16 Rejoice always, 17pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18 (ESV)
Welcome to our first “Thankful Thursday”!
In these difficult times, I am reminded even more of how important it is to learn to give thanks and rejoice no matter what our circumstances. I haven’t always been good at this…giving thanks when trials tower over me. It was nine years ago that the Lord used a very, very painful and towering trial to teach me that He is always with me…and He help me to see how He is at work even in the most painful times. Someday I will share this story…my testimony of learning to rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and give thanks in all circumstances. I fought the lesson tooth and nail at first, but the blessing of learning it has helped me to find Him and His peace and joy when I never thought I could…
So today I would like to start this Thankful Thursday Series by listing some of the reasons I am thankful this year…
1. I am thankful for the transforming love and saving Grace of Jesus Christ.
2. I am thankful for the transformations that God has done in my life and continues to do every day.
3. I am thankful for learning to slow down and enjoy every moment I was blessed to minister to Will’s needs as he struggled with multiple seizures this past year.
4. I am thankful for the gift of being able to home school our boys this year.
5. I am thankful for the hard moments that try my patience when our children are cranky so that I may learn patience.
6. I am thankful for the months that our food budget was extremely tight for that is when Will and I were able to pull together as a couple and become more creative and learn to cut waste that we didn’t even realize we could cut.
7. I am thankful that during the hard times, our marriage grew stronger and deeper as we clung to the Lord and each other.
8. I am thankful for all of the lessons I learn each day as learn to minister through my brokenness and not hide and turn inward.
9. I am thankful for the amazing gift of family and how much learning to be a blended family over our first two years as a family has grown me.
10. I am thankful for sugar-free hot cocoa with miniature marshmallows gently floating on the top as the steam rises and I sip this comforting, winter pleasure.
Now its your turn!!!
I invite you to link up your posts about Being thankful. They can be stories of thankfulness, lists of things you are thankful for, pictures expressing your thankfulness, ideas for family devotions, craft projects to help your family give thanks (calendars with things to be thankful for, etc.), anything on the subject of giving thanks to God!!!
I ask that you link back to this post so that your readers can come visit and be blessed by all of the other posts giving thanks!
If you are not a blogger…or don’t have a recent post on this topic, please feel free to leave your reasons that you are thankful in the comments below! Let’s shower the heavens with thanks this week!
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Dancing at the foot of the Cross,
Mrs Mary Joy Pershing
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