Angel Wings

“It is for your sake that all things are ordered, so that, as the abounding grace of God is shared by more and more, the greater may be the chorus of thanksgiving that ascends to the glory of God” (2 Corinthians 4:15, NEB). Maybe Paul’s testimony, which has cheered countless millions, will cheer somebody who still faces a dilemma he has begged the Lord to remove. All of Paul’s were solved, but not all of them in Paul’s way or Paul’s time, Selah.

“Blessings taken for granted are often forgotten. Yet our Heavenly Father ‘daily loadeth us with benefits’ (Psalm 68:19). Think of some of the common things which are nevertheless wonderful:

“–the intricate, delicate mechanism of the lungs steadily and silently taking in fresh air eighteen to twenty times a minute;

“–the untiring heart, pumping great quantities of clean blood through the labyrinth of blood vessels;

“–the constant body temperature, normally varying less than one degree;

“–the atmospheric temperature, varying widely it is true, but never so much as to destroy human and animal life;

“–the orderly succession of day and night, spring, summer, autumn, and winter, so that, with few exceptions, man can make his plans accordingly;

“–the great variety of foods, from the farm, the field, the forest, and the sea, to suit our differing desires and physical needs;

“–the beauties of each day–the morning star and growing light of sunrise, the white clouds of afternoon, the soft tints of a peaceful sunset, and the glory of the starry heavens;

“–the symphony of early morning bird songs, ranging from the unmusical trill of the chipping sparrow to the lilting ecstasy of the goldfinch and the calm, rich, bell-like tones of the wood and hermit thrushes;

“–the refreshment that sleep brings;

“–the simple joys of home–the children’s laughter and whimsical remarks, happy times around the table, the love and understanding of husband and wife, and the harmony of voices raised together in praise to God.

“All these and many others come from the bountiful hand of Him ‘who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s’ (Psalm 103:4,5).

“‘It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness’ (Lamentations 3:22,23).

“‘It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High’ (Psalm 92:1).”

“Thanksgiving means thanking God for all the good gifts which He has given to us.  One of the great dangers of life is that we should take things for granted just because they come to us regularly and every day.” 

William Barclay

I recently hosted a group of five teenage girls from Indiana who are interested in missions and the lives of a missionaries. How do missionaries live? What are their days like? What are some of the struggles they have. Plus, this group wanted to do some outreaches as well. I at first was not sure how life would be like with five teenage girls in my house at once. But I know the gal who was leading the group and I trusted her judgement on all things. Plus I knew that if anything or anyone got out of hand, well…it just wouldn’t happen is all. So I volunteered to have five girls stay at my house for three days. They all slept in my front room! It was fun! Like a BIG HUGE slumber party-minus the popcorn and movies. But the girls laughed themselves silly, but were also serious about their relationship with the Lord. Sure they were teenagers, but the best well behaved, Godly teenagers I have seen ever!

I thouroughly enjoyed my time with the group of girls I hosted recently. Five teenage grils! Most would cringe at the thought, BUT, the girls were EXCELLENT…well behaved, kind, considerate, no one complained (not even one of the girls when she was running a temperature and a bad sore throat). AMAZING!!! They were servants to us here and to each other, without even thinking about it or being asked to do so, everyone got up when they needed to and no one complained about the hour or lack of sleep, they were considerate, loving, the BEST group that I have hosted in my house since coming to Ukraine. For a group of teenage girls, and two of them being sisters, I was amazed! They were fun to be around, goofy, serious, Godly examples, you could see God and feel Him through them, but yet they were teenage girls, they were not putting on a show-they were simply themselves and I think we had a good time together! This shows me that whatever their parents have done to raise them, has worked. I am thankful and blessed to have shared my life and their life these past three days. I pray that we might see each other again sometime.

Anyway, just thought I’d share since it is national blogging month (as Michelle has duly notified us bloggers about).

During this month I am going to be posting little quotes and thoughts about “thankfulness” seeing as how thanskgiving is fast approaching. Keep looking, I might even quote YOU!!!