We Give Thanks!
To the King of Glory, the Only True God, to the Everlasting Father, we give thanks and praise today.
Has a year passed so quickly? Was it not just yesterday we were celebrating 2018 Thanksgiving? I know it sounds cliché, but this year has been tremendously fast. I don’t know how the days went by, but it is amazing that they have!
Now, we have an opportunity once again, to look back on the year and appreciate all that we have been blessed with and all that we have gone through.
What are you grateful for?
I am grateful for my life and my family. I am grateful for the gift of my first novel, which I have published this year. By God’s grace, it will be the first of many. I am grateful for my family too. Slowly but surely, I see my children finding their place in the world, God making a way for them. It is not clear yet what they will do and where He will lead them but we are on the journey.
I am grateful for good health. I had some challenges during the year but I can say today that I have overcome every one of them. I am strong and on the way to better health.
I am thankful for the joy that I know in my life. Things are far from perfect, and there is still pain and sorrow in some areas of my life. But I have joy. Joy that the world cannot give. Joy that emanates from the life of God within me. I am grateful for joy.
I am thankful for provision and resources. God has been faithful. I do not beg for bread and I have enough to eat and drink, and a roof over my head. I don’t have excess but every need is being met. For this, I am grateful.
I am grateful for friends and family. Those people who have made themselves available to me each time I needed them, to talk, to laugh with, to pray with and to mourn with. Yes, we have had many joys this year. We have also shared some sorrows. Through it all, we have held on to God and to each other. Thank you for being there.
I am grateful that I didn’t cave in or give up in the many instances I could have done so this year. I am grateful for the staying power and tenacity that showed up during my difficult moments. I am grateful for sanity and a sound mind, when things went haywire. I am grateful that God was there for me, as my backbone and the lifter of my head.
As we prepare for the end of the year and as we launch into a new decade, may God’s mighty hand keep us, may His grace abound to us and may His joy fill our hearts and overflow into the lives of everyone we have interactions with. May we function as hope dealers and joy givers in this season. May we touch lives with the good news of Jesus Christ and may God be glorified through us. Amen.
Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone!