Thankful Thursday

I have been feeling very grateful this week, and it is not even November!  Sometimes I think I am only “thankful” when things turn out good or for my benefit!  But as I was remembering to thank God  (isn’t it awful that sometimes I don’t??) for His work and answers to prayers this week, it dawned on me that my gratefulness should not be dependent on favorable circumstances.  My gratefulness should be dependent on God alone!  After all, He is always, always, always at work.  He is working when I feel my prayers have gone unanswered, or answered differently than I expected.  And I believe that is what I really want, not just good things to happen, but for God to be working! 

A short recap on my gratefulness this week:

*Ben and Andrea have finally moved completely into their home in the Bronx.  There has been  I am so grateful that Wally and I were able to to go back to New York and  give them some help before they moved. Maybe I’ll get around to blogging about that trip someday!  There were many who helped and many things to do before they could move in.  So grateful for all that support and the ministry they have already had in the Bronx.

Spending time with the Grands again wasn’t too bad either!

* Unbelievably, my Dad went into the hospital two days before I left for New York.  It was a little bit of a repeat from January’s hospital stay.  Ten days in the hospital, nine in a rehab facility.  Then home for only three days and back to the hospital again for three days to resolve an issue.  Dad is home again and hopefully on the road to recovery.  I have many hospital photos but not very glamorous!  I am thankful to my brother Scott who sat with my Mom nearly afternoon after work…and for the many visitors, cards and friends that came to see Dad.  It is a reflection of what he has given to others in his life. I recently heard a quote but I cannot give credit to its author, but it has the wheels of my mind turning.
”Old age strips the body of its glory so the beauty of the soul can be seen!”

*These three…there’s a lot going on here.  Kenny and Becky are so busy in the summer.  They’ve put on a day camp for their middle school kids, driven the high school kids to camp in GA and then returned home to FL to prepare for VBS!  We’ve been praying for them in different ways and while I know they must be exhausted.  When I expressed my concern about their being run ragged, Becky responded with a a sweet, “It’s been good, learned lots and lots at camp and now just putting it into practice in real life as we know it!”  How grateful I am for that heart attitude!

*Wesley is a new resident of the Orlando, FL area!  It has been his goal to move to FL and this spring his company gave him  the green light to make the move!  It’s been a difficult transition for him, he’s starting over with making sales calls to build his business, he has to find a new church home and I think he is missing his very good friends here in Colorado. I am grateful to see him trusting the Lord, determined to make things work in the place he believes God has brought him to.  I’m also grateful that he gets to spend this weekend with Kenny and Becky!

*Wally, I am very grateful for my husband!  For his abilities, his hard work, his frustrations and his enthusiasm…even for a roof or gutter job!  He is a good husband and I am glad to be his wife!

I am grateful and yet depending on God to work in the circumstances of my life and my family.  If I’m depending, I need to be praying! 

Grateful has some synonyms: appreciative, thankful, indebted, pleased, gratified, beholden.  I think Wikipedia left out Praise God but otherwise, I have a heart full of those synonyms!

Thankful Thursday

Note:  I wrote this on June 1, 2017.  But I never posted it.  I decided it’s worth sharing even though it is now July 20, 2017. 

This is from my devotions journal that I wrote on Wednesday morning.  I’m not sure it will make much sense, but I felt compelled to put it in writing anyway.  Tuesday was one of those days when it’s tough to be a Mom.  Tough Mom days do not seem to be confined to kids living under your rough. I’m learning that praying is a difficult kind of parenting…but necessary…just as much as wandering down the hall to a help a sick child in the middle of the night!  You have to do it! 

Psalm 124:6-8
Blessed be the Lord, Who has not given us as prey to their teeth.
Our soul has escaped as a bird from the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken and we have escaped.
Our help is in the name of the Lord Who made heaven and earth.

Today is the day after yesterday-a tough day.  My old enemy fear and worry were at work and I probably didn’t even recognize it.  My Devotions yesterday and today were about dealing with temptation.  I wanted to blow them off-after all…”I don’t smoke, cuss, drink, or chew, and I don’t go with those who do!”   But so subtle is fear and worry which lead me to doubt.  I felt I had spent the the day in prayer, even a couple of nights, for Ben and Andrea’s house closing and Wesley’s move to FL.  The deal fell though on their house- again!  I have been struggling with God ever since. WHY? I trusted You.  I totally believed you were able & would complete it!  Why did You not come through?
These questions I cannot answer.  But what I know to be true is God is MY help! IS!!  I cannot answer for the timing, the delays, the circumstances, the things I do not see.  I often heard a voice in my prayers of pleading that reminded me “I’m not a magic rabbits foot.”  And so I return to what I know to be true about God-
He is Sovereign-and I trust His Sovereignty! 
He is Faithful
He is True
He is Good
He is Gracious
He will Provide
He is full of Love

I guess I have temptations a plenty but focusing on Him chases doubt and worry away!

I’m thankful to have spent a much more peaceful day yesterday and today!