Thankful…
1 Chronicles 16:34 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.
Psalm 9:1 I will praise you, LORD, with all my heart; I will tell of all the marvelous things you have done.
Psalm 30:11-12 You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy
Psalm 69:30 I will praise God’s name with singing, and I will honor him with thanksgiving.
Psalm 100:1-5 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing!
Psalm 118:1, 24, 28 Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever! Let Israel say, “His steadfast love endures forever,” (24) This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. (28) You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God; I will extol you. Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever.
Habbakuk 3:17-18 Though the fig tree does not bud…yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior
John 15:16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit
Ephesians 1:4-5 …even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,
Philippians 4:4 Rejoice in the LORD always; again I will say, rejoice.
Colossians 3:15, 17 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts…And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
We are His chosen people and should be thankful for just that–never mind the other wonderful blessings!
I am so blessed in my life. I had wonderful parents and grandparents. My parents had learned when my father was 25, newly out of the military, and had a two year old and an infant that he had severe asthma, and would have to live on steroids for the rest of his life in order to be able to work and live a somewhat normal live, although shortened. Steroids are a wonderful medication for acute conditions or inflammation problems, cellulitis or other infectious process such as poison ivy, breathing issues, asthma, arthritis and several other acute illnesses. But, as steroids were fairly new in the 1950’s, it was known that long term usage would shorten a person’s life. My parents made the decision to have him take the lowest dosage of prednisone that could manage his asthmatic condition.
Because of his breathing issues being worse when he first got up in the mornings, he worked 3-11 PM, so we saw him mostly on weekends or when we were off from school, we would see him in the mornings when he would raise. But the steroids allowed him to be able to work and support his family.
My mother was a nurse and worked from 6 AM-about 4 PM as she was the nurse for the hospital employees and the students. She wanted to be available for all employees, so she was there for the early needs of day shift workers, including late shift for days, early for 3-11 shift, and to still be available for any needs of employees who worked 11-7 AM. So we were blessed to have our maternal grandmother living with us. She would get us up in the mornings, see us off to school, and was in charge of cooking dinner for my father before he would leave for work. Usually he would go to the hospital to see my mother for a short time before he would head to his workplace. Gram was also there when we returned from school–offering snacks, asking about homework; even though when my mother got home, she would ask about homework also.
My father would call every evening at about 5 PM, and again about 9 PM. It was very obvious to us kids what a good marriage looked like. They were always in one another’s corner. I don’t ever remember hearing a harsh word, certainly never an argument. On weekends, he would frequently go into the kitchen when she was cooking supper, and pat her butt and kiss her cheek or neck, and just show affection. Not knowing any different, it was a surprise when one of my friends would see the affection and make a comment like, “/wow, your parents act like they are on a honeymoon. Do they always do that?”
We learned the value and importance of hard work–budgeting, paying bills, and dealing with illness. We also saw how to handle illness stoically; he was not a complainer. and if we were home ill from school, he would always make us an egg nog, an ice cream frappe or some other treat. He, too, was a great caretaker. We always knew that he was going to have a shortened life span. For me, I was always conscious to not show or speak of temper when being a bratty child-teen. I was not so caring about being fresh-mouthed with my mother or grandmother. But at times, we had some anxious moments when Dad was not up and about at his normal rising time. . . .
We were blessed to have those ancestors to show us how to live as loving, hard working, responsible adults. We grew up with a set of loving parents and knew the grandparents were also a loving team.
My first marriage was nothing like my parents’ marriage. And then, God gave me the opportunity to be married to a good man, who had two children in their teens when we met; and after a short time–only a week–we decided to marry, and blend his two children and my biological son. The three kids were spread out over a two year period, and they were teens. That was a potential for problems. I prayed daily–at that time asking for signs/fleeces since I clutched the story about Gideon before I was in a church that showed me MORE. EVERY day, God gave me a sign. There was a raccoon that trotted through our neighborhood everyday–no signs of danger, just trotting through, and animals always touch a tender chord in my heart. I also had a praying mantis around my front door everyday; and this was during the late Fall and early winter, not the time a praying mantis was still living in the span of its life. It was not always located in the same position by the door, but could easily be found. Each time, I could smile and thank God–it seemed He reassured me everyday. Afterall, we had decided to marry after only one week.
The marriage meant that my son–who had always been raised in the same town, and now we would be moving to Germany–big changes for each of these teens, ages 12, 13, and 14. I needed the reassurance regularly. I DID NOT want to make a mistake which could hurt any of us; I needed the reassurance of God giving me a sign. And He freely gave me signs daily.
It was wonderful living in Germany, I traveled to other countries and got to appreciate the different cultures which were located so close together. It was amazing. I had opportunity and blessing to learn and see many different countries. And was amazed, as I thought wherever I was, it was a wonderful beautiful area; but I have learned sky, oceans, seas, lakes, mountains were beautiful in many other countries; it is not just beautiful in our own country. God created an awesome Earth! It was kind of a surprise to see the beauty of countries I had known in news stories as being in war–Vietnam, Croatia, Romania and thought those countries must not be lovely. My error. God has created beauty everywhere. Even though I have not been to every country, pictures have shown me, that most countries have beauty to share. God is a wonderful and artistic Creator.
“Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God.” C.S. Lewis
I am writing this the second weekend in May and had the pleasure of taking pictures from the back of my house overlooking the Sound as the sun went down.
Thank You for choosing me and giving me such loving persons in my life–ancestors, friends and so forth. I am so very thankful that you chose me before the world was created. Praises always for what you have done for me and ‘mybellaviews.’
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