11/25/10 Thankfulness at Thanksgiving

What am I thankful for at Thanksgiving?

• First and foremost, for my salvation.  That God would save a sinner like me is mind-blowing.  And then that He would allow me to have a personal relationship with Him, talk to me and listen to me whenever I want to talk….completely AMAZING!!!!
• For my family who love the Lord and love each other, for protected marriages , godly discipline of children & the raising of them in the love & admonition of the Lord
• For my friends, both new and old (I’m not talking age here!) – who love me, share their lives with me, pray for me, encourage me and undergird me in too many ways to list.
• For good health – this week I came down with a cold and it made me thankful for the bulk of the days I have no problems but hardly remember to thank God for them.
•  For water – we lost water here at the B&B for 3 days…I’ve never been so appreciative of a shower before.  What a blessing to have running water, hot water on demand and water clean to drink.
• For one of the leaders who let me shower at her house on Wed and provided 30 Liters of water to drink for our B&B.
• For my 3 lb bag of M&Ms that just ran out…almost sustaining me with delicious chocolate thru my entire stay.  I guess I better bring 2 bags with me when I come back!
• For Thanksgiving, which causes me to stop and remember with thanksgiving, all the Lord had done in the past year.  I think every country should have a similar holiday.
• For old “blood and guts” who saved me from a 4” spider the other day when everyone else was still in bed. After I got out of the shower, the spider was right next to my underwear drawer.  It was either kill him or stand their naked for the rest of the day.  I aimed for the main part of the body and my shoe did the deed.  I was able to get dressed and go to church.  My parents thought I should call myself Nimrod, the mighty hunter.  I’m not sure I like the implication!!!!
•  For the 26 women God brought to Sharing the Gospel Seminar last week.  What an amazing turnout!!!
• For the family of God and the many things we have in common despite differences in cultures.
• For hot dogs that substituted for turkey on Thanksgiving.  Since it feels more like summer than fall, I thought a cookout would be appropriate (and takes a lot less work!!!!).
• For Skype, gmail and cell phone technology that shrinks the miles separating me from friends and family
•  For friends that take care of details at home while I’m out of the country so I don’t have to try to deal with them from so far away.
• For both physical and spiritual moms who have poured themselves into me, mentored me and cared for me over the years
• That in 2 weeks I’ll be back in the states, in 3 weeks I’ll see my Phoenix friends and my dog, and in 4 weeks I’ll be with my family for Christmas
• That in 6 weeks I’ll be back in Joburg to finish out the year with my class here and further develop relationships with leaders and class members
• For God's foreknowledge and preparation that allowed me to walk away from my career and move half-way around the world to teach the Bible.  I can honestly say I would never have done that if left to myself.  But thru His training me as a TL to trust in Him for the details, it prepared me to say yes when He called this summer.  While my previous career involved deploying a system that saves physical lives out on the U.S. waterways and oceans, my current career is working for their eternal salvation.  What a promotion!!!
• For timely BSF lessons that motivated me to share the gospel with the people I was eating breakfast with this morning.  After the judgments & devastations described in Ch 24, how could I not tell them how to be saved (and besides, the one woman asked “What makes a person a Christian?”)?  I love when the Lord throws us softballs….
• For God's Word that is timely, alive, piercing, always fresh and new, and always relevant to whatever I might be going thru.

All praise and Glory to God who has done marvelous things!