Coffee With Jesus

What Are You Grateful For?

Craig F. Harrison41.8K views

Craig Harrison's Coffee with Jesus reflections provide a healthy cup of daily inspiration to start your day. Cover art by

As I sit and have my cup of coffee with Jesus, I was thinking about Thanksgiving.  This year, I want to prepare for it differently.  There are a lot of things that we can complain about every year, but during this time of Thanksgiving, it is truly a time to search out GRATITUDE.

Today, I am starting a LIST of all the things, people, and situations that I am GRATEFUL for.  I’m going to do, showing God that I have a thankful heart even during chaos, sadness, and loss.  Gratitude can certainly change our attitude.  What are you grateful for?  Write it down, place it in your heart, and prepare for a day of THANKSGIVING to God.  No matter what has happened in our lives, as Christians, we are called to find the light in the darkness.

So, start a list today; keep it with you and keep writing.  It is said that the unthankful heart discovers no mercies.  We need mercy!  So, let’s begin the VIGIL of gratitude.  I’m grateful that many of you connect with me each morning with my cup of coffee with Jesus, AND SO IS HE!

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4 comments

Shelly Phoenix November 24, 2021 - 4:00 am
I am grateful for you and your inspiring words of wisdom. Thank you for being so positive. I know the Holidays can be bitter sweet because we miss our loved ones in heaven so much yet we have so much to be grateful for still on this earth. I wish you and your family a wonderful Thanksgiving. May the peace of Christ fill you up always. You are always in my thoughts and prayers. God Bless.
Marta E. Chipres November 24, 2021 - 6:04 am
Buon Giorno Monsignor Craig You hit another home run with today’s , While I sit and have a cup of coffee with Jesus. God EXPECTS us to be happy and how can we happy? It’s exactly what you stated, through gratitude and giving our Father daily continual praise we actually benefit in so many ways: we feel at peace, happy, joyful and we are more willing to share our happiness with others. By being grateful it actually helps you physically as you can’t be upset nor stressed when your mind is in the “grateful” mode. Additionally, by showing our Almighty our humility and acceptance of all the gifts he bestows upon us, we are showering HIM in our love and faithfulness to HIM. Lastly, being grateful MUST be conscious mindset which is researched based proven to allow stress, depression and anxiety to significantly decfeesse, this also applies to folks who are grieving a loved ones death, ptsd, AND the power of the mind, aka mindset must be optimistic as we should be blindly walking in full FAITH knowing HE has an amazing plan for us. As I’ve shared my painful journey these past 12 years, from being racially discriminated (even though I was born in Fresno and have lived in Kern County my entire life time, dealt with a toxic workplace for 10 years plus bullying and harassment. Additionally I’ve shared publicly the horrific 4 year divorce, Thank God the custody portion is over! Im officially divorced as of 4 weeks ago. Im back to my maiden name- Chipres. Lastly my nightmare in being raped of course deeply and severely affected me. All of the above put me in a very dark cold lonely situation. Officially diagnosed with severe depression, ptsd and of course sadly when our body is at this level of stress your physical body will start to deteriorate. Coming back to all of my rare genetic blood “gifts from God,” all incurable and fatal. If anyone you know gets ill learn from my years battling the Heath care system let in Kern County- go straight to Stanford Hospital. I can honestly say, I’m grateful our Father had planned this painful journey for me. As I’ve learned I’m much stronger than I ever thought I was. I did lose my path 2x as a direct result of the ignorance and “””” law system in Kern County. Even though I’m A Dr all it takes is the following: having an incompetent attorney who literally verbatim told me the following, “I’m sorry, I only had 15 minutes to prepare.” The second item, having a brand new Judge. The judge unfortunately believed my ex husbands liess. All resulting in us having an exparte hearing. I had no freaking clue what that meant, that’s why I hired my attorney who was also my neighbor. You think he should of told me what an exparte meant? I think so. Long story short I was awarded court supervised visitations, could only see my daughter for 2 hours a week. I had to pay 150 dollars to have someone watch me. In addition we were all 3 ordered to have a court approved Psychologist. As the court system is severely understaffed and I’m being brutally honest, the family law division in Kern County has major room for improvement, notice how I even state that in a positive manner. I could have as easily said it’s freaking broken. In my humble opinion, as I was treated like a drug addict, a pedal hike a criminal, as those are the individuals who are given supervised visitations. Even though I kept telling my attorney aren’t you going to defend me, say something while we were in trial. He wasn’t saying anything and I’m telling him to do something. The judge tells me basically to shut up or she’s going to put me in contempt. I was not being loud as my attorney of course is seated right next to me. She, the judge told me twice to stop or o would be in content. Later I found out that my incompetent attorney could have asked for a continuance as he truly was NOT prepared. Long story short during this precise timeframe I felt so sad and had no hope, I do now realize my error. I should have never doubted our Father. I’m human, I make mistakes. I did try 2 times to leave this world. Both times HE spoke to me, saying Marta I know what your considering doing. DO NOT try, as I won’t let you die! Long story short, I’m living proof HE does exist. My Dr. prescribed 10 mg of Ambien as I as unable to sleep for days. About 95% of folks who take Ambien for sleep take 5mg. The 5 mg did absolutely nothing for me. I took 35 pills of the 10 mg and had the best sleep I’ve ever had. How many days was I out for, I honestly do not know. When I woke up I was so ANGRY. HE had told me my work here on Earth was not over. HE still needed me here on Earth. Well, I’m a living testament, HE does exist and if we can get past all the ugliness in the world and only focus on the beauty all around us and truly be good Christians, not just “lip service” our world would be a paradise. I’m grateful for m painful journey as now I truly appreciate happiness. Only through suffering can we feel what true happiness is! I’ll repeat this, as this is crucial for us to understand. If your life is hard, painful, loss of job, loss of family, divorce, loss of your home, illnesses etc. yes, be sad but then dust yourself off and with your head high say to yourself, “ok, this is the card I was dealt, fix it. Trade a card, fold and start over or decide your dine playing poker and start another game.” It’s all in our mindset, instead of being sad and blue, find things to be grateful for. I’ll share my list as I do this daily. I’m grateful I have severe physical pain everyday. Why? If I don’t have pain I’m dead. I’m grateful for my divorce. Why? I know our Farher has my soul mate and when HE decides I’m ready, HE will send him to me. I’m grateful for all the pain and heartaches I’ve gone through the last 12 years. Why? I now, been though I’m dying, I’m happier now than when I was “well.” I take absolutely nothing for granted. Each moment I spend with my family and friends is Golden to me. Each day I wake up I state it out loud, thank you Father for the GIFT of one more day. I walk daily and I call it my walk with God and I post my writing on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. As I walk or jog with God, sometimes it’s just normal conversing other times we are arguing. I never win, lol. Through my prayer as I’m waking I do not listen to music nor answer the phone nor look at my texts. This is my sacred time with our Father. I listen to the sounds of births, I relish the plants and trees, I notice and appreciate the road runner, the river down the bluffs. I’ll stop and admire the fliers along the river. I’ll STOP and admire! That’s key! STOP! Take time out of your hectic life. Hit pause… keep it at a slower level. There’s absolutely no n Ed to rush through your life. You control it. STOP and admire the fliers, pick one, smell it, touch it, so what I do, I’ll take pictures and photos so when I’m truly ill and an not get out of bed, I’ll still stop and admire the many gifts he gives me. It’s just in a photo but I can still be GRATEFUL for the experience he gave me. I’ll stop there, truly do what Monsignor Craig suggests, start your own daily gratitude list. Do this for the whole year, not just for Thanksgiving. I wish every one a Blessed Thanksgiving, enjoy and relish the moments and memories you’re creating. Don’t argue, don’t get into fights. What an unkind comment maybe the last thing they hear from you as the might die the next day. Be kind to one another. Let’s try to each day lift up a fellow brother. We can change our world one person at a time God Bless you Dr. Marta E. Chipres (used to be Escobar) I’m going to do, showing God that I have a thankful heart even during chaos, sadness, and loss. Gratitude can certainly change our attitude. What are you grateful for? Write it down, place it in your heart, and prepare for a day of THANKSGIVING to God. No matter what has happened in our lives, as Christians, we are called to find the light in the darkness. So, start a list today; keep it with you and keep writing. It is said that the unthankful heart discovers no mercies. We need mercy! So, let’s begin the VIGIL of gratitude. I’m grateful that many of you connect with me each morning with my cup of coffee with Jesus, AND SO IS HE!
Proctor Robert November 24, 2021 - 10:36 am
Inspiring, encouraging and uplifting!Have a blessed Thanksgiving. “ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to GOD”. Philippians 4:6 NIV
Denise Eyherabide November 25, 2021 - 2:39 pm
Great message! I hope you enjoy your Thanksgiving with your family! Give THANKS TO GOD! Amen and God Bless everyone!
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