Happy first day of the last month of this year, December! Aren’t you glad to be alive to say, thank you Lord, for another day! This day. This moment. Right now. This time. Thankful that the spirit of gratitude helps our hearts to shine. So grateful. So grateful I am for You, Jesus, God’s Holy Lamb.

December, a month we as Christians join in celebrating Jesus’s birth more than any other month. He is worthy. He is worthy indeed as on the cross, He did bleed. Thankful that you are: Giver of Grace to run this race; Giver of Hope to help us cope; Giver of Life, our willing Sacrifice; Giver of Salvation without a price. So, thank you, Lord, for another day to say, “Thank You, Lord.”

This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24

Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift! 2 Corinthians 9:15

But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:57

Let us pray: Dear Lord, I will keeponthanking you for another day in the mighty name of Jesus, amen.

With love and gratitude, may the blessings of the Lord be with you always!

Books available for order:

• In the Midst of This, amazon.com barnsandnoble.com, inspirebooks.com, walmart.com

• Something to Thank About from A to Z, amazon.com xulonpress.com, barnesandnoble.com

• Sacred and Intimate Lives of Husbands and Wives, amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, inspirebooks.com

By Hertistine Washington / keeponthanking.com

Despite the chaos that’s been happening this year in our country, I hope you can have a summer calm down. For me, when life becomes an uproar, there’s one place I hope to be. It is in a place of calm. A place where no matter what is going on, I can be calm on the inside. This calmness I call peace. Speaking for myself, when peace arrives calmness abides. Even when the tides seem not to recede, I know then, it is calmness that I need.

Has anyone ever said to you, “Calm down?” I was reminded to do just that the other day. I was also reminded calmness is a great state to be, even when the storm has not passed over. I must still be calm. So, how do I attain this calm down for the summer despite the chaos? It is by trusting in God by way of the Holy Spirit, who helps me through believing prayer based on His Word. Then and only then do I get to experience His peace that transcends all understanding, which is always available for me when I trust Him. With that said, how do you keep calm when things around you seem to be in an uproar? What do you do? Where do you go? Who helps you to remain calm? I encourage you to try God.

Just saying, when we choose to trust God, there is calm. We can calm down from the voices in our head, from the anxiety in our hearts, and from the fears and situations trying to overwhelm our minds. I don’t know about you, but when I calm down I can think clearly. I can focus. My spirit is settled. My mind is at peace. My body is at ease. My soul is satisfied. Being that I have reached this state of calmness, I am now ready to move forward in God with peace, love, and gratitude.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made know to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7 ESV).

Please pray with me: Dear Lord, I will keep on thanking you for your peace that transcends all understanding which keeps me calm in Jesus name, amen.

With love and gratitude, may the blessings of the Lord be with you always, and wishing you a summer calm down filled with joy, happiness, and relaxation!

Books available:

• Something to Thank About form A to Z, xulonpress.com, amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com

• Sacred and Intimate Lives of Husbands and Wives, amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com

By Hertistine Washington / keeponthanking.com

Most of us have in our possession a magnifying glass. Why do you think we have them? Here’s a simple answer. We have them so we can get a closer look at something. To see better. To make things BIGGER.

Well, I tell you, there is someone who will never need a magnifying glass. He has perfect sight. He can see the smallest things in a big way. His name is Jesus. He always sees in perfection. He sees the small print as if it was huge. He sees the tiny crack in the pavement. He sees the good and the evil. He even sees the hurt in your heart that’s not visible to anyone else. Why not tell Him about it. He won’t magnify it. If you trust Him, He can make it as small as if it wasn’t there at all. So if you are hurting today in some way, magnify Jesus despite your pain. He knows it there. Be confident He is able to give you comfort, assurance, and a hope.

As we are in the Resurrection season of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (EASTER), let’s continue to magnify Him that all may see who suffered, died, and rose to save humanity.

“I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul makes its boast in the LORD; let the humble hear and be glad. Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together!” Psalm 34:1-3 ESV

Please pray with me: Dear Lord, I will keep on thanking You for what You have done for me on Calvary. You are worthy of all praise and deserves to be magnified to the utmost in Jesus name, amen.

With love and gratitude, may the blessings of the Lord be with you always!

Books available:

• Something to Thank About from A to Z, xulonpress.com, amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com
• Sacred and Intimate Lives of Husbands and Wives, amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com

By Hertistine Washington

Today was the perfect day for me to get back in touch with my much neglected garden. As I kept cleaning and pruning my plants, my eyes fell upon one of my beautiful flower pots that had fallen over and had broken into pieces from the very damaging winds two years ago. Because it came with a pair, and I adored them so much, I found it difficult to separate from the one that now had the broken pieces. Then I had a thought: Why not use those broken pieces to create something new and different around my garden? Why not re-position the pieces? So I decided to take as many as those broken pieces and high-light them in safe places in my garden’s backyard. Then I had another thought: God can produce beautiful creations from broken pieces. If you are one who has been broken, don’t worry, God can use you in a different, new, and wonderful way! He’s like that, you know.

“The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18 ESV).

Please pray with me: Dear Lord, I will keep on thanking you for your ever present presence and comfort in Jesus name, amen.

With love and gratitude, may the blessings of the Lord be with you always!

Books available:

• Something to Thank About from A to Z, xulonpress.com, amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com
• Sacred and Intimate Lives of Husbands and Wives, amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com

By Hertistine Washington / keeponthanking.com

Happy New Year! Every year God brings give us another chance to choose. Every week is a new start to do better. Every day provides a chance to choose our paths, right or wrong. I don’t know if you realize this, but today is your new chance! A chance to refocus, redirect, and renew. A chance to ask God’s guidance to fix what’s broken in your life. A chance to forgive, repent, and to live in hope with assurance, contentment, confidence, generosity, and gratitude with a new attitude.

That’s it. A new chance in life to choose how to proceed: in love, or hate; with humility, or pride; with patience or hastiness; in stillness or business; what to wear, or what not to wear. So as we are blessed to move forward, let us thank our God in this New Year 2025 for the magnificent opportunity of a new chance to choose how to better live our lives.

“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience” (Colossians 3:12 ESV).

Please pray with me: Dear Lord, I will keep on thanking you for the opportunity to see another year. I pray that I let the Holy Spirit continue to be my guide in this New Year, 2025.

With love and gratitude, may the blessings of the Lord be with you always! Wishing you a very Happy and prosperous New Year!

I hope you begin your New Year by purchasing my books, being always grateful for your support:

• Something to Thank About from A to Z, xulonpress.com, amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com

• Sacred and Intimate Lives of Husbands and Wives, amazon.com barnesandnoble.com

By Hertistine Washington / keeponthanking.com

In all the years Christmas has been celebrated in recognition of Jesus’s birth, how many of us have actually considered the climate during that time? What had really gone on in the land? Surely, Jesus our Savior, being born was a joyful and spectacular happening! Never a birth like His! A virgin birth! Miraculous! The Savior was born and we celebrate Him!

Are you aware during the time approaching Jesus’s birth mothers and fathers were losing their male children two years old and under at the hand of Herod for the purpose of trying to find and kill Jesus? Grief was rampant throughout the land… “A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they were not” (Mathew 2:18).

Oh, Lord, our God, how desperately the land needed hope, comfort, joy, and salvation! And with the birth of Jesus, that’s what God provided. Though there was no room for Him in the Inn, He changed the climate of that time. Through Jesus, God gave the world hope, joy, peace, comfort. So let’s be encouraged this season to also know Jesus can cause the climate to change in our homes; from hopelessness to hope, confusion to peace, from sadness to gladness, from grief to gratefulness.

As many have mentioned, though our land is still grieving in many ways from the affects of a deadly pandemic, political upheaval, economic instability, mental strain, and civil unrest, we can still find hope and spiritual rest in Jesus. Let us put all our trust in Him, for Jesus still is the reason why we celebrate “Him” this season.

“And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn” (Luke 2:7 ESV).

Please pray with me: Dear Lord, I will keep on thanking you for being the changing force in my life and in my home, in Jesus name amen.

With love and gratitude, may the blessings of the Lord be with you always. Wishing you a very Merry Christmas!

Books available:

• Something to Thank About from A to Z, xulonpress.com, amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com

• Sacred and Intimate Lives of Husbands and Wives, amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com

By Hertistine Washington / keeponthanking.com

Just as we remember there are three primary colors (red, blue and yellow); three colors in a traffic light (red, yellow, and green); three parts to every story (beginning, middle and end); three wise men that were seeking Jesus during His miraculous birth; three men cast into the burning fiery furnace (Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego), we should also remember to make it a priority to say just three words every day. They are simply, “Thank You Lord.” Saying these three words every day can jet start your day. They can produce a shift and a lift in how you face daily challenges. Say them when you open your eyes. Say them throughout the day and when you go to bed at night. Meditate on them in your quite times and see how they can open your mind to give clarity, insight, and focus. Saying just three words, thank You Lord, could rock your world!

“And now we thank you, our God, and praise Your glorious name” (1 Chronicles 29:13).

Please pray with me, Dear Lord, I will keep on thanking You every day, in Jesus name, amen.

With love and gratitude, may the blessings of the Lord be with you always. Happy Thanksgiving :)!

Books available:

• Something to Thank About from A to Z, xulonpress.com, amazon.com barnesandnoble.com

• Scared and Intimate Lives of Husbands and Wives: amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com

By Hertistine Washington / keeponthanking.com

During this season of Thanksgiving, let us continue to remember the source of our gratitude. Inviting you to join me in giving God all the glory from whom all blessings flow this season and every season. I hope you declare with me, “He has done great things for us whereof we are glad.” Therefore we pray:

Dear God,

I give You glory, my God, my friend; I give You glory without and within.

I give You glory from Heaven above; I give You glory, the God of Love.

I give You glory for your Son that was birthed; who died and rose again here on earth.

I give You glory that Jesus died for my sins; I give You glory, the victory, He did win.

I give you glory that You are one; God the Father, the Holy Spirit, and the Son.

I give You glory from my heart; I give You glory knowing You will never depart.

“Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness ” (Psalm 115:1 ESV).

Please pray with me: I will keep on thanking God and giving Him all glory for He is worthy of it all, in Jesus name, amen.

With love and gratitude, may the blessings of the Lord be with you always :)!

Books can be purchased:

• Something to Thank About for A to Z, xulonpress.com, amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com

• Sacred and Intimate Lives of Husbands and Wives: amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com

By Hertistine Washington / keeponthanking.com

Have you ever been talking on the phone while another call was coming in? Did you place your previous caller on hold to answer the incoming call? I think many of us have done that. God forbit you forget your original caller and continue with the new incoming caller, which can certainly happen.

That being said, there I was one morning at 4:30am thinking on a spiritual assignment I had been called to do and also agreed to. As I was thinking on it, I was considering putting it on hold so I could do something pleasurable for myself. Having almost convinced myself to put it on hold, the one thought that stopped me from doing that was when I heard in my spirit, “Don’t put Me on hold.” Wow! That got my attention and caused me to ask myself, how many times have put God’s business on hold? After that thought, I prayed for forgiveness and to be more mindful not to put God on hold. Therefore, I encourage you, although we may put callers on hold, let us be mindful not to put God’s call on hold. If He’s calling, He has work for us to do, which involves working for His good pleasure, too.

“We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work (John 9:4 ESV).

“For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13 ESV).

Please pray with me: Dear Lord, I will keep on thanking you for using me in the work for your good pleasure, in Jesus name, amen.

With love and gratitude, may the blessings of the Lord be with you always :)!

Books Available:

• Something to Thank About from A to Z: xulonpress.com, amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com

• Sacred and Intimate Lives of Husbands and Wives: amazon.com. barnesandnoble.com

By Hertistine Washington / keeponthanking.com