Today, as every Thursday, my thanks are not generic. Every good gift I have comes from the hand of my Heavenly Father--and He Himself is the gift that surpasses all others. I'm feeling especially convicted this time around to focus on and treasure the Giver, not just the temporary earthly blessings He bestows. This year I am thanking God for countless gifts, including...
- His absolute sovereignty
- photographs that enable me to see places I'll never get to visit
- photographs that enable me to remember people and places I have known and loved
- freedom of speech
- working all things together for my good and His glory
- used book stores and sales
- hot showers
- Operation Christmas Child
- real mail
- His perfect goodness
- giraffes
- elephants
- lions
- dogs
- providing everything I need for life and godliness
- lessons taught well by others who have gone before me
- lessons learned the hard way
- sleeping through the night
- His steadfast love
- A Gospel Primer for Christians
- the mental capacity to memorize the gospel narratives in the book
- my parents' and my in-laws' wisdom with money
- the CCEF class I got to take this fall
- interceding for me
- friends who pray for me
- friends who share their heart so I can pray for them
- the holdout trees in our neighborhood--just a few who are still surprising me with their beauty
- our jogging stroller, so nice for long daily walks
- His unsearchable wisdom
- cookbooks
- recipe blogs
- a husband who will eat almost anything
- the realization that foods eaten closer to the way He created them have got to be better for us than foods man has screwed around with
- giving me a beautiful inheritance
- friends from my childhood
- friends from high school
- friends from college
- new friends
- friends my age
- older and wiser friends
- younger friends, who teach me as much as I teach them
- friends I've never met in real life
- Jesus, what a friend for sinners!
- not treating me as my sins deserve
- our new church
- our pastor's gospel-saturated preaching
- other pastors' gospel-centered preaching available free online
- cough drops
- His awesome power
- page protectors
- coconut oil
- podcasts
- the smell of freshly ground vanilla coffee
- completing the good work He began in me
- sloppy kisses from Elijah
- tender kisses from Steve
- the ability to read
- protection from ten thousand horrors I have never known and cannot imagine
- His coexisting justice and mercy
- hardwood floors
- home printers
- indoor lighting
- Christmas trees
- never leaving or forsaking me
- the gift of marriage
- the privilege of motherhood
- not just marriage generically, but the incredible man I am married to
- not just motherhood generically, but the adorable son I birthed
- the fact that He never changes
- the parents who gave me life and raised me with love
- the in-laws who have welcomed me into their family
- the miracle of adoption
- the ability to write
- keeping me from stumbling and falling away
- blue skies
- necessary rain
- warm fires
- acoustic guitars
- His absolute holiness and purity
- vocal music
- the ability to hear
- metaphors
- del.icio.us
- not breaking me when I am bruised or snuffing me out when I am only smoldering
- pumpkin
- clean drinking water
- the outlet that this blog has been for me
- the other blogs that challenge, encourage, inform and inspire me
- His patient gentleness
- the unfathomable suffering He endured at the cross
- defeating death and sin once and for all
- meeting me right where I am
- loving me too much to leave me there
- preparing for me an eternal inheritance that far outweighs any good or bad on earth
- breathing life into my soul when I was still dead in sin
- replacing my heart of stone with a heart of flesh
- the ability to see Him as beautiful and glorious
- the capacity to enjoy Him as the most valuable treasure in all the universe
- the hope of everlasting life with Him
Related:
Thanksgiving 2008
Thanksgiving 2007
Thanksgiving 2006
Thanksgiving 2005
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1 comment:
Excellent list!!
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