Thanksgiving VIII ~

6-12 December:  This past week I have been thankful - thankful for the beauty of the earth remaining after millennia of use (and abuse!) by humankind; thankful for all the days (and ways) our Father has cared for my family and me through the years of our lives; thankful to know this is true: "I am the good shepherd; I know My sheep, and My sheep know Me. As the Father knows Me, I know the Father; I will give My life for the sheep." (John 10:14-15; VOICE); thankful that our internet service and cell-phones are back - nothing, for hours one day, 'til after I had gone to bed; thankful for more sunshine now and then; thankful for the many Messiah prophecies in the Old Testament, words given to those who wrote of the life of Jesus long before He was born - like this one from Isaiah 7:14 where we read: "... The Lord will give you a proof-sign anyway: See, a young maiden will conceive. She will give birth to a son and name Him Immanuel, that is, “God with us.” (VOICE), c.f. Matthew 1:18-23; thankful for all our Father in heaven has gifted me with through eighty and more years of life; thankful for the individual helpers and encouragers He has placed along my way through those years; thankful to know, and agree with, these words of Jesus from John 14:6 where they are written: " I am the path, the truth, and the energy of life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." (VOICE); thankful that the distractions in my life do not mean my "Thanks!" will never be posted - sorry for the delay last Wednesday; thankful for the Spirit's whispered prompts in my thoughts; thankful for this message from John 15:4-5 where it is written: "Remain in me, and I will remain in you. A branch can’t produce fruit by itself, but must remain in the vine. Likewise, you can’t produce fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, then you will produce much fruit. Without me, you can’t do anything." (CEB); thankful for our Father's care for me, for all His children; thankful for the way His love draws us to a knowledge of Him, of our Savior; thankful as I read this promise from Isaiah 29:14 where it is written, promise of God working in our behalf: "So watch how I will continue to amaze these people with amazing, extraordinary things. The wisdom of the wise will perish, and the intelligence of the intelligent will be hidden." (EHV); thankful for the rest I gain - even in a night when there is very little sleep (no worries, no pain - just sleepless); thankful for the songs, the prayers in the dark that accompany that peaceful time; thankful as I read this passage from Jeremiah 31:26 where it is written: "... My sleep was sweet unto me." (KJV); thankful for another Sabbath-day - the day the Creator Himself chose and told us to "remember" ( Genesis 2:2-3; Exodus 20:8-11; Mark 2:28); thankful that His timing is always perfect; thankful for this message from Galatians 4:4-5 where we read: "... When that era came to an end and the time of fulfillment had come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the written law. Yet all of this was so that He would redeem and set free all those held hostage to the written law so that we would receive our freedom and a full legal adoption as His children." (TPT).