gratitude – Delight in Disorder

What I’m Thankful For: My Cross by Alisha Wolpert

When thinking about what I have the most gratitude for in my life, my cross immediately came to mind. By picking up my cross each day, I draw closer to my Creator, I learn to grow and be more like my Savior, and gain trust and reliance on the Holy Spirit. I have the choice and free will, gifted to me by God, to either take up my cross and offer my day to Him or I can try to make a go of my day on my own. The days I choose God are always on a different level and trajectory than the days when I rely on me and my own strength. I'm full of gratitude for having a cross to bear, because it shows me that God is still at work in my life and is standing beside me each step of the way. If I feel [...]

What I’m Thankful For: My Cross by Alisha Wolperttonyroberts2024-02-25T15:58:11-05:00

The Blessings of Gratitude

“Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.” ― Marcel Proust. Gratitude is a spiritual practice. It has a way of seeping into our souls - uplifting our spirits, refreshing our spirits, even invigorating our bodies. In my spiritual journey, I have been through seasons where I felt bitter and dark. At these times it is all the more essential to give thanks for the people, experiences, and things that bring us happiness and lighten our loads. What are you grateful for? I am thankful for many things. The one thing that stands out for me on this day is spiritual friendship. I have been blessed throughout my life to know people who are spiritually mature, who regularly pray for me, who I can count on to encourage me when I am laid low and put me in [...]

The Blessings of Gratitudetonyroberts2023-09-10T21:03:47-04:00

Hope for Troubled Minds: A Daughter and Her Parents Express Gratitude

Dear Mom and Dad, Thank you for loving my battered soul and caring for me when all I could do was hurt and hate myself. Thank you for the care and support. The hours of holding my hand through what we later learned were panic attacks. Thank you for taking me to the ER, and numerous doctors to try to find the cause of my unease. My disease. Which we later learned was called manic depression, or bipolar when we went to a psychiatrist. Dad thank you for the many overtime hours you worked so our family could have a stay at home mom and health care. Thank you mom for being my angel. Thank you for always offering the HOPE that life can get better and that I could be well. I now live a happy healthy life in marriage with a family of my own because of your [...]

Hope for Troubled Minds: A Daughter and Her Parents Express Gratitudetonyroberts2022-12-14T14:01:05-05:00

Word of the Year: Eucharisteo – the miracle of thanksgiving.

Eucharisteo—thanksgiving—always precedes the miracle. ― Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. (2 Corinthians 9.10-11) Each year I select a word to focus on in my faith journey each day. Said better, God selects the word and I confirm it. Today the word came to me from Ann Voskamp's book One Thousand Gifts. The word Eucharist appears in various forms 53 times in the Greek Scriptures. Strong’s Concordance lays out three ways that these words can be used: 1. To be grateful, to feel grateful; 2. To express gratitude [...]

Word of the Year: Eucharisteo – the miracle of thanksgiving.tonyroberts2022-01-02T20:56:30-05:00

Gratitude for Passionate Turbulence

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5.16-18) “While she might not have opted for this illness, neither does she entirely regret it; she prefers, as she writes so movingly, a life of passionate turbulence to one of tedious calm.” ― Kay Redfield Jamison, An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness. I am grateful for many things. I’ll name five: Food to eat. A roof above my head. Family members who care for me. Faithful friends who make me laugh. And my mental illness. Yes, I am grateful for my mental illness. I have come to prefer the “passionate turbulence” of bipolar disorder to the “tedious calm” of being “normal”. This is not to say I enjoy all aspects of my illness. Sometimes it is a pain in the ass. Sometimes it robs me of hope and challenges [...]

Gratitude for Passionate Turbulencetonyroberts2020-04-19T20:53:18-04:00

Even in the chaos, there is encouragement.

I find delight when I write. More delight when people read what I write. And even more when readers respond to what I write. But I am perhaps most delighted when someone is moved in such a way by my work that they offer me an encouraging word or, one that challenges me to do better. Like this from a reader named Bev: Tony, I understand the focus of your email is mental illness. However, it seems that examining your mental illness and dwelling on it makes it more intense. I suffer from anxiety, and yet, I know that if I were to spend too much time thinking of it, it would be worse. There are so many ways to become and stay stable that I don't want to spend time irritating a wound. Today the sky is so lovely, and I will dwell on the good and the [...]

Even in the chaos, there is encouragement.tonyroberts2019-08-14T21:29:19-04:00

Giving Thanks for My Illness

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5.16-18) “While she might not have opted for this illness, neither does she entirely regret it; she prefers, as she writes so movingly, a life of passionate turbulence to one of tedious calm.” ― Kay Redfield Jamison, An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness. This Thanksgiving I am grateful for many things. I'll name five: Food to eat. A roof above my head. Family members who care for me. Faithful friends who make me laugh. And my mental illness. Yes, I am grateful for my mental illness. I have come to prefer the "passionate turbulence" of bipolar disorder to the "tedious calm" of being "normal". This is not to say I enjoy all aspects of my illness. Sometimes it is a pain in the ass. Sometimes [...]

Giving Thanks for My Illnesstonyroberts2017-11-24T14:48:35-05:00