A Month of Thankfulness!

Last week when I was driving to Bible Study with the boys on Thursday, we saw the above picture in the clouds! God sent us an exclamation mark! I began wondering what it was that He was loudly exclaiming that I needed to hear...

I think I may have figured it out...  It is a truth from Psalm 107.  I have heard verses from this Psalm from multiple sources over the past week, our preacher read from Psalm 107 during our Sunday service, and it has been in several things I have read recently.  This is no coincidence, my Lord is trying to teach me something.

Psalm 107 is a beautiful recollection of the numerous things His children have to give Him thanks for.  There is a recurring chorus throughout this Psalm:

"Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His steadfast love endures forever." 

In pondering this short verse and the meaning tucked in, I began to realize that the Lord is wanting me to intentionally give Him thanks in and during the hard moments of my days. As I give Him thanks, using this chorus as a pattern, I am reminded that He is good, and that His steadfast love endures forever.  What a wonderful truth to be reminded of when I am right in the middle of a hard moment! 

Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for He has redeemed me and called me His own; His steadfast love endures forever!

 Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for He has delivered me from the pit and set my feet upon a rock; His steadfast love endures forever!

Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;  for He has always been faithful to me, even when I have been unfaithful to Him; His steadfast love endures forever!

Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for He has healed me, spiritually, emotionally, and physically; His steadfast love endures forever!

Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for He daily bears my burdens, hears my prayers, and guides my steps; His steadfast love endures forever!

Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His mercies are new every morning, and He gives me wisdom just for the asking; His steadfast love endures forever!

Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for He has used my broken life and the hard things of my life to enable me to minister His grace and comfort to others; His steadfast love endures forever!

Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for He never leaves me alone, He is always with me; His steadfast love endures forever!

Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for He has blessed me with a wonderful husband and precious children; His steadfast love endures forever!

Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for He sent His Son to die for me, and He sent His Holy Spirit to dwell within me, to strengthen and empower me, to conform me to the image of His Son; His steadfast love endures forever!  

What a difference giving thanks can make in our mindset and our attitude!  I am thankful for the Lord teaching me this... to give thanks, but to do so amidst the backdrop of His goodness and His enduring love.  Go, and give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, and His steadfast love really does endure forever!

A Month of Thankfulness!

Today I am thankful for the ability to remember...

I went to the Thanksgiving service at our church tonight.  We praised and worshiped our Lord and Savior, and we remembered the works of His hands in our lives and the lives of those we know and love, and we offered up to Him our offerings of thanksgiving.

Here is a bit of the overflow of my heart as I reflect on tonight...

• How thankful I am that I do not even think twice about going to church alone (the rest of my crew could not be there tonight), I was not concerned at all about being alone or feeling lonely.  My intent was to go to worship my Lord, and I knew He would either use me to make someone feel welcomed and accepted, or He would provide me a friend to sit with.
• How thankful I am for the day that my God saved me, through His precious Son, Jesus Christ.
• How thankful I was to be in a room filled with people singing praises to our Lord from the heart...
• How thankful I am for the Word of God!  It is a treasure which I love to dig into daily...
• How wonderful to receive sweet hugs from sisters in Christ...
• How thankful I am that I have a wonderful, Godly husband... That I have healthy, energetic, rambunctious boys... That my Lord saw fit to heal me physically 4 years ago... That I have a Mom who I got to talk to on the phone today... That I have a Dad who takes such wonderful care of my Mom and loves us all dearly... That I have a sister who loves me, and whom I love dearly...

Do you have a thankful heart tonight?

If you are interested, here is a link to our Thanksgiving service, it will be worth your time to watch and listen...





 

A Month of Thankfulness!

And the thankfulness continues...

 November 14 

 I am thankful for Fridays! They are typically shorter school days, unless we have gotten behind during the week... I am thankful for beauty shops and hairdressers (can you guess where I was this afternoon?) I am thankful for grocery stores, for chili simmering on the stove, for my husband coming home safely from work. I am thankful for essential oils... One of my boys is a bit puny, fighting off the crud. I have lathered him in essential oils and in only a day and a half he is significantly better and bouncing all over the house with tons of energy and joy!

November 15

Today I am thankful for the opportunity to sleep in! I am thankful for time to get many things marked off my to-do list today!  I did some closet organization, organized and labeled many cds in our 400 disk cd changer, entered a basket of receipts in a spreadsheet on the computer, washed some clothes, and took care of my family!  I also am thankful for some one on one time with David today... he was sick and unable to go to soccer evaluations with his brother, so we had some sweet time together with no interruptions... a rarity for us! 

November 16

I am thankful for worship music.  Today at church the choir did a special, "It Is Well With My Soul"... one of my favorites anyway, but today it just truly blessed my heart!  I am thankful for Sunday afternoon naps while it is raining... thankful for a little time alone with my man tonight while the kids were at choir and discipleship, even though we were out and about in the rain it was good to be together!

November 17

Today I give thanks for the power of prayer... and for the spiritual weapons the Lord has provided for us.  Sometimes I think we forget we are in a spiritual battle and we need to use the weapons the Lord has provided for us... Today it seemed I was in a battle all morning... finally I stopped everything, prayed out loud in the mighty and powerful name of Jesus Christ, used my weapons of warfare, and the atmosphere in our home changed!  The rest of our day was so much better.  How thankful I am for the power of God, and that He hears me when I call to Him, and that He answers prayers!

What are you giving thanks for today?




 

A Month of Thankfulness!

And the thankfulness continues...

November 10

Today I am thankful for the blessing of homeschooling and the joy of learning new things right along with my kiddos.  We started a book today about economics and I thought it was going to be horribly boring, but it wasn't!  It was so interesting and we all 3 learned so much... and we are only 3 chapters into the book!  I am also thankful for a break in soccer season, we enjoyed a Monday evening at home!

November 11

I am thankful for my Moms in Prayer group and for divine appointments!  What a blessing this group of ladies has been to me!  There is a special bond that develops when you pray with and for each other on a regular, consistent basis... And there are many answers to prayer experienced when you pray scripture over your children and your family.  Tonight was one of those nights when you know without a doubt that God had ordained your time together... what a blessing when the Lord places someone next to you, on your couch, in your den, who is walking through something you yourself have had to walk through.  How sweet to be able to share encouragement, comfort, and truth from God's Word, and then to take it all to Him in prayer!  

November 12

Today I am thankful for friends and for birthdays!  I was blessed to spend some time visiting with a dear friend and drinking a yummy pumpkin spice latte for her birthday!
I am thankful for a remarkably smooth day of homeschooling today, and even a bit of extra time to
clean out the boys closet.  Now this is a huge deal, as Wednesdays are typically pretty tight school days with no extra time for doing any extra projects, or any type of housework.  So the fact that we did 2 English lessons, 2 math lessons, science, piano practice, vocabulary, and I had time to clean out their closet, all before taking them to art class at 2:15 (and I even left a bit early to run pay a bill on the way to art) can only be because God was blessing my time and ordering my steps!

November 13

Today I am thankful for CBS (aka Community Bible Study).  What a blessing to gather with other ladies to study the riches of God's Word!  And it thrills my heart that our boys get to study the same book we are studying (1 Corinthians, verse by verse) with their closest friends, that they love it, and that I see it bearing fruit in their lives.
Today I also learned that it truly was my Lord who blessed my time and ordered my steps yesterday... Remember how I was able to clean out the boys closet (and I thought I was doing it for me, and to check to make sure they have warm clothes that fit)... Well, we shared our too small clothes with a friend, and our Lord used them to meet some specific needs!  What a wonderful reminder that our God is a God of detail and that He will graciously meet every need we have, and that He often uses us when we don't even realize we are being used!

And there is more!  My heart was blessed tonight at dinner as my husband shared about a divine appointment he had today with a gentleman whom he was able to encourage and share some Biblical truth with.  AND THERE IS STILL MORE!  My husband also shared about a specific event at work that I know was a direct answer to some of my prayers for him!  More evidence that our Lord hears our prayers, and He does answer when we call!

My heart is full of JOY!  What do you have to give thanks for?  Take time to notice, and then give thanks... and then enjoy the joy that you will experience in your own heart.



 

A Month Of Thankfulness

I can't resist sharing sweet memories from years past...

We were making our thankfulness boxes!

I will just start where I left off...

November 7th

I am thankful for some wonderful friendships with some like-minded ladies!  We all love Jesus, we all homeschool, and we all needed a "mental health" day!  We were blessed to spend the day together without our kids (13 total)!  We met for breakfast and spent the day shopping at Christmas Village, it was wonderful!

November 8th

I am thankful for a Saturday to spend at home!  The boys soccer season has ended so I was able to sleep in today, and it was a good, cold morning to sleep in!  I am also thankful for time to get a few things done around the house, as well as get our school weeks planned for the next few weeks... And I am thankful we have a bit of a break from school during the holidays to look forward to, it can't get here soon enough!

November 9th

Once again, I am thankful for our church.  Even though our church is large, it does not feel large... I love that our church family is intentional about getting to know one another.  I love that we have "windows" of time between services and classes for time for fellowship.  I love that the Gospel is preached clearly from the pulpit each Sunday.  I love that our children are discipled and poured into on Sunday mornings, Sunday nights, and Wednesday nights.  I love that they equip you to serve, and that we are encouraged to take the Gospel to those who desperately need to know the good news that God the Father loves us... so much so that He sent His Son, Jesus, to pay the price for our sins that we could never pay, to receive the free gift of salvation that we could never, ever earn.  Do you know Him?  If not, I would love to tell you of His love for you, leave me a comment and I will contact you.

Are you keeping your own thankful list?  I encourage you to do so, it is never too late to start having an attitude of gratitude!

A Month of Thankfulness

I try to have a thankful heart daily...  but especially on hard and trying days.  It really makes a difference in my attitude on those  rare hard and tough days if I intentionally make the effort to find things to be thankful for, and actually voice thanks for them.

I thought I would record the many things I have to be thankful for here for the month of November.  It is always fun to look back and remember... I love how just a few written words can conjure up sweet memories and flood my heart with joy. 

Since today is November 6th, I am going back in time to the 1st...

November 1st

I am thankful that my boys LOVE to play soccer and are passionate about it!  I love being a soccer mom and watching them play!  Today I was blessed to watch them play in an old day long tournament.  They won every game!!  What a way to end the season!!  I am thankful that I have a mouth to cheer them on with, hands to clap for them, legs to jump up and down, and eyes to watch them with.  I am also thankful for warm clothes, hats, gloves, and hot coffee... as it turned terribly cold today!

November 2nd

I am so very thankful for my church.  It is like being in a spiritual oasis after several years of feeling as if we were in a drought.  I am thankful that it is Gospel centered, that every single thing done there is done with the intention of sharing the Gospel, that the Word of God is taught and boldly proclaimed to every age group.  I am thankful for the passion for God that is evident in the lives of the ministers and the members.  I am thankful it is a Real Church, teaching the Real Gospel, and serving the Real Jesus.

November 3rd

I am thankful for the opportunity to homeschool our boys... and I am so very thankful for the indwelling spirit of God who is my strength and my help each and every day! 

November 4th

I am thankful for the blessing of hearing my boys play the piano... I am thankful that the same hands that dig in the dirt, catch lizards, and help their daddy work on cars can play sweet and beautiful songs on the piano.  And I am thankful for that hour on Tuesdays when they have piano lessons and I have a bit of a mental break!

November 5th

I am thankful for the opportunity to sit beside my husband during Wednesday night church classes... many ladies go to church alone.  I am thankful that my husband is a Godly man, that he reads his Bible and studies daily, that he listens to the Word preached and taught throughout the day, that he prays with and for me each day before he leaves to go to work.  I am thankful for his sensitive and caring heart, for his forgiving spirit, and for his love.

November 6th

I am thankful for fun and educational field trips (we went here today), and sweet friends to enjoy them with. What a joy to watch my not so little boys laugh, learn and have fun with their friends! I am thankful for the friendships the Lord has blessed them with, and the opportunity to learn new things right along with them... like the fact that the Indians used deer brains to rub on the dried deer skin to make it smooth (what a gross fact that the boys thought was cool!)

Do you have a thankful heart?  I hope you are finding time to stop and give thanks for your many blessings, today and everyday!