Hey Friends!
I love this time of year! Every year, by the end of summer, I am so ready for cooler weather! Florida summers are intense! And this year was especially hot...and long. But that's over now and I'm enjoying the need of a jacket in the evenings!
And Thanksgiving is coming!!! I love Thanksgiving and Christmas! I have so much to be thankful for, but it's so easy to get used to the blessings I have and feel like I am entitled to more. I don't want to have a pity party, I want to have a Thanksgiving feast! I have been trying to focus on the little things everyday that I am thankful for. Hearing a favorite song come on the radio, having fun playing Mad Libs with my siblings, a good meal, a good book, a nice customer at the restaurant I work at, the sun shining just so on a palm tree that's swaying in the breeze. "Don't be deceived, my dear brothers. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows," James 1:16,17. So what are you thankful for? It doesn't have to be big. What made you smile today? What gave you a moment's peace? What warmed your heart? Give thanks to your Father who gave you these things. He never changes. He is always good.
The other day I was reading the book of Habakkuk - which is a gloomy little book near the end of the Old Testament. I don't know the historical context of the story, but I do know that the book is made up of a few of Habakkuk's prayers and God's answers to those prayers. In the end, Habakkuk closes with this proclamation of faith in God no matter what happened: "Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign LORD is my strength...." Habakkuk 3:17-19. How powerful is that? Habakkuk didn't even have any "things" to be thankful for, but he still rejoiced in God his Savior!
I hope you have a very happy Thanksgiving and find many reasons to give thanks and praise to God this year and every year!
Rejoicing in my Savior,
Chris
