It's Thanksgiving!!

I love Thanksgiving. I like the holiday and the time off but I really love thanks giving. I love to thank God for the many wonderful blessings that He has bestowed. I'm thankful for my health. I'm thankful for the children that God has allowed me to parent. I'm thankful for my pets. I'm thankful for Christmas lights. I'm thankful for a vehicle that runs. I'm thankful for a bathtub. I'm thankful for the Internet. I'm thankful for words. I'm thankful for the food that fills my belly. I'm thankful for pickles. I'm thankful for the wind. I'm thankful for laughter. I'm thankful for friends that surround me. I'm thankful for cinnamon. I'm thankful for being able to read. I'm so glad that God is. I'm so glad that He gives. I'm so glad that He lives!

(Dear Lord, I do thank you. Thank you for being my strong tower. Thank you for allowing me to lean on the everlasting arms. Thank you for sheltering me under your wings. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for taking the price of my sin. Thank you for not letting me know just how much that cost. But, mostly, thank you for my salvation. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.)

Thoughts of My Father

I've been thinking about my father a lot in the past few months. Since his passing in September 2006, I've often thought of him and missed him yet there seems to be something different about these thoughts. In some ways, I did not know my father well. I knew him only as my father. He was a very private man. Dad did not waste his words. He preferred spending time in the woods over spending time in the city. He provided for his family. He protected us. It is my shame that I never got to know him as a person. I hunger for that knowledge now. I want others to tell me what they knew about him.

Mostly, I want to know his relationship with Jesus. He never talked about it. I search my memories for how Dad was an example of Christ. I diligently seek to identify those characteristics from Galations 5 in his life.

(Dear Lord, thank you for the earthly father you gave me. Help me to identify Your presence in his life. Help me to make sure Your presence is evident in my life. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.)