May your Thanksgiving is blessed with joy this year! 
If you’re an American, I hope you’re able to celebrate with loved ones,
and maybe enjoy a turkey dinner too! 
If you’re not an American,
I still hope you will take a few minutes today to count your blessings. 
Right at the top of my list is God and all those with whom I share love. 
I can’t think of anything more wonderful! 
I’m also thankful for the scripture, which feeds my soul. 
Somewhere way under that, but still exciting to me are beauty and color, 
so today I want to share with you some of the lovely flowers I saw in Africa, 
paired with a few of my favorite verses on the subject of thankfulness: 
“But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving;
I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord” (Jonah 2:9). 
“It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord,
and to sing praises unto thy name, O Most High” (Psalm 92:1). 
“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God” (Philippians 4:6). 
“I will praise the name of God with a song,
and will magnify him with thanksgiving” (Psalm 69:30). 
“Sing unto the Lord, O ye saints of his,
and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness” (Psalm 30:4). 
“Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms” (Psalm 95:2). 
“In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you” (1 Thessalonians 5:18). 
“Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise:
be thankful unto him, and bless his name” (Psalm 100:4) 
“But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:57). 
“We are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth” (2 Thessalonians 2:13). 
“O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever” (Psalm 107:1).
Tag: Count Your Blessings
Being Grateful this Holiday Season
The snow is coming down so hard that Joel and I got stuck in our lane when we tried to go Christmas shopping today. I hope you are all safe and well. Aaron and Carleen are somewhere on I-80 on the vast stretches of PA trying to get home, and Daniel just finished his last exam (in oral surgery ) and is hoping to make it home by supper time. May all the travelers around the world arrive safely “home” for the holidays.
As we pause to reflect on Christmas and pray for our loved ones, may we also stop to count our blessings and express our gratefulness to the Lord for all the good things in our life. If you have a couple of minutes, I love this link to thinking about being thankful. It was passed on to me from a cousin who has cancer and may not see another Christmas.
Summer Setting 