Thanksgiving III ~

3-9 January 2016:  This week I have been thankful for the beauty that remains in our troubled world - yes, there is much that is desolated, much that is ruined, but I'm praising God for the dear folks who create beauty with their talents in music, in art, and in shaping bare soil into beauty with plantings of seeds and bulbs, grasses and shrubs in pleasing designs; I am thankful for the measure of health and strength that remains in my life; and for these words from Isaiah 58:12: "Those from among you shall build the old waste places; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; and you shall be called 'The Repairer of the Breach', 'The Restorer of Streets to Dwell In'"; for anticipating a trip to the city with my sister and eldest daughter; I'm thankful, too. for a "no snow" weather report; and thankful for these words from Isaiah 12:2: "Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; for Yah, the Lord, is my strength and song; He also has become my salvation”; for safe travel to Lewiston  and back home - no vehicle malfunctions, dents, no flats; for analgesic relief when my gout flares up; and for these words of praise from Isaiah 25:1: "O Lord, You are my God. I will exalt You, I will praise Your name, for You have done wonderful things"; for new journaling materials - larger notebooks so I won't need to write in tiny script to stay on one page; thankful for D.D.'s post-op appointment on a day when D.S.I.L. is available to provide transportation; and for this message from Isaiah 41:10: "Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand"; for a long fb chat with my overseas son who is experiencing some difficulties in life; I am thankful, too, for the way the Bible reveals the difference between the methods of our enemy and those of the Spirit - the enemy is called "the accuser" and works to deceive and discourage us into giving up on God while the Holy Spirit encourages us, corrects in a positive manner, as in Isaiah 30:21 "THIS is the way, walk in IT, when you turn to the right hand or to the left."  My prayer is for each of us to listen for that voice.  I've been thankful, too, for a full pantry, but with heart-felt prayers for the many who are not filled; thankful for D.D.'s posted meal plans to help with dinner prep; and thankful to find this message in the Word: ". . . I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them" (Isaiah 42:16); for another beautiful Sabbath morning, blue sky and sunshine bless me in ways I cannot explain; thankful for the "all-through-the-night" company of the grumpy old-lady cat that often is chased off my bed by one of the two other felines that I missed evacuating at bedtime; and I'm thankful for the reminder of how the Creator sees this day declared holy at its beginning - the only commandment He says to "remember" - that we find in Exodus 20:8-11: "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it."