The November of Thankfulness

I am a fan of Facebook.  It's been so much fun to see what is happening with my friends and their families, reconnect with old friends and meet new ones.  I especially like to see what my friends are thinking from day to day, and I'm so encouraged by a lot of their posts.  I'm also amused by a lot of what they say, but on November 10th I came across a post that challenged the FB community to spend the rest of the month listing things they are thankful for.  It was great to see how many took that challenge and how profound so many of them were.  Last week I listed some of the things I was thankful for on a daily basis, and since I spent the weekend with my family and missed Bible study on Sunday, I thought I would recap the my list from the month.  

Nov 10 (initial post) - "Let's see how many people can do this - Every day this month until Thanksgiving, think of one thing that you are thankful for and post it as your status. 'Today I am thankful for...' The longer you do it, the harder it gets! Now, if you think you can do it then repost this message as your status to invite others to take the challenge, then post what YOU are thankful for today....."

Nov 10 - Today I am thankful for... Steve, Scott and Sarah :)


Nov 11 - Today I am thankful for JESUS and everything He is! 


Nov 12 - Today I am thankful for my fabulous sisters!!


Nov 13 - Today I am thankful that the rain has let up enough for me to walk this morning!!


Nov 15 - Today I'm thankful for GREAT and SPECIAL friends, and thankful to live in a country where we can freely worship our LORD :)


Nov 16 - Today I am thankful for God's MERCY -- that I don't get what I deserve!


Nov 17 - Today I'm thankful for God's GRACE - that He gives me blessings I don't deserve!!


Nov 18 - Today I am thankful for Christian parents who brought me up in the Truth. I do NOT take that for granted!!


Nov 19 - Today I am thankful for friends who love, encourage & pray for me & my family. I LOVE y'all!


Nov 20 – Today I am thankful for Dr Bob Williams, who performed surgery on me two years ago today.  He and Kim are two of our dearest friends.


Nov 21 – Today I am thankful for Dr Pat Saul, who performed a tenuous gyn surgery on me one year ago today.


Nov 22 – Today I am thankful for God’s LOVE that’s unconditional, infinite and eternal.


Nov 23 – Today I am thankful for the HOPE I have in Jesus Christ, that this life isn’t all there is.


Nov 24 – Today I am thankful for the JOY I have in Jesus Christ, that I can wake up every morning knowing He loves me.


Nov 25 – Today I am thankful for my health, and that I am spending Thanksgiving AT HOME instead of in the hospital =D


Nov 26 – Today I am thankful for lessons that have taught me to be CONTENT.  They aren’t easy but they are effective.


Nov 27 – Today I am thankful that I do not have a hose up my nose, aka a nasogastric tube.  On this day two years ago I DID!


Nov 28 – Today I am thankful (again) for the Godly heritage He has given me in my wonderful family, and for the huge blessing of spending this weekend with them.  I’ve missed the last two thanksgiving weekends because I’ve been in the hospital!!


Nov 29 – Today I am thankful for FAITH, the confident assurance that God is in control & working out all the craziness of life.


Nov 30 – Today I am thankful that I live in the Church Age -- after the birth of Jesus. Think about all the blessings we have because He came to live among us!  I can’t imagine living without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit or the many copies of the written Word (and study resources) that are in my possession!

The originator of that post said "The longer you do it, the harder it gets" but I didn't really find that to be the case. I guess because it put me in the mindset of looking for things to be thankful for, the more blessings I realized.

And THAT is a good lesson :)

Psalm 116

This week we studied another praise psalm with an anonymous writer.  Like so many of the psalms it begins with praise, recounts a time of hardship, remembers the Lord's faithfulness and deliverance, and then concludes with praise.  It's an overall picture of our lives:  good times, hardships, questions and struggles, learning curves, restorations, good times... and the cycle repeats.

Since we are entering the week of Thanksgiving, we took time in our class to share some of the things we are thankful for this year, and I went first!  This year I am thankful for my good health.  I've spent the past two Thanksgiving weeks in the hospital recovering from surgeries.  It's a long story, but the timeline is this:

• Nov 2007 - partial hysterectomy, 10 days later developed a complication which led to
• Nov 2007 - surgery to correct an obstruction, which resulted in
• Nov 2007 - staph infection in the surgical incision
• Nov 2007 - Feb 2008 - antibiotics & wound care, which didn't kill the staph and heal the wound, so
• Feb 2008 - debriding surgery for the staph
• Nov 2008 - pelvic pain caused by a large ovarian cyst
• Nov 2008 - gyn surgery to remove the cyst and remaining ovary

Since I've spent the past two Novembers in the hospital, I was a little anxious this year as I flipped the calendar over!  I have actually asked friends to pray for what we've termed my "November Nerves," and so far, so good!!  But I've learned so much through that experience, and I am thankful every single day for the blessing of restored health.  I do NOT take it for granted and do my best to take care of my body.

But I am also thankful for little things every day, things like:

• having enough milk for breakfast
• clear sinuses
• a paid-for car
• technology (computers, cell phones, my blackberry, online banking, Facebook, cable tv, wireless internet...)
• good weather for a morning walk
• comfortable shoes
• good hair days
• jeans that fit
• family, friends and neighbors
• our community and the great schools my kids have been blessed to attend
• text messages from the kids telling me about their days
• emails of ALL kind - funny ones, uplifting ones, prayer requests...
• my Bibles and all the study resources I have
• my independence and mobility

And then I remember the spiritual blessings, which are endless -- salvation, hope, joy, peace, faith, grace, mercy, love, protection, victory...  I've found that it's hard to be "down in the dumps" when I count my blessings, so I try to make it a part of my day - EVERYDAY.

I recently heard a wonderful sermon on JOY, and it came right after a great devotional I read that was written by one of my favorite men, Andrew Murray (who had to be one of the most joyful, faithful, peaceful dudes in all of south Africa, and I can't wait to meet him in Heaven).  He wrote, "... there is nothing so attractive as joy, no preaching so persuasive as the sight of hearts made glad.  This makes gladness such a strong element in Christian character.  There is no proof of the reality of God's love and the blessing He bestows, which people so quickly feel the strength of, as when the joy of God overcomes the trials of life.  And for the Christian's own welfare, joy is just as indispensable; the joy of the Lord is his strength (Neh 8:10)..." (taken from Abiding  in Christ)

So as I enter Thanksgiving week, I remember the cycle of the past two years and the various struggles I've had.  But I also continue to remember God's attributes and His blessings and His faithfulness, and like the apostle Peter, "[I'm] filled with an inexpressible and glorious JOY." (1 Peter 1:8)