So, what are you thankful for?

As Thanksgiving approaches we are more inclined to reflect on what we are thankful for than any other time of the year. Anyone who knows the Tabbuts well are aware that when they see Byron coming their way they need to be prepared for his question,"What are you thankful for today?"

Beyond the Thanksgiving season, thinking and reflecting upon what we are thankful for is a great concept to have rolling around in our minds. Pondering that simple question has a way of taking our thoughts off our present troubling circumstances and shift our thinking onto what is praiseworthy. I don't mean just being thankful for the weather or things going swimmingly well because I am feeling good today, but what are we truly thankful for? Here is my list as I reflect about thankfulness at Thanksgiving.

1. I am thankful for Ephesians chapter 1 and that in Him I have been blessed with every spiritual blessings in the heavenly places, that I was chosen in Him  before the foundation of the world, that I was adopted through Christ according to His purposes, that in Him I have redemption and forgiveness through His blood, that in Him I have an inheritance and that in Him I have the promise and the seal of the Holy Spirit. This truth alone is enough to be thankful for as long as I have breath. To HIM BE THE GLORY!

2. I am thankful that God rearranged and reoriented my life so that once upon a time I would stumble into the man God had designed for me in marriage, and that would be Byron. There were so many distractions in organic chemistry class. It is a wonder I ever passed the class.

3 I am thankful for my family. God has given us just what we needed in our quiver to keep us humble and to conform us into His image. We love our adult children dearly and wait, watch, and pray for them as God is working in each of their lives.

4. I am grateful for the trials and afflictions God has brought our way as a family, and they have been many and varied over the years. God's Word is true, reliable, dependable, and sufficient for the day. The pages of the Bible have come alive in full color to us as we have anchored ourselves firmly in those truths as we have journeyed through some very deep valleys that seem to have no way out but climbing up the hill of difficulty. Do we stumble and slip back down the hill? Of course, and just as we have made headway we fall back. We are learning to trust that the presence of God's everlasting arms are underneath us.

 Fear not, for I am with you;
be not dismayed, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Isaiah 41:10

So, what are you thankful for? I would love to hear from you! Happy Thanksgiving!!!!