Thankful Thursday - Jan. 1

"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end." Jeremiah 29:11 (KJV)

2008 has been a tough year for us and I'm praying that 2009 will be a little easier, a little more peaceful. It was a year amid family trials and heartaches. It was a year of financial struggles that nearly strangled. It was a year of illnesses.

Yet I have much to be thankful for.

Thank you, Lord, for safety...when the roads were bad You were there and brought us safely through. When our son worked an internship with the state police, You were there and kept him from harm. When he wrecked his car, You brought him through safely and without financial ruin. You provided a new car.

Thank you, Lord, for providing our needs so graciously and through unexpected means so that we would KNOW it was You who provided. Thank you for giving us food to eat and beds in which to sleep. Thank you for a warm house and clothes to wear.

Thank you, Lord, for our church. Without a church family, we might not have had the strength to carry on some days. Thank you for the prayers they lifted to You and thank you for the wisdom many of them have. Thank you for their Godly counsel. Thank you for the Bible study that You are in the midst of each week. Thank you for our church's great youth group and for Pastor Newell, the youth pastor. He and Colleen have been a blessing to our family and are wonderful role models to our teenage sons. Thank you for the kids' programs that give our younger children a desire to be in God's house. Thank you for Pastor Jim and Pastor Joe who teach and lead so well. Thank you for Jack D. and the counseling ministry he leads....and for those who've already come to Christ through Your leading. Thank you for Joshua R. and his music ministry. What a blessing.

Thank you, Lord, for the privilege of homeschooling. Thank you that we are able to teach our children about You without fear of arrest and imprisonment. Thank you for the blessing of reading from Your Word each day and being able to own a Bible.

Thank you, Lord, that my husband has a job. Thank you for his willingness to get up before daybreak each day to earn an honest living. Thank you for health insurance.

Most of all, Lord, thank you for the difficult times. It's what draws us closer to You as we learn to depend on you for the very breath we breathe.