Thursday, November 28, 2013

Giving Thanks with a Grateful Heart

The past few mornings Arthur and I have busted out the good ole Thanksgiving hymns during our devotional time in the morning.  The following hymn is one that has been running through my head this past week:

When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done,

Count your blessings, name them one by one;
Count your blessings, see what God hath done;
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

During this past year a lot has happened in each of our lives.  This year had its challenges and difficult times but also times of great joy.  In this post we are counting our blessings over the past year to remember what the Lord has done in our lives.  Hopefully it will serve as a good reminder later whenever we are "discouraged, thinking all is lost" that God can be trusted and deserves our gratitude regardless of the situation. So here are this year's blessings:


  1. Marrying and getting to live and share life with my best friend
  2. Hanging out with our friends a few weekends (we should get married more often for this reason)
  3. Being reminded of all the family and friends we have been blessed with at our wedding and other associated events
  4. People who have opened their homes for Alex to live in for several weeks at a time during her "nomad" life 
  5. Sermon podcasts
  6. Passing the PT board exam
  7. Graduating from college and graduate school
  8. No more studying
  9. Jobs we love
  10. Pay checks
  11. God's grace and forgiveness
  12. Second-hand appliances that work
  13. A vehicle with A/C for Arthur's commute
  14. Selling a vehicle in less than 1 day on Craig's List (Arthur- the expert used car salesman)
  15. Finding a new church home and getting involved.
  16. The completion of construction on the main road to work.
  17. Audio books.
  18. Pandora internet radio.
  19. Musicals.
  20. The authors, composers, artists, philanthropists, politicians, and architects who have created or given us access to many of the ideas and the beauties that mean so much to us.
  21. Athletic competitions.
  22. The beautiful walkways around our house.
  23. Our new home and community
  24. Wonderful supporting families.
  25. An excellent public library system.
  26. Our country.  Flawed as it is, we still have it pretty good.
  27. Finding dress clothes that don't feel like a straightjacket.
  28. The mother-in-law who found said dress clothes.
  29. Good health.
  30. The senator representing us nationally.  Though I often disagree with him, he is a good man.
  31. Two day weekends.  We didn't always have those.
  32. God's daily provision.

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