt; Janet Starkey for creative, timely marketing & promotion materials; amazing volunteers (too many to name!) for set up/tear down, meal prep, registration, & more; generous sponsors - Adult Discipleship Committee, Deacons, Presbyterian Women & Session; photographer - Justeen Moran; & swag bag donors - Karyn Smyth (handmade bags) & Sue Lauer (Just Like Jane tallow whip); for helping make this such a wonderful event.
most pressing challenges for families. The evening began with a keynote address by Tyson Durbin, who shared valuable perspectives on how social media impacts children’s development and family dynamics. Following the address, a panel of experts, Tyson – Therapist at the Salvation Army Kroc Center, Katie Simmons – Director of the ICARE Parenting Program at St Vincent de Paul, and Rosa Mettler – COO of Canopy Village, discussed practical strategies for guiding children through the complexities of online life while fostering healthy boundaries and values rooted in faith. Topics ranged from managing screen time to promoting open communication and nurturing spiritual growth in a digital age. We are so blessed to have such gifted professionals in our community who are willing to share their wisdom. Upcoming events sponsored by our Outreach Committee include: A requested follow-up to our Human Rights Coffee House – “Be an Upstander” training at the Human Rights Educational Institute on October 17th at 6 pm.
Our Annual Fall Celebration - October 19th starting at 10 am. Bring the family for hot chocolate, apple cider, crafts and tattoos, a selfie booth, live music, a rescued animal petting zoo, and lots of free stuff! We will close out the year in December with our final Coffee House featuring discussions with Alyse Staley from the Public Defender’s Office and John McSwain – Kootenai County Jail Chaplain about how we can help welcome returning citizens back into our community. Hope to see you all as we continue to show how we LOVE FIRST. In His Name Donna, Chair – 1st Pres Community Outreach Committee Next, meet Jan Morris, our Lead Shopper. Jan directs our shoppers to scour the community and online stores for the best clothing deals our dollars can buy. She instructs them in all the details of styles, sizes, and the number of items to purchase. Jan shared her experience with the Closet, “The Shoppers have been busy filling in inventory holes as clients, the children, excitedly gather their back-to-school clothes, outerwear, and footwear. I love shopping for these kids; we are definitely doing God’s work in helping these children feel equal to their schoolmates with new, fresh, and necessary clothing and personal items. We often get clients who have never been shopping in their lives, and to see their faces light up while hand-picking items to their heart’s desire always makes me feel warm. They often have very tough lives to live, but liking how they look fills a necessary place in their hearts. The Closet is simply an amazing experience.”
Megan Marvel, along with many other volunteers, arrives at the assigned time of the shopping appointment and takes on the role of the personal shoppers (closeteers) for the children and their families. She assists with the selection of clothing in the right sizes and the choice of age-appropriate hygiene and laundry products — a week’s worth of each. But, most importantly she engages children and family members in open-ended conversations demonstrating our true interest of serving others while getting to know the families. “I am deeply blessed to be able to serve in the 1st Pres Neighborhood Closet. I feel a witness to the Holy Spirit with each family served in that bright, happy basement. Often times shoppers arrive a bit reserved or unsure of what they are about to experience and, as their shopping trip unfolds, you literally see shoulders drop and relax, and smiles frequently appearing on the their faces. I know I am biased, but I truly feel families leave our church with expectations met far above and beyond what they hoped.” As Co-chairs, Connie Boni and I, do the behind-the-scenes tasks that keep this ministry going year to year. We opened our doors in October 2022 and are now heading into October 2024 continuing to serve at-risk children and families in our community. We have had 148 families set up appointments. Those families brought 232 children to the Closet. Connie remarked, “I have been so fortunate to have worked as a shopper, a closeteer (personal shopper) and now as a Co-chair with Gina. It has been so rewarding to witness how much our church continually supports this mission. I have enjoyed meeting with CDA School District counselors and personnel, and many nonprofit organizations to inform them of what we can provide to children and families in need. It touches my heart every single time I've worked with the children and seen how happy they are to receive their new clothes.” I replied, “The gift our Heavenly Father has given me the opportunity to lead in this Ministry. It has taught me so much about the human aspect of multi-generations coming together to serve our community in a very respectful and dignified way. Together we are learning how to invite people into relationships built on our LOVE 1st philosophy!” There are many more people who support this Ministry through volunteering, monetary donations, and prayers, but they could not possibly be named individually. We apologize and wish to express our deepest thanks for your continued support. You are showing Christ’s grace through your service of care. Blessing to all, Gina
fortunately made peace with her God before she left this world. When she passed she was wrapped in a Prayer Shawl made for her by the lovely ladies of First Pres. I gave it to her the last time I saw her and she loved it so much. I know that she is in a much better place now but somehow that hasn’t helped me process my grief any faster. I know about the stages of grief but knowing about them and making an effort to go through them is a different story. But, thankfully a very surprising thing happened to me recently that strengthened my faith in God. One of the ways that I have been coping is by spending more time with my Bible. Especially the Psalms, which historically I didn’t read often, but I found that they were very comforting. A few weeks ago I read Psalm 42:1-2, “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.” The comparison of the weary, parched deer who longs for relief from his thirst by finding water and the feelings I have of being exhausted by my grief are similar. I, however, know in my heart that my answer is spending more time in the presence of God -- through prayer and by reading the scriptures. As I spent time contemplating God’s strength and love, I also prayed for a sign from Him to reassure me that He was there for me, that He understood my pain, and that he had my beautiful Annie in His warm embrace. A couple of weeks ago I experienced an amazing thing which I felt was definitely a sign that God was there for me. I always feel closer to God when I am outside so, after absorbing the message of the Psalm, I went outside for a walk on our property. We have 5 acres so there is a lot of wildlife. There are deer, moose, raccoons, and many varieties of birds. My favorites are the California Quail who have been nesting and just hatched their flock of tiny fluff balls. I have been watching a group of 12 twelve chicks and two dutiful parents for a few days. It has been so fun to watch them grow. We also have two dogs, so the trick for us is to keep them from chasing the birds. I didn’t see the quail when I went outside, so I threw a ball for the Golden Retriever into some tall grass. As she raced after the ball there was suddenly a huge commotion. It appeared that I had inadvertently thrown the ball into the center of the flock. The parents were squawking, the babies were peeping and trying to fly but they were too little to get very far. I got control of the dog first and started to back slowly away, feeling terrible about what had happened and hoping that none of the chicks were injured. This is where it got interesting. The parents were making a very distinctive noise that I think warned the chicks to stay put. Once quiet was restored and the chicks had settled down I started to go back to the house. But suddenly both parents came out of the tall grass and marched right up to me. As they stood side by side they were making a loud, threatening noise as if daring me to challenge them and I could swear that we made eye contact. These tiny birds were fearless. They would do anything to keep their flock safe. While witnessing this miracle of the wild, I suddenly felt a sense of peace come over me and I believe I felt God’s presence. As the parents continued to advance on the dog and me, we continued to back up. Only when we were a safe distance away did they turn around and return to their family. They made another type of noise once they reentered the grass and slowly led their flock to safety. Thirsting after my Lord as I have been, I considered witnessing this miracle of nature my “proof” that God is here for me. He was definitely there for the little quail and allowed them to protect their flock. I can think of no other explanation for this heroic behavior. And He also allowed me to experience this remarkable situation. If God can be there for such tiny beings, He is definitely there for me. No matter how exhausted I am or what problems I am dealing with, the answer for me is always to turn to the Lord. Spending time in His presence is the only solution for me and I will continue to seek Him every day.
In His name,
Ellen |
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