Giving Thanks in November III

• November 30 This morning I have been reflecting upon the past month of thankfulness. I read through all the thanks I've posted and remembered each day. Springing up with those memories were so many other thankful thoughts, unwritten but not forgotten. So, this morning I am grateful for this thankful exercise. I can't end the month without thanking Rebecca, who challenged us to share our blessings in this way. I guess in this way, I have come full circle, for I began this with a post of thanksgiving for her friendship. So, thank you Rebecca. I thank God for you!

• November 29 For the last two years I have subscribed to daily email readings from the Bible through Bible Reading Plans. There are many different reading plans available, but the one I have been reading is the "read the New Testament in one year" subscription. Every morning when I retrieve my email messages, a chapter of the New Testament is waiting there. This morning I read the book of Jude. Tomorrow starts the Revelation. I'll admit that unless I am doing a study on end times or eschatology, I rarely poke my nose into the Book of Revelation. This system forces me to attend to every part of the New Testament at least once a year. I realize it isn't a substitute for the deliberate study of God's Word, but it serves another purpose--to fill my mind with the Word of God first thing in the morning and to cause my heart and mind to become more aware of God's Word and its impact in my life. Beginning in the new year, I am going to subscribe to reading the Old Testament in two years (one chapter per day on weekdays and two chapters per day on weekends) and either the Words of Jesus four times in the year or the New Testament Letters three times in the year. I am thankful for this daily reminder that God's Word is my daily bread and I heartily recommend this to my readers.

• November 28 I'm thankful for mild weather all this month. The furnace hasn't had to run very much so far this heating season, so that's a blessing!

• November 27 I'm thankful that homeschooling is so flexible. We had to change our geometry curriculum back in October. We were both floundering with our Abeka DVD course. Now we're using Math U See Geometry and Sam is excelling and I am relieved that apparently we have made the right choice.

• November 26 It's Sunday again. Every Sunday I am so thankful for my church and for my pastor. I'm thankful for a pastor who isn't afraid to call sin sin and who never fails to call everyone, belivers and unbelievers, to come to Christ. The gospel is presented each week; clearly, compellingly, and winsomely. Today our pastor's son, John, sang from Handel's Messiah--The Trumpet Shall Sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible. It was absolutely beautiful. My heart lifted in praise and thanksgiving for the promise that someday we shall be changed. I'm thankful for scripture set to music.

Ephesians 5:18-2o Be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

• November 24 and 25 I'm still behind posting each day, but I have been thankful for many things over the past two days. I've been decorating for Christmas and so I've been holding in my hands so many years' worth of precious memories. All the little ornaments the children have made for me over the years (both my own and my students), all the ornaments and decorations that have been lovingly made by family and friends--memories of Christmases past. I've lived a very happy life and I am so grateful to God for the many blessings I've enjoyed!

• November 23 OH! I was so busy having fun with my family that I forgot to post my thankful thoughts on Thanksgiving yesterday! There are so many things for which I am thankful--our family, our home, our church, our pets, good health. But at the top of the list is Christ, my Redeemer and Friend. Without Him, all the blessing of this world would be just that; this world's blessings. But with Christ, I have blessings unspeakable and full of glory awaiting me because of His mercy and grace.
  

• November 22 Today was my Thanksgiving baking day. I made two pumpkin pies, a pumpkin marble cheesecake, a batch of chocolate mint fudge, cranberry salad, got my veggies ready to steam, and prepared my dressing. On days like this I am always so thankful for my full sized stove in the basement. Ours is a tiny bungalow kitchen and the wall oven, though fairly new, isn't much bigger than an Easy bake oven, so two years ago Tom bought me a full sized range with the biggest oven he could find for the basement. It makes for quite a few trips up and down the basement stairs, but I think of it this way: I'm burning some extra calories and making room for a sliver of cheesecake, right?

• November 21 This thankful thought seems a little difficult to express, but I'm going to try to do it anyway. I'm thankful that God understands. Not just that He knows, but that He understands. There is a difference. People will misunderstand, but He never will. I will misunderstand myself and only He is able to open my eyes and make me see where I have been wrong about myself. And He is the only One who can bring about lasting change. I'm thankful that I am His child.

1 John 3

19By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; 20for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. 21Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; 22and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. 23And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. 24Whoever keeps his commandments abides in him, and he in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.