Thanksgiving VIII ~

13-19 December (then off-line): During this time, I was thankful for the times that the i-net is available to me (it's been off again and on again especially thru' the last week); thankful there are only a few more days of diminishing daylight - no wonder the ancients celebrated the winter solstice! And I am so-o-o thankful to there's another light, always shining for us - "... For you who revere My name the sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings...." (Malachi 4:2; NRSV); thankful to be an adoptee of the King, a privilege offered to all who believe in the redemption offered by His Son, Jesus; thankful for the "Reason for the Season" of this time of the year - celebrating the birth of our Savior; thankful as I consider this passage from Luke 1:26-28 where it is written: "... The angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” (NRSV); thankful for all those who work for the state and counties to keep travel routes clear from snow, from debris; VERY thankful for the many miles of accident free travel that I (and my family) have accumulated over the years; thankful for these words from Psalm 91:11 where we read: "[God] ordered His angels to guard you wherever you go. If you stumble, they’ll catch you; their job is to keep you from falling [into sin]." (MSG); thankful to see the dawn of a new day rising over our little community - God help me to do my best in all to which I set my hand; thankful that the shortened days will soon begin rolling back and - if winter comes, can spring be far behind? I was thankful, too, for our Creator's promise: "While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease." (Genesis 8:22; AMPC); thankful that Jesus loves me - and YOU, too! I was thankful to remember friend Amy's "Freedom Bird"song when I'm down; thankful for the message of these words from Matthew 1:21 where we read: "... An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, 'Joseph, ... do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife! What she has conceived is conceived through the Holy Spirit, and she will give birth to a son, whom you will call Jesus (‘the Saviour’) for it is He who will save His people from their sins.'” (PHILLIPS); thankful for the multitude of promises God has given in His Word; thankful this admonition from 2 Corinthians 7:1 where it is written: "Beloved ones, with promises like these, and because of our deepest respect and worship of God, we must remove everything from our lives that contaminates body and spirit, and continue to complete the development of holiness within us." (TPT); thankful for another Lord's Day, the day He chose as a time to celebrate His work of creating the world on which we live today (Genesis 2:2-3; Exodus 20:8-11); thankful for access through my computer to Hope Sabbath School on Hope Channel and all that is provided there and on 3ABN and other sites around the web; and thankful to echo this thought from 1 Timothy 1:14-15 where we read: "And the grace of our Lord overflowed, along with the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. The saying is trustworthy and worthy of full acceptance— that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am foremost." (DLNT).

5Rosalie Smith, Karen Murray and 3 others