Thanksgiving VIII ~

7-13 February:  During this past week, I have been thankful for the blessing of gathering for worship with my church family - it was WA-A-Y too long since we were together! I was thankful for enough - enough resources to meet my needs and giving, enough food (and plenty to share), enough - and more - clothing to cover me; thankful for this admonition from Psalm 97:10 where we read: "Listen, you lovers of God! Hate evil, for God can keep you from wrong and protect you from the power of wickedness." (TPT); thankful to our heavenly Father, thankful that He has adopted me into His own family (John 1:12); thankful to see a new layer of fresh snow outdoors and its reminder of God's words recorded in Isaiah 1:18; thankful for the counsel of our Savior found in Matthew 5:43-45 where it is written: "You have been taught to love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I tell you this: love your enemies. Pray for those who torment you and persecute you—in so doing, you become children of your Father in heaven. He, after all, loves each of us—good and evil, kind and cruel. He causes the sun to rise and shine on evil and good alike. He causes the rain to water the fields of the righteous and the fields of the sinner." (VOICE); thankful for knowing the principles of isolation that help us combat illness (and thankful for the property where we live that allows such separation, if need be); thankful for the grace, the mercy, for ALL the blessings our Father provides morning by morning; thankful as I considered this passage from Isaiah 56:1-3 where it is written: "Thus says the Lord: 'Keep justice, and do righteousness, for My salvation is about to come, and My righteousness to be revealed. Blessed [are those who do] this, and [those who lay] hold on it; who [keep] from defiling the Sabbath, and [keep] ... from doing any evil.'” (NKJV); thankful for the gadgets that give a power assist to a battery in frigid weather (I'm past my driving years, but D.S.I.L. could get neither vehicle to start one morning before connecting such a  device!); I was thankful for mechanical genii who develop these and other "helpers" for us; thankful for this admonition from 1 Corinthians 13:3 where it is written: "If I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it does me no good at all." (AMP); thankful to see the new coat of snow that is making the view outdoors a pristine wonderland for a time; thankful there's no need to do my laundry on a scrub board; thankful for this admonition from 1 Corinthians 13:6-7 where it is written: "[Love] does not rejoice at injustice, but rejoices with the truth [when right and truth prevail]. Love bears all things [regardless of what comes], believes all things [looking for the best in each one], hopes all things [remaining steadfast during difficult times], endures all things [without weakening]." (AMP); thankful for our Father's beautiful "Good morning!" greeting - sky was blossoming with rosy-red color as I looked out my window; thankful for the message of Pastor Dinsey on 3ABN reminding me that we don't seek God, we only respond to His seeking us; and I was thankful for these words from Isaiah 42:16 which read: ". . . I will bring the blind by a way that they know not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known. I will make darkness into light before them and make uneven places into a plain. These things I have determined to do [for them]; and I will not leave them forsaken" (AMPC) - may we ALL recognize our spiritual blindness and look to the Savior!