On this Thankful Thursday, I can’t help but think about what I was doing a year ago today. We do not often remember with such clarity that kind of thing unless it is a life-changing event and will have great significance in our lives.

My November 10th, 2010 was to be a day spent with two dear friends celebrating my belated birthday in a quaint little town in Georgia.  Although the day was to be  filled with fun and laughter it was bitter-sweet.  Moments before we were heading out the door, a call came from my brother breaking the news that my father had been found the night before in his nursing home kneeling by his sofa and safe in the arms of Jesus.

It is hard to believe that it has been a year since he died’ my mom died not too long before him.   So at this time last year I spent the following weeks preparing.  As others prepared for Thanksgiving  Day, mine was spent planning a memorial service, the flowers, the food, the guest book, the hotel and a rude inconsiderate funeral home.  On Thanksgiving Eve Winters and I and the Sons were at the Sushi Train in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with my brother and his family and some faithful friends. One of our all-time favorite restaurant and a place to celebrate family and friends.

It is still all a bit surreal as I look back on it.  No one wants to go to a memorial service the day before Thanksgiving, but sometimes that is where you find yourself and friends who love you gather with you even when they have other things to do. For that, I am forever grateful.

So on this Thankful Thursday I am thankful for many things, but most of all the love of a Father and a Mother who loved me and told me so. Sometimes as parents we get busy and caught up in life and we  forget to stop and tell those we love how important and special they are to us.

My home growing up was filled with many things and the expression of love was indeed the strongest.  My father was very gracious with his money and paid for my college education and my Masters Program.  It was a gift and I was always grateful for their support. I remember my father, not for his mone,y but that I can never remember a conversation not ending with “we love you and are so proud of you.”  My mom would always add how special I was. No wonder I felt so good about myself.

In the Legacy of the Three Gifts, the message I share in churches, I tell about the greatest gifts my parents bestowed on me. One of those is the gift of encouragement or the biblical term exhortation. It is an awesome and powerful gift to have.

The soul cries out to be loved. To be affirmed.  It just does.  And the heart seeks it and it is not easy for everyone.  We must seek God’s approval above all.  We love to cast blame.  We love to blame others for our shortcomings or why we are like we are.

Sex is not everything in a relationship, but what exactly does this mean? Simply put, transparency is information about you and your thoughts that you lowest price for cialis freely offer to your spouse. It is a great practice and you will not get any medicine, you will find in the online pharmacies like Kamagra, cheap cialis find to find out more, Forzest etc. If the quality is poor then the product will fail to maintain it to have good sexual intercourse cialis 20 mg robertrobb.com and this condition is complex and subtle. Initial reports viagra from usa indicate that the drug may enhance endurance, especially when competitors are breathing in polluted conditions or at high altitudes. My father had ever right to be a bad father.  He had every right to parent poorly and blame it on his father’s abuse.  But Daddy chose to be different, to be better, to be the best Dad he could be. He wasn’t a perfect father, but he did an incredible job and the best he could.  He knew very little about God when I was a young child, but that which he knew he imparted to me.  As a little girl I remember sitting at his feet with my brother on Sunday mornings and my mother by his side teaching me about Jesus. When he later gave his life to Christ, he then dug even deeper into the word and had even more to give.

How will you be remembered?

On this Thankful Thursday I miss those powerful life-giving words of encouragement.  I could sure use them, but years of love and encouragement changed me and yes empowered me to be a better women! Those life giving words of love and approval sustain me!  I encourage you to do better, be better and live a life where you take responsibilities for your failures and short comings and you choose by the grace of God to rise above and be the better man or women. Do your best to give life and love and hope to those around you. Remember life is short and we will not pass this way again.

And if as you read this you think to yourself – I did not grow up in a loving home – then remember it is now your opportunity to live a different life and create the kind of life  you want for those you love.

When you can impart love and encouragement, do it. Don’t hold back and whatever opportunity God gives you this Thankful Thursday do it boldly for Him.   Ask yourself how do I want to be remembered by my children and by others.  What will my legacy be?

Remember we are called to holiness and greatness in Christ!  As parents we are pillars in the lives of our children. Pillars ground us and make us stronger. Pillars hold bridges, houses and tall skyscrapers.  Pillars allow us to do things we ordinarily could not do.

But pillars can often be weak and break.   What kind of pillar are you?  Strong and sturdy or weak and unstable.  Be a pillar of strength and love!  And most of all on this Thankful Thursday may we remember that we will be remembered.  Yes remembered by those we leave behind.  Ask yourself today the tough questions, “How am I doing with what God has in trusted to me?”  “Will I be remembered as a women of faith? of Love? of Hope?” We must invest our time and life in eternal things because the rest is all hay, wood and stubble and will eventually be burned away.

So on this Thankful Thursday be blessed and encouraged abundantly today as we celebrate the  lives of those we love and creating the kind of legacy we want to leave behind!