Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Just a quick Thanksgiving post (probably a near repeat of past Thanksgiving posts, but the thoughts are as sincere as ever!) in the midst of preparations for our dinner with friends and family!  We will be a group of about eleven, gathering at our daughter's home in the next town.

I pray that each and every one of my readers will have a truly blessed Thanksgiving.  I know that some are grieving today.  For some it is the first Thanksgiving without a loved one.  Some are going through  very, very difficult health struggles and family concerns.  There are personal friends of mine in all of these situations today.  And yet, as believers, we still have so very much to thank God for.

Think of it!  We have a personal relationship with the God of the universe!

  One thing I have come to realize is that even in the hardest things of life, I can be thankful that God is with me.  There are many other things to be thankful for as well: He loves me; He wants the best for me; He is good; He has a good purpose for all that He allows; He knows all about every situation; He is in control and sovereign over all things; He is all-powerful and able to change any situation.

And so today, Mr. T and I pray that each of you will spend some time counting the blessings God has given you.  There are so many, starting with salvation.

The hymn "Thanks to God" is one of my very favorites at Thanksgiving time and always.  Here are the words:

 Thanks to God for my Redeemer,
Thanks for all Thou dost provide!
Thanks for times now but a mem’ry,
Thanks for Jesus by my side!
Thanks for pleasant, balmy springtime,
Thanks for dark and stormy fall!
Thanks for tears by now forgotten,
Thanks for peace within my soul!

 Thanks for prayers that Thou hast answered,
Thanks for what Thou dost deny!
Thanks for storms that I have weathered,
Thanks for all Thou dost supply!
Thanks for pain, and thanks for pleasure,
Thanks for comfort in despair!
Thanks for grace that none can measure,
Thanks for love beyond compare!

 Thanks for roses by the wayside,
Thanks for thorns their stems contain!
Thanks for home and thanks for fireside,
Thanks for hope, that sweet refrain!
Thanks for joy and thanks for sorrow,
Thanks for heav’nly peace with Thee!
Thanks for hope in the tomorrow,
Thanks through all eternity!

"Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name." 

(Psalm 100:4)

Happy Thanksgiving!