The Power of Perspective: Focusing on Life's Blessings

Man is fond of counting his troubles but he does not count his joys. If he counted them up, as he ought to, he would see that every lot has enough happiness provided for it. ~ Fyodor Dostoevsky

We must remember that our blessings far outweigh our difficulties. Even if God's love were our sole blessing, it would be more than sufficient. Thanks to His love, I am blessed with so much more each day. Life is undoubtedly better when I focus on the blessings rather than the challenges. My mother used to recite a little rhyme to me when I was feeling down and negative -

"Two men stood at the very same bars,

One saw mud, and the other saw stars."

I've often thought of this when I was tempted to let my circumstances get me down. I always have a choice of what to focus on.

Nehemiah said, "Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength. ~Nehemiah 8:10

A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. ~ Proverbs 17:22

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Enjoying a little time with Fred the turtle and Parsley the cat.

Gathering eggs

Busy on the playground

Our current memory verse tells us about the Bread of Life. We've also been learning a song about the Bread of Life. Today we watched a few videos about bread and one that explained the verse. We learned about how bread nourishes our bodies and how Jesus' words and His love nourish our minds and spirits.

And we made some bread for our afternoon snack. This is a sweet, quick bread, and they loved making it!

On our science card this week, we learned a little about ducks and geese. Today we watched an educational video about waterfowl and a couple of fun videos. Then we put together a paper duck craft.

Today's Bible story - Josiah was crowned king at the age of eight. We learned that even kids have important things to do.

I got a little time to listen to a couple of podcasts and also to read a little.

And those are some of the good parts of this day.