Thanksgiving Day, 2016

     Thanksgiving is here!  A time for families to come together in praise and thankfulness before feasting on a meal that is both traditional and tasty.  
     I am looking forward to seeing my siblings, along with lots of nieces and nephews, and I am thankful for another opportunity to join together with them this Thanksgiving holiday.
     Growing up, I have to admit, my brother and sisters did not always get along.  It sometimes took a parental demand for a hug and an "I'm sorry," comment to each other in order to solve some differences.  Other times, it took a good healthy dose of medicine, and in my case, it was a peach tree switch selected by none other than myself.  I didn't know it at the time, but the smallest peach tree limb always hurt the worse.  You guessed it,  I always selected the smallest one I could find on that tree.  I can still see my mother smiling as I made my selection, and I never remember hearing her  say, "This hurts me more than it does you."
     Today, I can truthfully say that I am thankful for the discipline I received.  It taught me respect and forgiveness.  I am thankful that my parents loved me enough to show me the way that I should live; they believed in the guidance provided in Proverbs 13:24, "He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes."
     As I close my countdown to Thanksgiving with my final comments this season on  being thankful, I pray for safe travel as families unite together, and I pray for harmony and love among them all.   



    

22 Days Until Thanksgiving

With it being 22 Days Until Thanksgiving, I am continuing my challenge to do the Thanksgiving countdown by providing at least one thing I have to be thankful for every day. 

Today, I am thankful for teachers who are willing to work and give more time to their jobs than most people ever realize in order to educate our children; children who will be the future leaders of America.  Hopefully we will always be "one nation under God."  It is my prayer that God will be returned to the classroom and to the family home and dinner table.  
 

Leviticus 10:11  "And that ye may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the Lord hath spoken unto them by the hand of Moses."

Thanksgiving Day

     When we think of Thanksgiving Day, most of us remember it as a national day of celebration first proclaimed by President, George Washington.   Yet, our thankfulness should be expressed every single day, and this was first proclaimed by the Almighty God.    Philippians 4:6 tells us “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.”   We are also told in Colossians 4:2 to “Continue earnestly in pray, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving.”   
     All that we have and all that we ever will have comes from God.  Therefore, we need to do as Psalm 69:30 and Psalm 95:2 says, “I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify Him with thanksgiving.”  “Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.”

     I believe when we thank God every morning for whatever is going to happen during the day, joy will fill our hearts and whatever occurs will be easier to handle. 
     Though members of my family or close friends may “step on my toes” from time to time, I am thankful for them.  Though there are changes at work I may not like, I am so very thankful for my job.  I am so thankful for the loving people I am privileged to work with.  I am so very thankful that God covers me with His love and walks beside me through it all. 
    When we dread going to work, it may be time to say, “Thank you God for my job.”  When we are going through what some would call a “pity party”, then it is time to say, “Thank you God for my blessings.”   When we are offended by others, it is time to say, “Thank you God that these same people can love me in spite of my own faults.”  
     Every day is truly a day of Thanksgiving as we remember the words in 1 Thessalonians 5:18, "In every thing give thanks..."