Thanksgiving VI ~

6-12 January:  This week, I have been thankful for sound sleep and rest - for the mental defragmentation during sleep that the Creator hard-wired into our brains; thankful to hear the voices of D.D. and D.S.I.L. as they begin their busy days a bit earlier/later than usual; thankful for the admonishment found in 1 Peter 1:16 where we read: "As obedient children, let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God’s life, a life energetic and blazing with holiness. God said, “I am holy; you be holy.” (MSG); thankful for a quiet night with dear Dandee (quiet except for one big get-off-my-bed WOOF! when Molly cat decided the bed would provide better rest than her place in the bottom of my closet!); thankful for the sunlight streaming through my window; thankful to read these words from Ephesians 5:1-2 there they are written: "Be therefore imitators of God, as beloved children. Walk in love, even as Christ also loved you, and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling fragrance." (WEB); thankful blessing upon blessing that is an everyday occurrence in my long life - even the days that have brought pain have also brought blessings; thankful for the marvelous physical blessings of automaticity in heartbeat, respiration, and other body functions that our Creator designed; thankful as I read these words from Amos 5:14-15 where they are written: "Seek good and not evil, that you may live; and so the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you, just as you have said. Hate evil and love good, and establish justice ...." (NRSV); thankful that my tummy-ache did not last through the night - and all is calm this morning; thankful for a flexibility in my reveille time of a morning; thankful for the counsel of Jesus from Matthew 6:19-21 where it is written: "Some people store up treasures in their homes here on earth. This is a shortsighted practice—don’t undertake it. Moths and rust will eat up any treasure you may store here. Thieves may break into your homes and steal your precious trinkets. Instead, put up your treasures in heaven where moths do not attack, where rust does not corrode, and where thieves are barred at the door. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (VOICE); thankful to be feeling much better after a very sluggish post-emesis day yesterday - tummy sickness takes much more out of me at this time in my life - all is well; thankful to be "fearfully and wonderfully made"! (Psalm 139:14). I was thankful for family agreement in discussing my skin color - time to see my M.D. about a recurrance of old gall-bladder issues; thankful for medical care available in this community;  thankful for all the times in my life when the experience described in this passage has been MY experience: "Out of my distress I called on the Lord; the Lord answered me and set me free. With the Lord on my side I do not fear. What can man do to me?" (Psalm 118:5-6; RSV); thankful for another Sabbath day, and the opportunity to bring the Hope Sabbath School to my home church (anyone can do the same thing - just go to https://www.hopetv.org/hopess/ and get a copy for yourself); thankful for more direction on possibilities for my future after seeing a health care professional and some blood chemistry info - prob'ly a gall-stone lodged in the common duct - more certain after an ultrasound next week. I'm asking our great Creator God to relax the little sphincter muscle that is causing the difficulty and get the bile flowing again, for His great glory. I was thankful, too, for the affirmation of salvation for all who accept the Savior's work in our behalf found in Galations 3:26-28 where it is written: "It is your faith in the Anointed Jesus that makes all of you children of God because all of you who have been initiated into the Anointed One through the ceremonial washing of baptism have put Him on. It makes no difference whether you are a Jew or a Greek, a slave or a freeman, a man or a woman, because in Jesus the Anointed, the Liberating King, you are all one." (VOICE).