Thanksgiving V ~

6-12 May:  This week, I have been thankful to see tulips and daffodils blooming in yards around us (maybe, one day, we will discover how to successfully grow them in our stony soil!); thankful for the "at home" D.D. who took the visiting canine outside this morning; thankful to remember these words from James 5:16 where we read: "... Always tell each other the wrong things you have done. Then pray for each other. Do this so that God can heal you. Anyone who lives the way God wants can pray, and great things will happen." (ERV); thankful for all the "whosoever" promises of Jesus - they surely include me; thankful for the multitude of everyday blessings that grace my life; thankful to read this beautiful admonition from 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 where it is written: "Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." (KJV);  thankful as I read these words from a 19th century pastor, Oswald Chambers, who said: ""If we are devoted to the cause of humanity, we shall soon be crushed and broken-hearted, for we shall often meet with more ingratitude from men than we would from a [frog]; but if our motive is love to God, no ingratitude can hinder us from serving our fellow men"; thankful for the warm sunshine coming through my window;  thankful for this counsel from Colossians 4:5-6 where we read: "Make the most of your chances to tell others the Good News. Be wise in all your contacts with them. Let your conversation be gracious as well as sensible, for then you will have the right answer for everyone." (TLB); thankful to be reminded of the psalmist's "Be still, and know ...." message (Psalm 46:10); thankful to read from 1 Samuel 3:9-10 how one should respond to a message from God (most often as it comes through His Word) - be an active listener; thankful for the freedom offered in Jesus; as it is written in Romans 8:1-2: "So now anyone who is in Christ Jesus is not judged guilty. That is because in Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit that brings life made you free. It made you free from the law that brings sin and death." (ERV);  thankful for the postal service and other carriers that provide service to our community, delivering parcels to our doors (or nearby) so we don't necessarily have to go to the city to make purchases; thankful for the persistent work of the Holy Spirit - inviting, encouraging, and counseling - in my life and in the lives of those dear to me; thankful to read this counsel from Matthew 18:15 where it is written: “If your brother or sister in God’s family does something wrong, go and tell them what they did wrong. Do this when you are alone with them. If they listen to you, then you have helped them to be your brother or sister again." (ERV);  thankful for the little heating pad D.S.I.L. brought me to see if heat would relieve the new pain in my hip area yesterday - and the discomfort lessened by morning; thankful for the responses received after I'd posted a photo of two dear friends from our Las Vegas years on fb; thankful for these words of wisdom from Proverbs 16:1-3 where it is written: "We can make our plans, but the final outcome is in God’s hands. We can always “prove” that we are right, but is the Lord convinced? Commit your work to the Lord, then it will succeed. (TLB); thankful for another Sabbath, anticipating study and praise, prayer and worship with my church family - come join us at the Seventh-day Adventist Church 280 North Hwy. 95 (about 2.5 mi. out of Grangeville toward Cottonwood); thankful to see sunshine this morning; and thankful for this passage that tells me how the Sabbath came to be; "Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made." (Genesis 2:1-3; KJV).