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Thirty-Six Years of Gratitude

The Captain’s Corner

I was honored to work with many passionate professionals over the course of my thirty-six-year career with the airlines. These included crew members, flight attendants, mechanics, passenger agents, and baggage handlers. However, I had contact with one group of people more often than all of the others. These were the airline’s crew schedulers. Usually via phone contact, crew schedulers worked to ensure that all flights had the necessary crews. I often would be called for a trip during any time that I was available for duty.

You can imagine that crew schedulers worked with all kinds of people: the cooperative and the difficult, the helpful and the burdensome, the pleasant and the unpleasant. The schedulers could “make my day,” and with the right response, I could make theirs!

I eventually found out that these individuals had given me a nickname: “Thank-You Joe Henderson.” This nickname sprang out of my habit of thanking them for calling me to check my availability for a trip. Some of the crew members didn’t like to get that call. However, I was so thankful to be flying—from my first day of training to my very last flight–that I was always certain to say, “Thank you!” Of course, I was also grateful to God for giving me a wonderful job, particularly one that I loved doing!

It’s easy to be thankful for good jobs and pleasant situations, but God commands us to be thankful for all things. This includes difficult times and hard circumstances.

Philippians 4:6, NASB: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”

1 Thessalonians 5:18, NKJV: “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

Ephesians 5:20, NKJV: “Giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

There are several examples in the Bible of this kind of praying. Let me share three of them with you.

  • The prophet Jonah, while in the belly of the big fish, said, “I will sacrifice unto Thee with the voice of thanksgiving” (Jonah 2:9, KJV).
  • Daniel continued kneeling in prayer to God, giving thanks to God, even after being threatened with being thrown into the lion’s den. (See Daniel 6:6–10, NKJV.)
  • The apostle Paul had an affliction that he asked God three times to remove. God did not remove it, but He gave Paul sufficient grace for the trial. Paul was able to say that he actually gloried in the situation so that God could show Himself strong in the midst of it. (See 2 Corinthians 12:7–10, NASB.)

Therefore, we must make saying “thank-you” part of our everyday lives.

Hebrews 13:15, NASB: “Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God,
that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name.”

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By Petals from the Basket | November 29, 2018 | Bible Reading, God-and-I-Time, The Captain's Corner, Thirty Days of Gratitude |

A Gratitude Giveaway!

How are your thirty days of gratitude going? We are thrilled by the number of you who have joined us on this journey of intentional expressions of gratitude. Every year, about this time in the month of November, however, it starts to get old. You’ve worked hard, but now the holidays are getting closer, and there is a lot of work to do. Don’t give up. Keep choosing to express gratitude! And keep reading, because it’s about to get all giveaway-ish in here!

Sunday evening, our church was privileged to have the Mieczkowski Family present a sacred concert following our church-wide Thanksgiving dinner. Joe and I have become avid listeners of their music, and we decided to share their information with you today.

Philippians 4:6–7 (NASB) states: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” We all long for, crave, and desire peace. These verses remind us that God’s peace is available to us (even promised to us!) when we thankfully present our requests to God. 

My friends, I take from these verses that an attitude of praise creates an atmosphere of peace.

So today, let me encourage you to create an atmosphere of peace in your home (your car, too)! My dear mother often told me that it’s hard for contention to exist when there is beautiful music playing. I follow her example by having instrumental music playing in the background from the minute we wake up until bedtime. (Thank You, Lord, for the “Repeat All” button on the CD player!)

As I hinted at above, Joe and I have a new favorite CD: Reflections of Praise, by the Mieczkowski Family. Two important things:

  1. Visit their website THIS week, because they are offering FREE SHIPPING (woo-hoo!) through November 25. Seriously. And the more CDs you buy for Christmas/Birthday/Just-Because-It’s-Tuesday gifts, the cheaper they are! Double woo-hoo!!!! After you read the next important thing, click here to visit their website: https://www.mieczkowskifamily.com/
  2. Leave a comment below (and/or below today’s video on our Petals from the Basket Facebook page) telling us one thing that you are thankful for today. The giveaway ends at midnight tonight (11/20/18, PST). A random number selector will choose from the entries one winner of a FREE Reflections of Praise CD! Oh. my heart. You will love how this CD helps to create an atmosphere of praise in your home, classroom, car, workplace, etc.!

We appreciate you! Now go…enter the giveaway!

By Petals from the Basket | November 20, 2018 | Bible Reading, Contests, Events, Family, Friends, God-and-I-Time, Ideas, Life Changes, Thirty Days of Gratitude |

A Month of Gratitude

We should be grateful every moment of every day of every month!

Several years ago now, I began using the month of November to demonstrate either verbally or in writing my gratitude to those who have touched my life in some way. Don’t get me wrong, as I stated above, I think that we should be grateful every day of every month, but I think sometimes it’s important to acknowledge it in either verbal or written form—partly for the sake of the one who may be wondering at that moment if what they have done or what they have taught you really mattered. I did this little exercise in gratitude for many years and then sort of set it by the wayside until 2007.

At that time, I decided to create a “gratitude spreadsheet” that others could use, and I posted it publicly so that we could encourage one another to focus our thoughts on our blessings. It has become an annual favorite for many of my friends. I would love for you to join us this year!

However, this year, even though Joe and I will continue to blog about two or three times a week, we won’t be posting on the blog every single day. That can get annoying, we know! So below are four options for you to choose from if you’d like to join us in this effort. (Just ignore the year and follow the days of the month! Some of these are “reruns!”) Simply click the orange words on the left to be directed to that tool or resource:

Facebook Live posts – On our Facebook page for Petals from the Basket, we are doing a “Live Feed,” a two-to-four-minute devotional at 7:00 a.m. For now, we’re planning on three days a week, but we may end up doing more…perhaps even daily! The wonderful thing about Facebook Live videos is that you don’t have to watch them “live.” You can watch them anytime during the day!

Follow-along PDF “booklet” – Though this was one that I created in 2013, it’s probably my favorite “viewable” download. It’s a PDF with an idea for each day of the month. Each page includes: Gratitude Focus; Recommended Reading; Name or Quality of God to Meditate On. Simply download it to your computer and follow along each day!

Follow-along, printable chart – This is actually the chart from last year, but it’s a clear and concise way to be intentional about expressing gratitude to others.

By category – Simply click on the orange words “By category” and look up all previous blog posts in the “Thirty Days of Gratitude” category. Not including this one, there are eighty-three posts for you to choose from!

And just for fun, click here to check out the original coloring pages available for you (or your children) to color this month!

Feel free to leave a comment to let us know which option you chose!

“In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:18, NASB).

 

 

By Petals from the Basket | November 1, 2018 | Bible Reading, Events, Family, Friends, God-and-I-Time, Ideas, Thirty Days of Gratitude |

The Seasons of Life

Today’s post was written by my mom, Lorraine Strohbehn, a favorite contributor here at Petals from the Basket. She sent it to me today to use at “a later date,” but it was so timely and such a good reminder that I couldn’t wait to share it with you!

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With autumn and cool weather arriving, Northern Indiana farmers are diligently harvesting the corn, soybeans, wheat, and alfalfa that they planted in the spring and tended during the summer. Farmers’ markets that started the summer with asparagus and rhubarb are now reaping their last tomatoes, cauliflower, green beans, and okra, while the pumpkins and squash are piled high at their front doors.

We just came in from cutting off the day lilies and coral bells in the flower beds around the house. They have been beautiful throughout the summer. The hearty burgundy leaves of the coral bells growing in a sea of white stones were a special source of pride and joy, but this year’s season is over, so it was time to prepare them for winter.

Autumn is my favorite season of the year, with its colorful maples and the cooler days and chilly nights. To make sure we have fresh fruits and vegetables for winter lunches and dinners, we are wrapping a few more butternut squash for cool storage, adding to the corn, tomatoes, green beans, and applesauce in the freezer, and making room for the arrival of Texas grapefruit, which will be available next month at the local Amish store.

What we planted in the spring is now ready for the harvest. Because I know what we planted, I know what the harvest should be; the early effort that we put into care will determine the quality of the harvest. As King Solomon wrote (Proverbs 10:5, KJV), “He that gathereth in summer is a wise son: but he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame.” We enjoy the preparation of springtime, the bounty of summer, and the harvest of autumn for the winter that is to come.

The seasons of life are pictured in the seasons of the year: what we plant is what we harvest. Paul emphasized this in one of his pastoral letters (Galatians 6:7–9, KJV): “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.”

May we live every season with eternity’s values in view!

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By Petals from the Basket | October 26, 2018 | Ask Grandma, Bible Reading, Family, God-and-I-Time, Guest Posts, Life Changes |

The Final Flight

There are special days that mark milestones in an airline pilot’s career. Of course, the pilot’s first solo flight is worthy of celebration. The first flight as an employee of the airline is also a noted achievement, as is his or her first flight as a captain. Therefore, you can be assured that the final flight of an airline captain is both unique and memorable as well.

My last trip as captain involved flying my family members (in business class) to London, England, and then back to Philadelphia, PA. The trip had to be completed prior to my mandatory retirement age of sixty. (The mandatory retirement age has since been raised to sixty-five.) So two days before my sixtieth birthday, my family flew with me to London, via a stop in Shannon, Ireland, on our return trip to Philly.

At Shannon, on departure, the airport’s fire trucks gave our airplane a “water cannon salute,” spraying the airplane in honor of my last flight. En route from Shannon to Philadelphia, the flight attendants passed around a journal, which the passengers and crew kindly signed with congratulatory notes for me.

Upon our landing in Philadelphia, we were greeted once again with a water cannon salute as we taxied to the terminal.

(Click photo to enlarge.)

My final act as an airline captain was to set the parking brake at Gate 23A in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and shut down the engines at 6:38 p.m., October 3, 2003.

I was truly grateful to God for a thirty-six-year career, safely flying passengers and cargo over the course of twenty-five-thousand flight hours. I remain grateful as well for the passionate professionals with whom I worked. And I am grateful to God that I was able to finish right…and thereby to finish well.

As I recently remembered these events, I was reminded of Paul the apostle. It was his goal to “finish [his] course with joy” (Acts 20:24, KJV). Paul would later write to Timothy (his “son” in the faith): “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7, KJV). By God’s grace and with His help, we should all finish right, accomplishing what God desires for us to do with our lives.

If we finish right, we will finish well and receive God’s acclamation of praise, “Well, done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21, ESV).

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By Petals from the Basket | October 17, 2018 | Bible Reading, Events, Family, Friends, The Captain's Corner |