Things that I am thankful for!

Welcome to day two of my thanksgiving emphasis on this Tuesday, November 24, 2009. Yesterday I attempted to share what I believe to be the basis for having a genuine thankful heart and that is a living relationship with Almighty God. Believe it or not there are many sites out on the internet listing things to be thankful for and many of them do not include even one mention of God. The words of Jesus come to mind: "For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? (Mark 8:36) Having said that, it is appropriate for us who know God to be thankful for the blessings He has provided to us. The song says it well, that we should count our many blessings, that we should name them one by one, and it will surprise us what the Lord has done. This recognition of God in all things should permeate our contemplation of any and all blessings for which we are thankful.

Being thankful is a personal matter. Choosing to be thankful is a Christian trait that we should cultivate and develop as a way of life. Today, I am thankful for my ancestors, my grandparents, aunts and uncles, my parents, and those who have honored God by handing down the faith that had previously been handed down to them. I think about my mom this week and how thankful I am for her. Her 85 plus years are a testimony to God’s grace being experienced through much challenge and adversity. She is a remarkable woman and I thank God for her and her influence on my life. I am thankful for my dad. God called him home when I was only seven. I’m so thankful for my step dad who for more than thirty years has taken such good care of our mom. I am thankful for my brother Donald, and two sisters, Frances and JoAnn, and I am thankful for the memory of my older brother, Jimmy, and baby sister, Kayla, who have gone on to their reward. I am thankful for my wife, a woman of faith, family, and fidelity. These forty-five years seem to have flown by but I am a blessed man to have had her by my side. I am thankful for her family and how that on both sides, my family and her family, they became and are ‘our’ family.

I am thankful to God for our boys, their wives, and our grandchildren along with our soon to be born first great grandchild. I don’t know that much about quivers and arrows (Psalm 127) but I am the recipient of innumerable blessings through these offspring. No, we haven’t always had an easy go of it and we have not lived out a perfect “Leave it to Beaver” style of life. But, we have had joys unspeakable and we have been blessed to be able to be a family through it all. I mentioned yesterday about precious memories and they are vast in number. Lord willing, when the prayer is spoken over our family meal on Thursday all of us will appreciate how that it is God Who has brought us to where we are. Ups, downs, good times and bad, He is always there for us. Thank You Lord for providing so many handfuls on purpose that have come my way through the family you privileged me to be a part of during my sojourn here! Amen. (Thanksgiving theme, to be continued.) …..More later.