Project GRAPEful

Sharing Day 12 Project GRAPEful…

Project GRAPEful continues…Recap:

We aim to bless our readers who, for the most part, have had a very difficult year in 2015.  For the next 21 days until Thanksgiving day, we will be sharing inspiring stories and things we are “GRAPEful” for.  We pray these tidbits bless you and that you and your family will find peace and strength each day.  (Aside from being able to enter to win prizes which you can read more about by clicking the link above.) 

Another GRAPEful installment from my article, The Blessings of Pain:

5. Pain enables you to be sympathetic.

Not only do they feel compassion for those who are suffering, but they are sympathetic.  They not only say the right things, but they do so in the spirit of sympathy that means so much to others even if they haven’t experienced exactly the same struggle.

So today, I’m thankful for being able to have sympathy for others but also for so many who have gone through so many things and were sympathetic toward ME!

What are your struggles and what are you thankful for today?  Please share as a comment down below this post. And please share this post with your Facebook family and other social media friends to inspire them to come and share their own as well.  We’ll be praying for each person listed below.

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Here’s what will be awarded for the contest so far:

1. The most inspirational story

2. The person who shared our blog posts the most

3. The most insightful thing gained from doing this project

Prizes will include:

Grape Grill Buddy BBQ Grill Mats

Art of Eloquence Prize Packages

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Project GRAPEful

Sharing Grape Stuff’s Day 11 Project GRAPEful…

Project GRAPEful continues…Recap:

We aim to bless our readers who, for the most part, have had a very difficult year in 2015.  For the next 21 days until Thanksgiving day, we will be sharing inspiring stories and things we are “GRAPEful” for.  We pray these tidbits bless you and that you and your family will find peace and strength each day.  (Aside from being able to enter to win prizes which you can read more about by clicking the link above.) 

Here is the next bite size piece of my article, The Blessings of Pain:

4. Pain makes you a good servant.

Those who have struggled with something for a long time are not only compassionate, supportive and understanding, but they often go the extra mile to help relieve another’s suffering.  They are the ones who take a meal to a neighbor even though they, themselves, are having a rough day.  They bestow blessings upon others who are suffering and struggling with life’s difficulties.

So today, I’m thankful for being allowed to be used by God to bless others! 

What are your struggles and what are you thankful for today?  Please share as a comment down below this post. And please share this post with your Facebook family and other social media friends to inspire them to come and share their own as well.  We’ll be praying for each person listed below.

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Here’s what will be awarded for the contest so far:

1. The most inspirational story

2. The person who shared our blog posts the most

3. The most insightful thing gained from doing this project

Prizes will include:

Grape Grill Buddy BBQ Grill Mats

Art of Eloquence Prize Packages

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Project GRAPEful

Sharing Grape Stuff’s Day 10 Project GRAPEful…

Project GRAPEful continues…Recap:

We aim to bless our readers who, for the most part, have had a very difficult year in 2015.  For the next 21 days until Thanksgiving day, we will be sharing inspiring stories and things we are “GRAPEful” for.  We pray these tidbits bless you and that you and your family will find peace and strength each day.  (Aside from being able to enter to win prizes which you can read more about by clicking the link above.) 

Here is part four of my article, The Blessings of Pain:

3. Pain gives you understanding.

Nobody can understand what another is going through like someone who has already been through it.  Understanding is a huge blessing to those who struggle with chronic illness, especially the kind we call invisible illness where test results and doctors don’t corroborate or justify their experience.  Most people with invisible illness are desperate to feel understood.  When they encounter someone who truly understands them, they feel vindicated and not so alone.  Someone acknowledges them. Someone truly hears them and understands and that is priceless to one who has been fighting the good fight alone for years.

So today, I’m thankful for the understanding I have gained in order for others to feel someone else understands them. 

What are your struggles and what are you thankful for today?  Please share as a comment down below this post. And please share this post with your Facebook family and other social media friends to inspire them to come and share their own as well.  We’ll be praying for each person listed below.

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Here’s what will be awarded for the contest so far:

1. The most inspirational story

2. The person who shared our blog posts the most

3. The most insightful thing gained from doing this project

Prizes will include:

Grape Grill Buddy BBQ Grill Mats

Art of Eloquence Prize Packages

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Project GRAPEful

Sharing Grape Stuff’s Day 9 Project GRAPEful:

Project GRAPEful continues…Recap:

We aim to bless our readers who, for the most part, have had a very difficult year in 2015.  For the next 21 days until Thanksgiving day, we will be sharing inspiring stories and things we are “GRAPEful” for.  We pray these tidbits bless you and that you and your family will find peace and strength each day.  (Aside from being able to enter to win prizes which you can read more about by clicking the link above.) 

Here is part three of my article The Blessings of Pain:

2. Pain makes you supportive.

Those who have struggled with something, especially for a long time, seem to have a need to alleviate the pain and suffering of others.  Their compassion manifests itself when they lift up and support others going through the same thing. They don’t want to see the pain–even if it’s in another’s life and not their own.

So today, I’m thankful for the ability to support and bless others through their pain and struggles. 

What are your struggles and what are you thankful for today?  Please share as a comment down below this post. And please share this post with your Facebook family and other social media friends to inspire them to come and share their own as well.  We’ll be praying for each person listed below.

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Here’s what will be awarded for the contest so far:

1. The most inspirational story

2. The person who shared our blog posts the most

3. The most insightful thing gained from doing this project

Prizes will include:

Grape Grill Buddy BBQ Grill Mats

Art of Eloquence Prize Packages

=============================================================

Project GRAPEful

Sharing Grape Stuff’s Day 8: Project GRAPEful!

Project GRAPEful continues…Recap:

We aim to bless our readers who, for the most part, have had a very difficult year in 2015.  For the next 21 days until Thanksgiving day, we will be sharing inspiring stories and things we are “GRAPEful” for.  We pray these tidbits bless you and that you and your family will find peace and strength each day.  (Aside from being able to enter to win prizes which you can read more about by clicking the link above.) 

I’m posting bite sized pieces each day of my article, The Blessings of Pain.  Here is part two:

1. Pain makes you compassionate.

The people who have suffered the most, tend to be the most compassionate.  The more struggles a person goes through, the more they have compassion for others who are going through difficult times.  I’ve known some amazingly compassionate people who consistently take time to support, uplift and help others.  I almost always find that they have suffered a great deal in their own lives and have a calling to be of help to others. There is a saying, “hurt people hurt people,” but I have found that struggling people help struggling people because they seem to have a heart for others and feel their pain as if it were their own–because it was (or is).

So today, I’m thankful for the understanding pain has given me to be compassionate to others who are suffering or struggling with chronic issues. 

What are your struggles and what are you thankful for today?  Please share as a comment down below this post. And please share this post with your Facebook family and other social media friends to inspire them to come and share their own as well.  We’ll be praying for each person listed below.

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Here’s what will be awarded for the contest so far:

1. The most inspirational story

2. The person who shared our blog posts the most

3. The most insightful thing gained from doing this project

Prizes will include:

Grape Grill Buddy BBQ Grill Mats

Art of Eloquence Prize Packages

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Project GRAPEful

Sharing Grape Stuff’s Day 7 Project GRAPEful…

Project GRAPEful continues…Recap:

We aim to bless our readers who, for the most part, have had a very difficult year in 2015.  For the next 21 days until Thanksgiving day, we will be sharing inspiring stories and things we are “GRAPEful” for.  We pray these tidbits bless you and that you and your family will find peace and strength each day.  (Aside from being able to enter to win prizes which you can read more about by clicking the link above.)

The Blessings of Pain.  I’m going to be sharing parts of a blog article I wrote for JoJoisms.com a while back in eleven parts.  Part one is here today.

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Okay. JoJo’s gone off the deep end!  Brain fog has taken over and she’s completely out of her mind!  I hear ya out there.  You’ve stuck with me through some of my other unusual posts, but this one’s gone too far.  Stick a fork in ‘er, she’s done!  As someone who is in a fair amount of physical pain as I’m typing this, I understand your horror at this title, but give me a few minutes of your time and I think you’ll see my sanity returning and you’ll be blessed.

This idea started as a debate topic.  You see, (those of you who may not have known me long) in a former life I was an author and speaker on communication skills at www.ArtofEloquence.com.  I used to teach speech, debate and communication classes both online and off. Nowadays, I’m too tired, overwhelmed and in pain to run my business much less teach so I only do that on rare occasions.  This month was one such occasion.  I am teaching a homeschool co op class on debate.  One of the topics I picked was Pain is Good.  I figured it was something with which most teens would be unfamiliar and would be a good life lesson as well as a great debate topic.  Pain keeps us from more harm.  Even babies would remove their hand from the fire, right?

As I began putting my week’s lesson plan together, it occurred to me that, while I am not a fan of pain (emotional or physical) itself, enduring it can bring some blessings that I’d never have had the opportunity to experience had I been healthy. There are some lessons you only learn from pain.  There are some lessons life cannot teach without it.  There are some blessings you will never notice unless you’ve been through a day where you felt your head would explode or years when you thought if you woke up without pain one day, you would HAVE to be in heaven.

Pain itself is bad, but enduring pain can be a good thing and bring blessings you’d never have known-but you have look for them.  They can’t always been seen by the naked eye or heard above the white noise of the TV.  But as soon as I reveal to you how pain can bring blessings, you’ll never look at it the same way again. There are several ways in which pain can bring blessings into your life and the lives of those you touch.

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So today, I’m thankful for the Lord showing me how pain can be a blessing.  Tune in tomorrow for part two! 

What are your struggles and what are you thankful for today?  Please share as a comment down below this post. And please share this post with your Facebook family and other social media friends to inspire them to come and share their own as well.  We’ll be praying for each person listed below.

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Here’s what will be awarded for the contest so far:

1. The most inspirational story

2. The person who shared our blog posts the most

3. The most insightful thing gained from doing this project

Prizes will include:

Grape Grill Buddy BBQ Grill Mats

Art of Eloquence Prize Packages

=============================================================

Project GRAPEful

Sharing Grape Stuff’s Day 6 Project GRAPEful…

Project GRAPEful continues…Recap:

We aim to bless our readers who, for the most part, have had a very difficult year in 2015.  For the next 21 days until Thanksgiving day, we will be sharing inspiring stories and things we are “GRAPEful” for.  We pray these tidbits bless you and that you and your family will find peace and strength each day.  (Aside from being able to enter to win prizes which you can read more about by clicking the link above.)

Teenage boys are supposed to be a handful.  Disrespectful and difficult, right?  Wrong!  At least not mine!  He’s a treasure.  He’s respectful, intelligent, kind, helpful, loving and level headed.  He’s always asking if he can do things for me to help me when I’m not feeling well or in pain or tired.  He is a blessing!

So today, I’m thankful for my son!

What are your struggles and what are you thankful for today?  Please share as a comment down below this post. And please share this post with your Facebook family and other social media friends to inspire them to come and share their own as well.  We’ll be praying for each person listed below.

=============================================================

Here’s what will be awarded for the contest so far:

1. The most inspirational story

2. The person who shared our blog posts the most

3. The most insightful thing gained from doing this project

Prizes will include:

Grape Grill Buddy BBQ Grill Mats

Art of Eloquence Prize Packages

=============================================================

Project GRAPEful

Sharing day five of Grape Stuff’s Project GRAPEful:

Project GRAPEful continues…Recap:

We aim to bless our readers who, for the most part, have had a very difficult year in 2015.  For the next 21 days until Thanksgiving day, we will be sharing inspiring stories and things we are “GRAPEful” for.  We pray these tidbits bless you and that you and your family will find peace and strength each day.  (Aside from being able to enter to win prizes which you can read more about by clicking the link above.)

After thinking a bit about my mom on her birthday, I also turned my attention to my dad.  Do you know that he has saved the lives of each of his three children?  He did!  He once saved my brother from choking to death on a coin he swallowed as a young boy.  And as young girls in Florida, my dad shot and killed a crock headed for my sister and me.  If it weren’t for my dad, in more ways than one, I wouldn’t be here today. 

So today, I’m thankful for my dad, his quick thinking and his marksmenship! 

What are your struggles and what are you thankful for today?  Please share as a comment down below this post. And please share this post with your Facebook family and other social media friends to inspire them to come and share their own as well.  We’ll be praying for each person listed below.

=============================================================

Here’s what will be awarded for the contest so far:

1. The most inspirational story

2. The person who shared our blog posts the most

3. The most insightful thing gained from doing this project

Prizes will include:

Grape Grill Buddy BBQ Grill Mats

Art of Eloquence Prize Packages

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