Thanksgiving X ~

5-11 February:  During the past week, I have been thankful for the faithful messages in the Word of God - for teaching, pointing out errors, correcting us, and training us for a life that has God’s approval; thankful for all the ways my Father provides for each of my needs, as well as many of those things I merely "want" (thankful, too, to recognize the difference!); thankful to read these words from Psalm 33:4-5: "For the word of the Lord is right; and all His work is done in faithfulness. He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the lovingkindness of the Lord" (The Amplified Bible); thankful for the hymns and songs that hang in memories corridors - joyful music in my mind; thankful to have seen a family of squirrels yesterday - two adults and a half-grown one - vying to be first to figure out how to access the hanging bird-feeder; so thankful for the promise found in Isaiah 41:13 which reads: "I am holding you by your right hand—I, the Lord your God—and I say to you, 'Don’t be afraid; I am here to help you'" (The Living Bible); thankful to open a journal I began years ago, then reformatted after my husband passed away and I looked for another "relationship" - I need to remember the words from Isaiah 54:5: "For your Maker is your Husband . . . ."; thankful for the example Jesus set in doing ". . . always the things that please Him" (John 8:29); thankful for the message of Jeremiah 31:3 where our God says ". . .'Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you." (New King James Version); thankful for waking a bit early and spending time with Shelley Quinn's delightful book, "Life Affirmations from Scripture"; thankful for all the ways our Father calls us to Himself - the beauties of nature, grand and glorious music lifting the heart, the blessing of friends - outside His Word; and for words, again words like these from the New Life Version of Jeremiah 31:3: "The Lord came to us from far away, saying, 'I have loved you with a love that lasts forever. So I have helped you come to Me with loving-kindness.'"  I was

thankful for the sound sleep and rest of the past night; thankful for this new morning with promised blessings - "They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness" (Lamentations 3:23); thankful for the words of an old hymn that is running through my head this morning, "I need the prayers of those I love . . . ." - never so appropriate as now for all I love as they're going through life's stresses and trials; thankful for the invitation to drive with my D.D. to the project up north that will keep her and the D.S.I.L. busy for a while; thankful for quick access to information via this electronic amanuensis (and for a love of interesting words!); thankful for this beloved message from Proverbs 3:5-6, which reads: "With all your heart you must trust the Lord and not your own judgment. Always let Him lead you, and He will clear the road for you to follow. (Contemporary English Version); thankful for a clear, sun-filled Sabbath morning and plans for more blessing thru' the availability of services provided by tech experts around the country; thankful for the focus of Sabbath School lessons focused on the concept of Managing for the Master this quarter - new lessons learned: and I was thankful for the beautiful description of love from 1 Corinthians 13:4-5: "Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous, it does not brag, and it is not proud. Love is not rude, it is not selfish, and it cannot be made angry easily. Love does not remember wrongs done against it" (Easy-to-Read Version).