Celebrating Thanksgiving

Although the American holiday of Thanksgiving has changed drastically from the first time the Pilgrims held a feast to thank God for the blessings He had given, the heartbeat of the holiday should be gratitude to God.

For our family we decided to memorize Psalm 100 and we will say it together this Thursday as a prayer.

Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands! Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before His presence with singing. Know that the Lord, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations.
Psalms 100:1‭-‬5 NKJV

Whatever your plans are, I pray you are filled with thankfulness to God Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earther, Savior of the World.

Dear Lord Jesus,

Thank You for Thanksgiving. It’s a blessing to have a day set aside to give You thanks. Lord, I know holidays can be painful for many, and I humbly request that You reach those who mourn with Your comfort, that You heal those who are broken by sin, and You restore those discouraged by the effects of living in this sin filled world. Lord, for those who are called by Your name, help them to shine brightly to those around them who have yet to know You. Lord, for the skeptic whose belief in You is hindered by the lies of the enemy, whose heart is hard due to rebellion and selfish ambition, Lord, please let them see what they are choosing and that You are the only Way, Truth, and Light. Lord, break through the darkness and shine through those who have devoted themselves to Your glory. Thank You, Jesus! Amen.

According to His will

1 John 5:14 NKJV — Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.

1 John 5:15 NKJV — And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.

Our confidence in prayer is contingent on praying according to His will.

How can we know what God’s will is?

John 7:16-18 NKJV — Jesus answered them and said, “My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me. If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority.
He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is true, and no unrighteousness is in Him.”

Who is getting the glory?

(Because if our motives are selfish, we are not praying according to His will. James 4:3 NKJV — You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.)

Jesus should be the answer and God’s Word is our instruction.

It’s all in His Word.

John 14:26 KJV — But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

And the Holy Spirit has been sent to teach us from His Word.

Throughout scripture we have examples of those who followed God and passed on the reverence and love He deserves.

Genesis 18:19 KJV — For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.

In these truths we can find God’s will and pray accordingly.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NKJV — Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

With these things in mind, let us join together seeking His will for our lives, our families, our country, and the nations around the world.

Matthew 28:19-20 NKJV — “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

Dear Lord Jesus,

Thank You for Your Word. Thank You for Your truth and how amazing is Your mercy, grace, forgiveness, faithfulness, and love. Lord Jesus, I want to pray according to Your will. To listen to Your Word and to follow in it. Lord Jesus, there are those suffering across the planet, feeling the consequences of a sinful and a broken world. Lord, please reach them. Encourage them, that this life is not all there is, for Your salvation brings us hope of heaven. Lord, please over turn the things of the enemy which would ensnare people and trap them into lives of waste. Break the bonds of addiction and abuse. Lord, heal the sick, protect the innocent, provide for the needy, and save the lost. Thank You for coming to Earth to save us. Thank You for sacrificing Yourself for our sins. Thank You that no matter the circumstance, we have hope in You. Thank You, Jesus for all Your wonderous works! I praise Your holy name! Amen.

Yesterday was…

Thanksgiving for our family.

My husband went to work on Thursday so we had already made plans to celebrate on Sunday.

We sang some Christmas carols.

(I know we were blending two seasons, but we love Christmas music and sing it as early as possible.)

We read the Pilgrim’s story.

My heart breaking all over again for the sacrifices those dear people made.

Then we took turns writing what we are thankful for in the back of the book.

My husband carved the turkey and we discussed a few memories while filling out plates.

“Well, two years in a row. We over cooked the broccoli and cheese.”

“It must be that old crockpot. It wasn’t in there more than an hour.”

“Remember how people were eating your honey-butter straight out of the dish while we were in the UK, Mom?”

“They did?! I don’t remember that.”

“Yeah, it was for the cornbread, but Daddy caught them passing it around like a side dish.”

“What’s in these mashed potatoes? They’re really good.”

“Butter, sour cream, milk,…”

“Do you remember the play we put on at the school?”

“Yes, and how the one line he did turned the play into a comedy!”

“I think of him every time I read that!”

It didn’t take long for talking to subside into eating.

After cleaning up most of the family played a board game twice and then a card game..

Later, we watched three episodes of the Chosen.

(If you’ve not seen Season One of the Chosen, you can download their app for free. Dallas Jenkins is the creator and it’s wonderful.)

It was a lovely day of thankfulness and family.

Something my husband and I cherish and realize won’t always be.

Our children are growing up so fast and we know they belong to God.

We want them to go, to do whatever God calls them.

We want them to be people completely surrendered to His perfect will.

Which means we have to surrender our own desires and plans.

Because they only live under the same roof with us for a season.

A season we are so thankful for.

No matter what the future holds, may we never spend so much energy preparing for tomorrow that we miss the blessings of today.

As my husband began his prayer yesterday: “Lord, we really have so much to be thankful for…”

He’s so right!

We have today.

Dear Lord Jesus,

It’s true, we have so much to thank You for. You have given us so much each and every day. Although things can be scary and the future still seems so unpredictable, I thank You that You promise to never leave us. Thank You for providing for us. Thank You for carrying us through. Lord, please continue to help us see the blessings in today. Please help us to live wholly unto You in each day. Lord, we want to serve You, to be close to You, to love You. Please help us to do so. Thank You for yesterday. Thank You for today. I praise Your holy name, Jesus. Amen.

November 26

Today’s prayer:

1 Chronicles 16:34 KJV — O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.

Dear Lord Jesus,
Thank You Jesus for all Your blessings. Lord Jesus thank You for the breath in our lungs, the blood pumping through our bodies. Thank You for life and the ability to love. Lord Jesus, thank You for provision. Thank You for our family. Lord Jesus, thank You for Your mercy and grace. Thank You for a holiday which reminds us to stop and be thankful. Lord Jesus, thank You for a heritage of gratitude. May our hearts never forget You nor tire of giving You the praise You deserve. Thank You, Jesus. Amen.

A gift of gratitude

It was later in the afternoon.

I had required a rest after lunch, so Jase and I had resumed home school afterwards.

I wasn’t feeling amazingly well, so I was a bit slow on the uptake of what was happening.

Jase had just been reading aloud to me from his book when he stopped.

I looked up to see why, since he doesn’t like me to “look over his shoulder” while reading.

His face was serious and his eyes held something which I couldn’t place at first.

Then his voice:

“Mom, thank you for all your time helping me and teaching me things. Not just school work, but all the things you teach me.”

-pause, blink-

He’s serious.

Nothing about his face or tone was sarcasm.

“I just realized I don’t think I’ve ever said, ‘Thank you’ before.”

I couldn’t speak.

I just gave him a big hug.

He was a little put off by the silent tears on my cheeks.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

“No, buddy. It’s a good cry.”

And thus I received the nicest gift of gratitude I’ve ever gotten near Thanksgiving.

It’s one I will cherish a long time.

And it made me think.

If this is how my son can touch my heart how does my gratitude touch the heart of God?

I’m sure it’s beyond my understanding.

Especially since His love is so much greater than mine.

1 Chronicles 16:8 KJV — Give thanks unto the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people.

Dear Lord Jesus,

Thank You so much for this precious gift from our son. Thank You for giving us our son. Lord Jesus, thank You for loving us so much more than we can possibly understand. Lord, thank You for walking with us in all things. Truly, You are worthy of all honor, gratitude, and praise. May our hearts never tire of looking upon Your mighty works and worshipping Your holy name. I love You! Amen.

A Psalm of Thanksgiving

Psalm 100 is beautiful and we’ll worth reading as we celebrate.

I plan on having our family read it before we eat our Thanksgiving meal.

Hopefully, I will also have time to make place cards with the verse on it, but if not that’s okay too.

The point is Jesus and being thankful to Him for all things.

These last two months the Lord has been speaking with me about giving thanks for all while holding it lightly.

It began somewhere in September I believe.

I was walking around the house and thanking God for different things, especially the ability to have a tidy, functional, and clean house.

When the Lord asked me a question.

Would you give it all up if I asked you to?

I was surprised.

September was our “one year” in this house and the idea of giving it all up to move again wasn’t that appealing.

But I know better than to with hold anything from my Lord.

“Lord, I want to say yes without hindrance or regret. I’m not there, but I want to be. Please help me to be willing to give it all up.”

And so began weeks of different circumstances which gave me many opportunities to say, “Lord, it all belongs to You. Do with it as You see fit.”

Then it rippled out of things and into other areas.

Like my family, my personal “to do” list, and other such precious things.

Over and over the Lord gave me opportunity to give all to Him.

To speak the words both in my heart and with my mouth, that I give all to Jesus, He’s will be done.

And although I’m unsure of all the reasons He has taken me down this path again (not the first time and I’m certain it won’t be the last either) I find gratitude has bloomed anew.

There’s such thankfulness of heart when one realizes that the cherished things, family, love, blessings, are all gifts from God.

Nothing I have done has earned these things.

But I can enjoy them all the more and praise God I each.

Especially when I’m holding them lightly.

There’s something so precious about understanding the gifts and blessings of the now may or may not be those of tomorrow.

When I cherish today, my heart finds such thankfulness waiting.

Yes, some days are easier to cherish than others, but each is a gift and I want to praise God for every one.

This Thanksgiving, I hope you are able to relinquish expectation and simply praise God for another day.

His gift to you.

His gift to me.

Praise the Lord!

Dear Lord Jesus,

Thank You so much for helping me relinquish all things back into Your hands. Lord, there are still many things I do not understand and circumstances which are concerning, but I choose to place each one in Your hand. To reach up and wrap my heart around Your goodness and cling to You through it all. For nothing and no one can separate me from Your love. That in itself is something to be thankful for! I praise and worship You this day. Thank You for Your love. Thank You for Your faithfulness. Thank You for a day to simply be grateful. I love You, Jesus. Amen.

Make a joyful shout to the Lord , all you lands! Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before His presence with singing. Know that the Lord , He is God; It  is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We  are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the Lord  is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations.
Psalms 100:1‭-‬5 NKJV

Happy Thanksgiving!

I know it’s a bit early, but I just wanted to reach out and say:

“Happy Thanksgiving!”

This has always been a time of year I look forward to.

Thanksgiving is an opportunity to praise God.

It’s a moment to remember the heritage and sacrifice of the Pilgrims and their families.

It’s an opportunity to praise God for the way He brought together both the Pilgrims and the Native Americans in the first Thanksgiving.

A holiday where we simply stop and say “thank you” to God.

Yes, we enjoy a fancy meal and normally play at least one board game.

But we also read the Pilgrim’s story (Thanksgiving, A Time To Remember by Barbara Rainey) and sometimes I read from their published journal.

This year, I’m going to be encouraging our children to write at least one letter of gratitude to someone.

It’s an idea I read in a blog and I love it.

Because it’s never too soon to tell someone thank you for their touch upon your life.

And gratitude should never be an empty cup.

For God’s blessings are all around us each and every day.

Truly, there is no end to His goodness.

Thus, there should be no end to our gratitude.

Dear Lord Jesus,

Thank You so much for all Your blessings. Lord, I could spend a lifetime just writing down all Your wonderous works and never reach the end. Lord, during this week, please help us to look at Your goodness and find so many reasons to rejoice. Lord, let our hearts be filled with gratitude and please grant us opportunity to thank those You have used in our lives. Thank You for a holiday simply set aside to praise, thank, and honor You for all Your blessings! I love You, Jesus. Thank You for first loving me. Amen.

“Be anxious for…”

“nothing…”

No matter your treasures.

No matter your need.

No matter what is prepared for you today, these words from Philippians are worth remembering.

Philippians 4:6 NKJV — Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;

The Lord knows all and He wants us to trust Him, to find our treasure in Him.

Because a bank account or status doesn’t bring security or peace.

Neither do relationships, property, or the nation where one resides.

The only way to be anxious for nothing is to look at Jesus, the Savior.

It’s easy to get tied up in the every day or the list of “to do”, but with practice and persistence it can become a way of life.

Which is where we want to be.

Philippians 4:7 NKJV — and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Definitely a wonderful way to live, in the peace of God.

May it be your residence.

Dear Lord Jesus,
Thank You for Your Word. Thank You for Your faithfulness. Lord, You know what is best. You have all these things in Your hands. Please help us to surrender daily to Your will. Please let us not be stubborn or stiff-necked, but instead walk with love and trust. Lord, please help our hearts to be completely Yours. Lord, use our lives to reach others. Let our light shine brightly into the darkness, that people might see You. Lord, please heal the sick and hurting. Please restore the lost and the prodigal. Lord, please guide and direct our leaders and let the hearts of the nations return to You. Thank You, Jesus. You are incredible. I praise Your holy name! love is unfathomable! Amen.

Just an average Wednesday

Some days seem to be just getting things done.

Today has been one of those.

I got up early, but I didn’t stick to my normal routine.

However, the garden got watered, prayer and Bible happened, I ate breakfast.

I needed to get my shots today, so Anne and I had planned to drop off the things we’ve been setting aside for “give away”.

She kindly loaded the car.

Jase and Anne are no longer allowed in the office, so both packed school work.

They both sit in the car and use the 30 minutes to get things done.

Afterwards, Anne drove us to the donation drop off.

She’s still working on getting her hours for her license.

I wanted to go in and look for frames.

We have another project in the garage, but I’m hoping to finish it tonight.

Over the weekend I realized I’ve not started making any Christmas presents for our family and friends.

After praying about it and looking through the yarn box, I dug out some yarn.

One of my “to do” items was checked off this morning as I finished a gift for our little nephew.

Hopefully, I’ll start on more little creatures later in the week for our other nephew.

As our homeschooling day wraps up, I am thankful.

It’s an average Wednesday.

Average in nothing unusual, nothing out of the norm.

What a blessing!

God has patiently and faithfully walked us through the day.

He’s blessed us with getting our school work done.

He has blessed us with food and a comfortable house.

He’s guided and directed us as we did the tasks at hand.

Praise God!

I love how He is in the details of an ordinary day.

Like having exactly enough change for the bill at the allergist.

Like the new frame I found for $4.

Like our teens getting through their school work with smiles.

And so many more things.

1 Chronicles 29:13 KJV — Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name.

Psalm 44:8 KJV — In God we boast all the day long, and praise thy name for ever. Selah.

Praise the Lord!

Dear Lord Jesus,

Thank You for an ordinary Wednesday. Thank You for Your faithfulness to us. Thank You for Your provision. Thank You for Your sustaining us. Thank You for walking with us through every part of our day and on into the night. Lord Jesus, it is easy to miss the little blessings, or to grow callous to the days which seem full of work without end, but I thank You for helping me to see the blessings in today. I thank You for showing me that even in the midst of a busy week there’s many things to praise Your for. May our hearts continue to praise You day after day! Amen!

A Psalm of Thanksgiving

It was a lovely surprise.

I opened my Bible and read:

“A Psalm of Thanksgiving”

Sometimes the Word speaks best for itself.

With that in mind, here it is.

Happy Thanksgiving!

“Make a joyful shout to the Lord , all you lands!

Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before His presence with singing.

Know that the Lord , He is God;

It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;

We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,

And into His courts with praise.

Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.

For the Lord is good;

His mercy is everlasting,

And His truth endures to all generations.”

Psalms 100:1‭-‬5 NKJV