I AM THANKFUL...

I AM THANKFUL FOR :

MY MOTHER....a woman who has persevered through many hardships and heartaches...a woman whom you cannot outgive.... a woman who has loved me unconditionally all my life....a woman who loves the Lord and who stands on His Word...a woman who has ALWAYS been there for me. I am blessed!

MY FRIENDS....I have a circle of friends that have been part of my life MOST of my life. It is a special, unique group and we share a bond that is unique and unusual in this transient time we live in. We meet monthly for dinner to share time with one another and to oooh and aaah over each other's grandchildren and to rejoice in children's successes and joys and to hold one another up and pray for one another when there are crises. But the one thing I guess I love the most about this group is that they are not just my friends...they are my sisters in Christ. Just this past week, we met for dinner. Talk around the table was how good God is!! Afterwards, one of those friends and I stood outside the restaurant for at least 30 minutes and our entire conversation was on the goodness of God. I also have friends who do not live here and who I only get to see once in a while, but who are SO dear to me. We keep in touch via email and how I thank God for that technology!! Our relationships have spanned many years, and though separated by many miles, we have still prayed each other through many things, wept with each other, rejoiced with each other and laughed with each other. How I praise God for them! And last, but not least, are the new friends I am making at church. Though they are in the "bud" stage, I am nonetheless excited about them and looking forward to all that God has in store for me through my relationships with them. Friends are a gift to be cherished and nourished.

I AM THANKFUL FOR MY HEALTH: Though the aches and pains of age are creeping upon both me and my husband, we enjoy good health overall and I am SO thankful for that, for I am reminded almost daily of how quickly that can be gone. In the last few years we have seen good friends go through a life-changing accident, another friend lost his mother to a stroke and she was a few years younger than us! Others our age are on numerous medications and suffering from various illnesses, some quite serious. So as one of our neighbors recently said "If I can get up and draw breath in the morning and get out of the bed, I'm thankful!" AMEN!!!!!!!

I AM THANKFUL FOR MY CHURCH: I am SO thankful for the wonderful people I've met this year, for the opportunities to be involved in Bible study, to teach again, to be involved in Women's Ministry and to be able to serve the Lord through this body of believers. I am thankful for the wonderful people I've met in our Sunday School class....such a diverse group of individuals, but all lovers of our Lord. I am thankful for our pastor...for his fire and his passion, for his relentless energy and enthusiasm. I am thankful for the opportunity to worship with my daughter and her husband and the joy of watching them kneel together in prayer every week!! How blessed we are to live in a country where we are privileged to worship as we choose, without fear of imprisonment, torture or death. That could all be gone in a heartbeat and it is a freedom that I fear we take way too lightly.

I AM THANKFUL FOR SO MANY THINGS!!!!!!!! I am thankful also for the Word of God, so fresh and so relative every single day as God reveals His will and His way to us. I am thankful for those who teach and who lead us closer to Him, for ministries like Focus on the Family, In Touch, Family Life, Love Worth Finding and many more. I am thankful for all the Christian resources we have to help us grow in our walk with the Lord. I am thankful for a neighborhood of wonderful people..a safe place where we can walk and fellowship without fear. I am thankful to live in the South....there is NO place like it! I am thankful for clothes to wear, food on our table, vehicles to drive, a wonderful home, computers, cell phones, digital cameras and photographs to preserve our memories. I am thankful for fun times with our family, making memories, laughter, and shared jokes. I am thankful for seeing my sweet granddaughter come running through the door with a huge smile on her face, with arms open wide as she says "MIMI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" as if she had not seen me in 1,000 years!!!!!!!!!!

Those are just a FEW of the many things I am thankful for! How about you? What are YOU thankful for? A tradition we started, courtesy of Hallmark, a few years ago, was to keep a Thanksgiving journal. On Thanksgiving when our family gathers, we will again pull it out and each person there will write what they are thankful for. What a joy it has been to go back and read the past year's entries. I pray it will be a tradition that we will continue and that will be carried on long after we are gone. It is important to stop and count your blessings.

GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME AND ALL THE TIME GOD IS GOOD!! Thank Him today and name YOUR blessings, one by one.