Life Worth Living

Good morning, Loved Ones!

Which comes first? Faith or Gratitude? Is faith a prerequisite for gratitude? Or, is it possible, that the discipline or spontaneous experience of gratitude can produce faith? Last night at our Urban Network meeting one of our gimme cinco-ers, Julie Murphy, speaking of our Wednesday morning sharing said, "Sometimes I receive the Gimme Cinco in the morning and I think, 'I don't have time for this.' But, when I stop and take the time, my day is reoriented." (my paraphrase! Thanks Julie!) Faith is fundamentally reorienting our lives. I'm not sure I understand all this, but perhaps the author of Hebrews has a clue.

Hebrews 11 (The Message)

^1-2The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It's our handle on what we can't see. The act of faith is what distinguished our ancestors, set them above the crowd.
³By faith, we see the world called into existence by God's word, what we see created by what we don't see.

Faith is fueled by gratitude. Gratitude is an act of faith. Let's act out!

Thank you, Lord . . .

. . . for the glimpses of sun over the past few days . . . the promise of warmer, brighter days to come.
. . . for Sam's calls back home, his new family in Tucson and his inspiring pictures of ugly border walls graced with art that speaks against all that the ugly walls represent.
. . . for Luke's newfound auto freedom, his ability to get himself to his commitments without having to wait for Mom, Dad or Grammas to get him.
. . . for the fox trot, the rumba, cha-cha, waltz, tango, salsa and swing and the joy of learning to dance at 50 with a younger woman!
. . . for another morning of Cafe en la Calle, the gifts of many who are hearing of this ministry and sharing coffee, sandwiches, thermos', hot chocolate, granola bars and taquitos.

Fuel your faith today and share your gratitude. Gimme cinco!

Please continue to pray for Haiti and to see other ways to help visit:

http://www.pcusa.org/pda/

Pastor Rick
http://gimmecinco.blogspot.com/