Monday, January 13, 2014

Gratitude

I’ve recently been reading Deeper Places Experiencing God in the Psalms. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16234349-deeper-places. This book is written by Matthew Jacoby, pastor at a Baptist church in Victoria and singer with the band Sons of Korah, http://www.sonsofkorah.com/ whose music is based on the psalms. I have greatly enjoyed it and found lots of helpful insights. One that was not new but is one I think we often need to be reminded of is about the attitude of gratitude and thankfulness for all God has done and continues to do for us each day. So this is a list of some of the things I am thankful for.

I am thankful to God for the many years my husband and I have had together and look forward to more to come. It’s a great blessing to be walking with God together, starting each day with prayer and learning from God’s Word together.

One of the things would have to be the area where we live. It is a beautiful area. Each day my husband and I give thanks that God has brought us here.  But on Christmas morning as well as remembering the gift of the birth of Jesus, God sent us this sunrise.
 

It felt like a special gift from God for that day.

I am also thankful for having family all together between Christmas and New Year. Yes, it was noisy, filled with laughter and chatter with all the grandchildren and six adults in our not so large house but it was also a lot of fun. I praise God too that our son and daughter are walking with the Lord and teaching their children His ways. What a blessing that is!

I am thankful for the church God called us to, a church where God’s word is faithfully preached and where we were made to feel welcome from the moment we set foot in the door on that first day. This year will see some big changes for our church in some areas and that is a little daunting but also exciting to see what God will do.

I am thankful for the beach close by and opportunities to go and walk along the beach and swim.

I have been swimming more since we moved here than ever in my life before.

I am thankful for good and lasting friendships from years ago that survive despite distance between us and also for those who have spring up and bloomed since we moved here. I’m thankful for writerly friends who are always prepared to help each other with knowledge and advice.

I praise God for the gift of music. My music taste is pretty eclectic and runs the gamut from 60s rock to opera, ballads from the 1940sand 1950s, jazz, gospel, hymns old and modern and a whole heap more. Just about anything that has words I can sing along with.

I am thankful for the colour blue. Of all God’s colours and I love colour, blue is my favourite. I love the changing blues of the sea which is sometimes a greenish blue or turquoise, and other times a greyish blue, the blue of the sky, and the blue of flowers.

No surprise to learn my study is blue and so are other walls in our house.  It’s a colour I wear a lot, in all shades but teal is a particular favourite.  Red and purple, pink and black are other favourite colours.

I am thankful to God for my eyesight and being able to see the wonders of God’s creation as well as being able to read the Bible and so many other books. I could keep going as there are so many things to be grateful to God for. After all I wouldn’t even be able to draw the next breath if it weren’t for God. I’m thankful that He guides, protects, and enables me in tasks He has called me to do and that He is with me each day.

So at the start of this New Year what are some of the things that you are thankful for and that make you especially grateful to God? Please share them with us.

12 comments:

  1. What a wonderful reminder, to be grateful! In my own life, I see how easy it is to get caught up in the problems and stress of life, but we do have so much to be grateful. I'm thankful for my family and the chance to have all my kids home for the holidays. I'm thankful for technology and the chance to communicate when they aren't at home. I'm thankful for my health and the chance to do what I love. Happy New Year!

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    1. We all need those reminders so we don't get caught up in other things. Thanks Lisa for sharing some of the things you are thankful for.

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  2. Dale, I echo your sentiments about the full house over Christmas. I was so thankful to have my youngest son and daughter-in-law from Finland, my oldest son and his wife who've just moved up from Cape Town and their two sons aged 3,5 yrs and 6 weeks (yesterday - 3 weeks at Christmas), as well as my aging parent. We certainly had a full house but it was wonderful.

    I love where you stay - what a blessing. And I particularly love the pictures of the sunset you posted - reminds me of the new story I'm working on titled "Pink Skies".

    Thanks for sharing. We certainly do have so much to be grateful for. God is good!

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    1. Sounds like you had fun Marion too. It was sunrise at Christmas. but I love sunsets too.. yes a huge blessing to live where we do.

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  3. Sorry, that should have read parents. An amazing thing to be thankful for - to still have both my mom and dad. I treasure each Christmas that God still grants us with them.

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    1. Enjoy your parents while you have them Marion.

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  4. Thank you Dale! And I'm thankful for a New Year and all the promise it brings with it. God is good . . . all the time. Even when times are tough.

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    1. Often especially when times are tough, Shirley, we need to lean on God more and trust in His goodness.

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  5. Hi Dale,
    What wonderful photos of the beach near your home. Thanks for the reminder to be thankful. I might add 'Deeper Places' to my 'to read' list.
    And I'm thankful for the fun of living with a household of young people, aged 9 to 23. Keeps life interesting.

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  6. It is worth reading Paula. Our experience yesterday at the beach was not so good but you'll read a little about that in another blog. I'm sure it is interesting in your house Paula.

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  7. Dale, lovely post :) I'm thankful for my family and the many blessings God has given us in all areas of our lives. It's refreshing to focus on being thankful when we live in a world that pushes entitlement and our right to be blessed and get what we want. Thanks for sharing :)

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  8. Yes, Narelle, it changes our whole outlook when we thank God for what we have rather than worrying about what the media tells us we need and what we don't have.

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