Thanksgiving V ~

3-9 June:  This week, I was thankful for the detour D.D.took as we drove back home after church fellowship - a roundabout south on U.S. 95 to Whitebird Summit and over the old way back toward Grangevile - lots of wild flowers in bloom; thankful for fingers that work; thankful to read this cautionary note in Proverbs 15:1 where it is written: "Respond gently when you are confronted and you’ll defuse the rage of another. Responding with sharp, cutting words will only make it worse. Don’t you know that being angry can ruin the testimony of even the wisest ....?" (TPT); thankful for the more summer-y attire already in drawers and on hangers; thankful to be anticipating more of the blue skies overhead; thankful, too, in reading these words from King David's prayer - powerful words that still move us tho' millennia have passed: "To you, O God, belong the greatness and the might, the glory, the victory, the majesty, the splendor; Yes! Everything in heaven, everything on earth; the kingdom all yours! You’ve raised yourself high over all. Riches and glory come from you, you’re ruler over all; You hold strength and power in the palm of your hand to build up and strengthen all. And here we are, O God, our God, giving thanks to you, praising your splendid Name." (1 Chronicles 29:11-13; MSG); thankful for the continuing flower show outside my window - I never dreamed the Horse-chestnut blossoms would last this long; thankful for all the machine-ical [sorry, inside joke!] helpers installed in the house by the previous owners - what a blessing!  I was thankful for the counsel found in 1 Samuel 12:23-24: ". . . As for me, I would never stop praying for you. If I stopped praying for you, I would be sinning against the Lord. . . . . But you must honor the Lord. You must serve him sincerely with all your heart. Remember the wonderful things he has done for you" (ERV); thankful for our Father's bountiful grace that accepts us when we come to Him - no matter how sin-soiled - when we come to Him for healing, for cleansing; thankful to be alive and to know of that loving Father and our precious Savior: thankful for this prayer from the apostle, Paul, a prayer in which I join him: " I ask that Christ will live in your hearts through faith. As a result of having strong roots in love, I ask that you’ll have the power to grasp love’s width and length, height and depth, together with all believers. I ask that you’ll know the love of Christ that is beyond knowledge so that you will be filled entirely with the fullness of God." (Ephesians 3:17-19;CEB);  thankful for a night of sound sleep and for the rest it provides; thankful to see the beautiful sunlight coming under the early morning clouds; and I am thankful for the message here in Malachi 3:16-18 where it is written: "Then those who feared the Lord spoke with each other, and the Lord listened to what they said. In his presence, a scroll of remembrance was written to record the names of those who feared him and always thought about the honor of his name. 'They will be my people,' says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 'On the day when I act in judgment, they will be my own special treasure. I will spare them as a father spares an obedient child. Then you will again see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.'” (NLT);  thankful to be awake and getting ready for the day's activities with a happy heart; thankful for the "preparation" day concept still at work in many lives today; thankful as I read these words from Micah 7:7-9 where it is written: "Therefore I will look unto the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me. Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me. ... He [will] plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: He will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold His righteousness." (KJV); thankful for a beautiful Sabbath morning to celebrate the Creator's work; thankful for the privilege of gathering with my church family for study and praise, prayer and fellowship, God is good! And thankful for this assurance of a forever-continuing celebration of the Creator I find in Isaiah 66:23: "And it shall come to pass that from one New Moon to another,and from one Sabbath to another, all flesh shall come to worship before Me,” says the Lord" - what a glorious promise!