Thanksgiving II ~

13 - 19 September:  I've thankful this week for sound sleep and a refreshed sense of well-being when morning comes; thankful for the bananas and Cheerios that provided the wake-up meal today; and for this reminder from Psalm 74:12 and 16: ". . . God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth. The day is Yours, the night also is Yours; You have established and prepared the [starry] light and the sun"; for the ". . . exceeding great and precious promises . . . " (2 Peter 1:4) to be found in God's Word; for this Word's affirmation of God's love for sinners; for John 3:16,17 - " For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved"; for each new day and the assurance that ". . . the Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him" (Lamentations 3:25); for daily blessings of food to eat and things I can do to help others; for good books and learning available on-line and from other media; for rain resolving to skies showing patches of blue; for being able to enjoy last night's cornbread with soymilk for my breakfast; for this message: "I will remember the works of the Lord; surely I will remember Your wonders of old. I will also meditate on all Your work and talk of Your deeds. Your way, O God, is in the sanctuary; who is so great a God as our God? You are the God who does wonders; You have declared Your strength among the peoples" (Psalm 77:11-14); for courtesy shown among the members of our household; for the insights into my life - the reproof and correction it offers; for these words from Psalm78:4,7: "We will not hide them from [our] children, telling to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, and His strength and His wonderful works that He has done. That they may set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments";  for the delight of learning - exploring a program called "The Joy of Mathematics" on DVD this month (it will surely require several trips through these lessons before they "stick", but that's okay!); thankful for the memory of a song sung with my kids many years ago, "Jesus and Others and You - what a wonderful way to feel JOY . . . ."; and for these words: ". . . The joy of the Lord is your strength" (Nehemiah 8:10); thankfully anticipating another Sabbath with our church family today - so glad to join sisters and brothers weekly again, from a closer distance; thankful for what promises to be a day of sunshine near the end of summer; and thankful, too, for this promise from Isaiah 56:4,5: "For thus says the Lord: 'To [those] who keep My Sabbaths, and choose what pleases Me, and hold fast My covenant, even to them I will give in My house and within My walls a place and a name better than that of sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.'"