Attitude of Gratitude

This is what my husband preached on today. He was a guest preacher at a church near us, filling in for the pastor who was on vacation. David preached about being thankful in ALL circumstances as we're told to in 1 Thessalonians. This is certainly speaks very clearly to David and I. We have failed many times being thankful in our current situation. I mean, does God really expect us to be thankful when things are this hard? Does he really expect us to be thankful when your husband doesn't have a job, you have to apply for WIC so you can afford to feed your baby, you have to do without to make ends meet, barely? Yes, yes he does. He expects us to be thankful in all circumstances, no matter what. What a hard thing to do, huh? With Thanksgiving quickly coming, like in 4 days, I thought maybe it would be fun to write a list of the many blessings God has given me/us this year--this year of extreme difficulty. I was going to title this something different as it was a year ago today that we left the church David was serving and began this long season we find ourselves in. However, after hearing David's sermon this morning I decided to title this differently. And, I'd rather focus on the things we have to be thankful for. So, here's a bit of my list. I'd love to hear about the things you're thankful for from this year!

1. Health--we have been healthy. Cora hasn't been sick at all; David's only had a minor virus; I have not gotten sick; we have been healthy this year.

2. Though we experienced 2 car accidents (one in Dec that involved me and 1 a few months ago involving our parked vehicles) in less then a year from each other we have been able to replace those vehicles with ones that better-serve our family. And, we own them free and clear! Praise the Lord for that!

3. Cora is a wonderful addition to our family and we have so much fun with her! She is learning more and more every day, loves to laugh, loves to smile and is just a joy!

4. In Dec. we were given the meat from a deer that a man we knew literally asked the Lord to bring into his path so he could shoot it for us. We were provided just about a year's worth of meat from that deer. We used the last of it about a month ago. Early last week this same man called to say his granddaughter had shot 2 deer and they wanted to give us the biggest one! All we had to do was pay $50 for processing. That's right, another year's worth of meat for $50! The Lord provides.

5. I am so thankful for my parents and parents-in-law. They have encouraged us, helped us financially and provided clothes, diapers and formula for Cora. They have gone above and beyond what they need to do for us. We are so fortunate to have parents who love us so much.

6. We're thankful for my job. Through this job we've been able to live and we also have health insurance. This has obviously been a good thing!

7. We have a dog, Molly, who brings us so much joy as well. She's had to adjust to Cora and has done a great job doing so! She brings us much laughter and well, we just love her!

8. We have a roof over our head. When we left Bankers we weren't too sure where we were going to go. God was already working behind us and provided us with a home this year. We are living in the empty parsonage of a church just outside of Hillsdale. Our rent has been very low and though we said we wanted to pay the utilities with the rent, we have yet to see a utility bill.

9. We're thankful for my sister and brother-in-law. They, too, have offered much love and encouragement during this time. They have provided us with clothes to borrow for Cora and lots of parenting advice. We are so thankful for such a wonderful sister and brother-in-law.

10. We are thankful for our friends, and prayer partners. You who have stood beside us and have uplifted us with prayers. Thank you.

I hope you will take the time to write down some of the things you are thankful for this year. You'll be surprised that once you get started you just might run out of room! And, you also might realize the year wasn't as bad as you might've thought.

Praise the Lord for his numerous blessings this year!