Always be full of joy in the Lord.
I say it again – rejoice!
Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon. Don’t worry about anything; instead,
pray about everything. Tell God
what you need, and thank Him for all
He has done. Then you will
experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and
minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
– Philippians 4:4-7
Often it is so easy to dwell on
all the negative happenings in our lives.
Whether large or small. The
things that frustrate us, or make us sad, or cause us pain. I don’t know if that’s something that
culture has ingrained in our minds or if it just goes along with our sinful
nature. Reflecting on the verse
above we are called to not worry about our lives, about the hard stuff, but
rather to be in constant prayer giving it over to God. And, even though we’d rather dwell on
the negative at times we are called to thank God for all he has done. Even the times we may not have chosen
for ourselves. So this is my
thankfulness blog, which, when you think about it works well considering we are
only a few weeks away from Thanksgiving. So enjoy, and think of all the things
you are thankful for.
-I
am thankful for grace.
-I
am thankful for the people and the community God’s given me during the Race
-I
am thankful for clean water.
-I
am thankful for food to eat every day.
-I
am thankful for a supportive family, church, and friends.
-I
am thankful for Kevin, Edgar, Walter, Miriam, Eddy, Claudia, Sammia, Alla, and
the rest of our Guatemalan friends.
-I
am thankful to have the opportunity to serve.
-I
am thankful for my team being so great walking through my recovery.
-I
am thankful for God’s timing in my surgery so that I was able to be in a good
hospital with English speaking doctors.
-I
am thankful for the struggles that will result in growth.
-I
am thankful for my Dad and Uncle Jeff being willing to drop everything to fly
to Guatemala to make sure I’m ok.
-I
am thankful for the supplies they brought with them.
-I
am thankful for both success and frustration in ministry and the opportunities
to learn in both situations.
-I
am thankful for the hearts of the people we get to meet.
-I
am thankful for cold Coke.
-I
am thankful for the squad and all of their support.
-I
am thankful for every prayer that has been lifted for myself, my team, and the
squad.
-I
am thankful to have made it to Jinotepe, Guatemala.
-I
am thankful for tears.
-I
am thankful for smiles.
-I
am thankful for God’s provision on travel days.
-I
am thankful for translators when they can be found.
-I
am thankful for skype so I can see and hear my family and friends back home.
-I
am thankful for all the people who have chosen to support me.
-I
am thankful for cool weather every now and then to break up the intensity of
the heat.
I could make this a really long post and keep going but
instead I think I will just do this again sometime. It’s a habit worth keeping as far as I’m concerned.
