Being Greatful

Hey hey all!! Let's just get down to it, eh?

Recipe: Awesome Turkey Burgers (recipe created by Sean and I) For two people
Start with 1/2 to 2/3 of a pound of ground turkey (leanest cut you can find)
Add Italian bread crumbs, enough to make the meat thick enough to stick together
From there, add either BBQ sauce (we like Stubs Misquite BBQ) or Warstechire Sauce
I think that Sean normally adds a few more seasonings, like Ceyenne (weird, right?) or other spicy seasonings. Then pat them out into the patty size you desire, using the Racheal Ray technique of leaving a little bit of a thinner center (will keep your patties even when cooking) and throw them on the grill. We generally throw a slice of pepperjack on our burgers, and then dress to our specifice desires. I love putting avacado on mine! There are no portions on here because I don't know them, we wing it. But if you've made burgers, I have faith you can handle it!!

Again, I have no Bible verse today. I mean, I have a parible that I could use, but I want to use the quotes that I heard in church this week. There were two that really stuck with me.
"Forgiveness is a radical act of courageous obedience," - Pastor Matt
"We are never more like Jesus than when we forgive," - Pastor Matt quoting Pastor Bob
Obviously the theme we are talking about here is Forgiveness. Oh forgiveness....I think something that everyone, of Christian faith or otherwise associated, struggles with. I know I do. And sometimes, over really silly things. But I liked what we talked about this week in church, because we really go into what forgiveness is, what it's NOT, and the power that forgiveness has to set YOU free. Not the person that you are forgiving, but YOU. As Matt and his wife Jana talked about, forgiveness is NOT reconciliation, as to reconcile a relationship takes two people, but to forgive only takes one. Forgiveness is NOT excusing an act. Forgiveness is NOT allowing a person to continue to hurt you. Forgiveness is NOT saying that the action was ok. Forgiveness is NOT taking responsibility for the action (I deserved it....). Essentially, forgiving a person does not mean that you are telling a person that you are ok with their action, and going to let them back into your life. Sometimes it does. A lot of times it does. But there are times in our lives when a sin is committed against us that effectively ends a relationship. But as Christians, we must chose to forgive them, because God forgave us. Ah heck, I may as well give you the Bible verses anyway, so you get the context of this. Matthew 19:21-35:
Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?" Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. Since was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had to sold to repay the debt. The servant fell on his knees before him. 'Be patient with me' he begged, ' and I will pay back everything.' The servants master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. But when the servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded. His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.' But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happend, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happend. Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I cancelled all the debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?' In anger, his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he whould pay back all he owed. This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."
Kind of long....but I think it's a pretty clear illustration. The last part of this just being, forgiveness is NOT for the other person. It's for us. It's to set US free from the things that keep our hearts in chains. If we are holding grudges, and are unforgiving of others, it only hurts us, and damages our hearts. But if we ask God to help us set ourselves free from our own inability to forgive at times, and truely let him work in our hearts, we are the ones that benefit. No longer are we eaten up by something that the other person may truely not care about, but we are free from that bondage, and no longer have the unpleasant task of carrying this heavy burden with us. And we are acting as Jesus, which is really the point, isn't it?

Ok.....so....I just love lessons like that, that can be found in the Bible, and that are so relevent to today and the everyday struggles we all have. But shifting gears, I want to talk about the things that I am incredibly greatful for in my life. Of course, one being our Heavenly Father, and the Word that He gives us. I'm greatful for my husband and my family...my beautiful house, and silly dog. I'm very greatful for my job/s, especially in this economy!! And, I'm greatful that my boss' are as amazing as they are. Now, before everyone gets all "Suck-up/brown noser" on me, neither of my boss' are aware of my blog, nor do they read it.....so I'm not writing for their benefit! I'm so greatful for my boss at Lourdes because I have never felt SO backed up and supported by a manager in my life. Whatever problem that I come to her with, she can communicate a solution to me, or help me come up with one. And one that I can use! And it's nice to know that I can walk into work, and know that if I have an issue, I can normally address it with her at least within 24 hours. I also have full confidence to know that when other agencies are attacking me, whether she believes I am right or not, she will defend me (and the rest of her team) to the attacking agency, and then take up issue with me at a later time if at all needed. And it helps to have a boss, that on a normal basis, says "Thank you for all your hard work." I have a job that is incredibly stressful at times, and just hearing, "You are doing well" or something to that effect, makes all the difference in a day.

I also have another job, I teach BodyJam at a local gym, one to two times a week. Our aerobics instructor is what I like to call.....intense. Especially when you just meet her. She cares a LOT about group fitness, and the reputation of the quality of group fitness classes in our club. Which is what you want, right!?! Sometimes, that means that I hear about a class that I did, and mistakes that I made, that I need to work through. Performing is hard. And I already know my mistakes, so the last thing I want to hear is what I did wrong from a person that I feel I need to impress (she's my boss!!). But....she is always very forgiving, and is trying to be helpful. And now that I know her better, and we have developed a relationship, I know the support that I have from her, and have experienced the "Thank you for all your hard work," on her side, as well. She's another person that I can learn a lot from, and I am thankful to be able to co-teach with her, and glean from all of her experience.

Soooo.....there it is. My thankfullness/greatfulness of my boss', and the support that I get from them. It makes working day in and day out, not only tolerable, but a true joy, and something that I, quite often, look forward too.