Thanksgiving VIII ~

9-15 May:  During the past week, I was thankful for Mothers' Day memories of four generations seated around the table yesterday eating lunch together - D.S.I.L.'s parents and the D.S.I.L., two D.D.s, a D.G.D. and an almost three year-old GREAT-grand-daughter; I was thankful for the cards, gifts, e-messages and phone calls from family and friends that shared the greetings of the day; thankful for this admonition from Matthew 18:15 where it is written: "If one of my followers sins against you, go and point out what was wrong. But do it in private, just between the two of you. If that person listens, you have won back a follower." (CEV); thankful for sunshine on my shoulder - ALWAYS makes me happy; thankful, every day, for the sunlight of our Father's love flooding my heart; thankful as I read this counsel from Ephesians 4:32 where it is written: "... Be kind and compassionate. Graciously forgive one another just as God has forgiven you through the Anointed, our Liberating King." (VOICE); thankful for all who make an effort in kindness to put a smile on the faces of those around them; thankful for the good, clean humor that puts a giggle in my heart; thankful for another source of happiness found in 1 Chronicles 29:17 where it is written: " I know, my God, that You test the heart and that You are pleased with what is right. I have willingly given all these things with an upright heart, and now I have seen Your people who are present here giving joyfully and willingly to You." (HCSB); thankful for the privilege of living as a daughter of our Father in Heaven (John 1:12); thankful for His persistent upward call to my heart; thankful as I peruse this message in Philippians 3:13-14 where it is written: "Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself as having taken hold of this. But this one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal for the reward of the upward calling of God in Messiah Yeshua." (TLV); thankful for the Creator's care when He made living things of ALL kinds with the ability to heal after injuries large and small; thankful that this morning's interruption to internet service was only a brief one; thankful as I consider these words from Psalm 139:13-14 where the psalmist writes: "For You shaped me, inside and out. You knitted me together in my mother’s womb long before I took my first breath. I will offer You my grateful heart, for I am Your unique creation, filled with wonder and awe. You have approached even the smallest details with excellence; Your works are wonderful; I carry this knowledge deep within my soul." (VOICE); thankful to wake to a bright, sunshine-y Sabbath morning and the anticipation of meeting with the church family for worship and praise, study and fellowship; thankful for the beauty of varied shades of green in the trees slowly waking out of winter sleep; and thankful for the positive musings of King Solomon in Ecclesiastes 11:5 where this is written: "You can no more predict the path of the wind than you can explain how a child’s bones are formed in a mother’s womb. Even more, you will never understand the workings of the God who made all things." (VOICE). All praise to our Creator on this, HIS Day!