Thanksgiving

Thursday, November 25, 2010 (6:38 a.m.)

Most Holy God,

How I thank You Lord! You provide truth, hope, love. For a few days my heart was hurting. A small misunderstanding turned into a lot of gunk. I refused to care. I wouldn’t let go of my own way of thinking. But You were here with me through all of it. Harsh words and tones were squashed in difference to Your loving ways. I couldn’t care. Even when I wanted to, I chose hurt over healing. But yet You stayed. It truly was You at work opening the lines of communication. Thank You Lord!

Today is a national day of thanksgiving. Blessed Loving Lord in many ways it has turned into a day of overindulgence instead. I confess to struggling with it Lord.

Oh but how my heart [and face J] are smiling right now. Just as I was thinking of how things used to be, I remembered a devotion entitled “Removed, Not Improved” in The Life Recovery Bible. Related to Step Six [of the original twelve] regarding being ‘entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character’ it is tied to Romans 6:5-11. In turning to the page Lord, my smiles broaden. The title of this section is “Sin’s Power Is Broken”. How I thank You Lord.

Here too You remind me of the ways You are changing the way I see and do things. I used to be tied to the Norman Rockwell ideal of what holidays were supposed to look and be like. I wasted far too much time and energy attempting to create what I wanted them to be instead of just enjoying them for what they were – opportunities to be together with loved ones.

Most Dear and Bless Lord God, how I thank You for another day to live in the glory of Your love. I admit that I don’t often do that as well as I’d like. It’s a day like today when the unexpected wind is blowing a gale that I ask You for Your power and strength to accept today exactly as it plays out. Yes Lord. On this particular Thanksgiving Day when things have never been so different for us, I am asking for ‘the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference’.

Jeremiah 33:10-11 says, “The Lord declares that the happy voices of bridegrooms and of brides and the joyous song of those bringing thanksgiving offerings to the Lord will be heard again in this doomed land. The people will sing: ‘Praise the Lord! For He is good and His mercy endures forever!’ For I will make this land happier and more prosperous than it has ever been before.” NONE of this is possible without You!

It’s definitely not going to be a day like a Norman Rockwell painting. No Lord. It’s going to be REAL! And blessed. And whatever YOU make it. A day where we ‘go through Your open gates with great thanksgiving; enter Your courts with praise. Give thanks to You and bless Your name. For You the Lord are always good. You are always loving and kind, and Your faithfulness goes on and on to each succeeding generation’ (Psalm 100).

And that’s exactly what this is Lord. A succeeding generation! Teach us to be so very much more like You and way less than our hopes of Mr. Rockwell’s depictions.

Beloved Lord God I love You so very much. On this particular day of giving thanks, how thankful I am that when all else is stripped away “There are three things that remain – faith, hope, and love – and the greatest of these is love” (1Corinthians 13:13). Thank You Father. I love You. Happy Thanksgiving! Amen.

(640 words ~ 8:42 a.m.)