photo credit Mr T in DC via Flickr
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. I've not joined in the 31 days of Thanksgiving on Facebook. But I felt like I needed to write a post about Thanksgiving at least, to give myself some perspective when I come back to look at this time in my life.
The Bible talks a lot about being thankful. And I think for the most part, Christians are a thankful people. But a lot of the Thanksgiving I see spewing out on facebook status' and tweets is for good things. Indeed, good things are certainly things to be thankful for. This past year our lives have been filled with plenty of good things to be thankful for:
- a buyer for our old home
- a new home that fit our family perfectly
- continued blessings in Drew's career
- relatively good health for everyone in our family
- a new (to us) car that was exactly what we had wanted and needed, at exactly the right price
- the blessing of a new life in our family
Jehovah Jireh (my Provider) has definitely been present in our lives this year. God has provided in ways I never even fathomed possible. To Him be the Glory.
And usually, we stop there. Because it's weird to be thankful for the bad things too. But if you've read this blog for long, you'll know that I'm ok with being weird.
I recently read that if we question God when bad things happen to us, we should question God when we are blessed as well. I am so unworthy of all of the many blessings I receive, and that quote made me really take a step back and realize that I was questioning God too frequently on why things were happening... but only when they weren't really going my way.
So today I thank God not only for the good things that have happened over the past year, but the seemingly bad things too. I trust that He makes all things beautiful. I trust that His plan is greater than my own. I trust that in my pain, He will be close. If it weren't for the bad things that have happened this year, I wouldn't be where I am today in my faith. I wouldn't have been able to extend encouragement to someone who had specific questions about God based on a situation that was similar to what we had gone through this year as a family. I wouldn't have been able to see how God miraculously healed Connor's finger. Yes, bad things aren't fun to go through. But I am grateful for where they lead me to in life.
What are you thankful for this year?
May you have a happy and blessed Thanksgiving!
