Geared Forward: Gratefulness to Abundance or Gratefulness from Abundance?

One day a friend invited me to attend a seminar about coffee growing and handling. And because I grew up in the mountain and my parents had a coffee farm before, I said yes to his invitation.

On the day of the seminar, I hitched a ride of that friend going to the venue. The venue was at the biggest, the largest coffee production plant here in the Philippines, Nestle.

Arriving at the venue, I was amazed by the unlimited, free flowing coffee and iced tea. Wow! Then the seminar started. I learned a lot from the resource speaker on how to properly grow, the techniques, the proper procedure of planting a coffee. The post harvest guides, procedure, handling the coffee beans. I was blessed, filled with the information given.

Next steps, to own a coffee farm.

I was filled mentally. And not only that, at 10 o'clock in the morning they served us heavy snacks. Lunch time came, OMG! Free lunch! At 3 o'clock in the afternoon, OMG! Free heavy snacks! At dinner time, OMG! Dinner, no dinner served, because the seminar ended at exactly 5 o'clock in the afternoon. I know what you are thinking.

Before going home, I went to Nazareno church to attend the mass. While the mass is going on, the events, my activities for that day flashed back. From the free ride going to the seminar venue. The whole day free seminar. The free snacks. The free lunch. I realized, I received a lot today.

Just in time, love offering time of the mass. I pulled out my wallet and said, Lord, I received a lot from you today. I'm giving you this, this is just a little portion of what I received from you today. I give you this because I first received. I'm giving you this because I am happy. I'm grateful, I received, I experienced your abundance today.

Friends, you are blessed abundantly by God, every day.

Look at the things that you have not what you don’t have. The people around you, your family, your friends, your job, your business, the person you become.