ack’s Winning Words 12/31/19
“Thank you God for this good life, and forgive us if we do not love it enough.”  (Garrison Keillor)  It’s New Year’s Eve!  Do you have plans?  I’m back in Michigan this year and will watch the “NYC ball” drop at midnight.  For my Hong Kong friends, it’ll already be tomorrow. Keillor reminds all of us that today and every day is a good day to thank God for the good life that’s been ours…and maybe sing: Count your many blessings, name them one by one.  ;-)  Jack 

FROM TAMPA SHIRL:  Always count your blessings-every day!===JACK:  When you run out of fingers, use your toes.

FROM BB IN CHGO:  Always liked the song and always thankful for my many blessings. ===JACK:   Count your many blessings, see what God has done. 

FROM ROBERT:  Your words today are so inspiring!! My friend and surrogate dad, David Garrett made his transition last night around 8:30. Although my heart is heavy, the one important thing he taught me was to thank God for our good life and Praise Him for mercy and grace in the life He has prepared thereafter in heaven. Now I rejoice as the angels sing... glory to God in the Highest... Amen  ===JACK:  The end of one year, and the beginning on another.  The end of life on earth and the beginning of life in God's heaven.  What an appropriate time for "a saint" to make the the transition

FROM WALMART REV:  “... count your many blessings, and what ‘GOD’ hath done.” I am reminded this morning of my good friend, Pastor Jack Freed, had his congregation read the Bible through one year and the questions they had in regard to some of God’s judgments found in the OT. That made for some good conversation between us back then. 0;-)===JACK:  Friendship...one of God's important blessings.  New Year's Resolution:  "Visit Willmar, Minnesota, and experience what I'm told is Heaven on Earth.

FROM JFREEDSTER:  Is that fake news? Or are you really staying up until midnight.===JACK:  Maybe I'll start by celebrating with the people of  London.  Their New Year begins at 6 PM (EST).

FROM NICOLE:  It's a good day even if u have to get up at 3am to shovel yourself out of a snow storm in wisconsin to go to work!!===JACK:  We got snow, too...but not as much as "up north!"  I'm done with the shoveling and work thing.  Ahhh!

FROM SHARIN' SHARON:  And Happy New Year!!!  The family is just starting to stir here.  Grandpa and I are babysitting today and going to a nearby park which has wonderful train and such to play on.  this morning i was remembering the wonderful worship in Lund, Sweden, commemorating the 500 year accomplishments between Catholics and Lutherans.  The Lutheran World Federation represented all the Lutheran folks and, just now, on amazon.com, i discovered a whole bunch of books and historical background, theological stuff--my go to reading for this upcoming year--the CEO is raking in big money but he sure is also a blessing to so many of us!!!  2020 will be another good year!!!!  Full of hope and growth!!!  Lots of love, ===JACK:  Being grandparents beats 500-year celebrations and raking in big bucks.

FROM NORM'S BLOG: I went looking for more quotes about being thankful and found these thought provoking gems - "Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough." -Oprah Winfrey Many people use New Year’s Eve to look ahead and hope for things that they don’t have. Better if pause to they look back a bit, not in nostalgia, in thankfulness for the life that God gave them in the past year.  "If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough." -Meister Eckhart  For some it is hard to see what they should be thankful for at the end of the year. Perhaps they don’t stop to consider that they made it to the end of the year. That is especially true of people living in war zones or under duress.

Habeeb Akande expressed his gratitude for making it thorugh another year this way - "I may not be where I want to be but I'm thankful for not being where I used to be."  So this New Year’s Eve, express your gratitude to God and anyone else who is there to listen.===JACK:  Maybe today should be a 2nd Thanksgiving Day.  Pass the turkey!

FROM DS IN SOCAL:  Yes, Jack.  Sometimes we get so tied up in problems we forget to give thanks for the oh so many blessings God has given us.===JACK:  Strange...but sometimes problems can turn out to be blessings.  Have a great 2020.