Thank you, Lord

I want to begin this blog post by wishing all of you a blessed Thanksgiving. 

I hope the day is filled with all your favorite things! 

We have so much to be thankful for in our lives because of the Lord’s great love for us.

Before the “busy” 

For most of us, this blog post will arrive amidst the “busy.” It’s good to pause for the sake of our sanity and the sake of our souls to focus on the reason we should be most grateful

The holidays can change from one year, or one season of life, to the next. The one, unchanging joy in our lives is the Lord. Jesus is the same “yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). The “Janet Denison version” of the verse is: “Jesus is the only thing that stays the same from yesterday, to today, and forever.” 

Change will always be a part of our earthly lives. I can only imagine what heaven will be like, but I do know that every change, or every constant, will be perfect and eternal.  

Thank you, Lord, for your consistent, faithful love that provides our foundation of peace amidst the daily changes of this life. “The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.”  

We thank you, Lord, for the truth of Deuteronomy 32:4. 

For the busy

Sometimes your table is surrounded by the peace and comfort of family gathered there. Sometimes your table is surrounded by the noise, chaos, and potential controversy that our family or others have created for the day.  

Sometimes Thanksgiving is a “movie moment,” but most of the time it is just real life. A glass gets spilled, a child gets unruly, something gets forgotten and burns in the oven. Your team might lose, your turkey might need extra gravy on the side, and your pumpkin pie might have a burnt crust with a runny middle. A grandchild might hate your green beans and want some ketchup for their turkey. I could go on . . . but you get the picture. 

If your “Norman Rockwell” Thanksgiving gets sidelined in some way, remember these words from Jeremiah 15:16. The prophet said, “Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O Lᴏʀᴅ, God of hosts.” 

Whatever happens around your table, and whatever else you eat, you can be ready to speak a word from God if you have found his word and eaten that first! The joy and delight of the day don’t depend on a perfect meal, a winning score, or a crowd of people who always agree. The joy and delight of your heart will be that you surrendered the day to the Lord, with the goal of pleasing him.  

Thank you, Lord, for calling us by your name. We ask you to be the “Host” of our Thanksgiving tables. 

For the moments after the busy

After the leftovers are stored away, the dishes are put away, and your feet are comfortably “put up” in slippers, take time to hear God say, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:23). 

Thanksgiving is a success if we have served God by serving others. Thanksgiving is a success if we have shared the love of God with others. Thanksgiving is a success if we have honored God and others. 

For the quiet after the busy, “Give thanks to the Lᴏʀᴅ, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever” (Psalm 136:1). Every holiday on earth changes with the times. Every Thanksgiving is different in some ways than the years before. But every thanksgiving should include and honor the unchanging perfection of the Lord.  

We thank you, Lord, because your “steadfast love endures forever.” We are forever grateful and forever blessed.

Happy Thanksgiving.
May your celebration be filled with the joy of the Lord.
May we “give thanks” to, and for, the Rock of our salvation.

A month for grateful prayers

Thank you all for ordering this year’s Advent book. I wrote it almost a year ago and it is so fun to see it in print! We need to sell Advent books early to get them all shipped. Even though it seems our entire culture is rushing into the Christmas season, let’s not miss the JOY of November.

November has always been one of my favorite months. This month is usually a bit slower-paced because everyone is planning for December. I will celebrate a significant birthday this month, and it seems AARP, Medicare, and several more are hunting me down! But every birthday is a reminder that I have so much to be grateful for and so much to look forward to. I view my lifetime as a road trip of birthdays that will thankfully and joyfully end at the gates of heaven.  

November is also the month we celebrate my favorite holiday. I love everything about Thanksgiving. It is about all my favorite things: family, food, football, and faithful praise. I don’t want us to miss Thanksgiving just because Christmas is already front and center in the stores and in the multitude of ads and emails we all receive.  

How can we be careful to enjoy and celebrate November before December arrives?  

A month to offer God praise 

Start by listing ten things that happened in 2023 that you were grateful for, and do it in the next two minutes. Go! 

(No, really . . . list them now!) Everything else can wait. 

How did it go? Was it easy, a bit tough, or maybe you wish I’d asked for seven or eight? 

It’s often easier to be grateful in the moment, but if we allow those memories to fade we can lose our sense of the abundant blessings in our lives. 

My list 

I was able to quickly list the first two on my list, but the others came after a few moments of reflection. I praise God that: 

  1. My grandson’s treatments for leukemia were a great success and he is doing well.
  2. Our move to Tyler was exhausting, but we are settled into a home that we love, and we are excited for our first holiday season in our new home.
  3. Our ministry continues to receive amazing notes and words of encouragement that keep us motivated and excited to keep walking with God and following his lead.
  4. We enjoyed the blessing of seeing our Tyler-area grandkids play sports, swim in the pool, and just live their happy lives.
  5. Jim and I both experienced COVID this year, and it was NOT a big deal.
  6. Jim and I are older, with a few more aches and pains, but we are healthy and happy.
  7. My mom made the move with us and is now settled into a wonderful place that serves her with God’s love and God’s priorities.
  8. Life is expensive but usually well worth the price!
  9. We have moved to a new city, made new friends, and yet still love our other friends too.
  10. We continue to hear from friends in Israel who are doing fine in terrible circumstances.

Those were the big things that came to mind, but there are SO MANY seemingly small moments of life that God worked to create the circumstances listed above. I am thinking of the phrase “God is good all the time. All the time, God is good.” That has been true even when our circumstances weren’t that good! 

When I struggle to praise God 

We all have so much for which we can offer God praise. We also have a list of things we wish God would change or fix. 

Somewhere in everyone’s life a loved one isn’t walking with God. Somewhere in everyone’s life a loved one isn’t doing well, isn’t happy, isn’t safe, or isn’t content. God is good all the time, but we aren’t. We aren’t good all the time because we aren’t always good, always perfect, always godly. Only God can be good all the time. 

Some years our list of blessings is easier to write. Other years need more than two minutes. 

Every November can be a month of praise 

I was writing the entries for Wisdom Matters for the month of November. I had completed about one-third of the entries when I highlighted each one and hit “delete.” (THAT, by the way, is a PAINFUL thing for any writer to do!) I was getting November all wrong. I just wish God had brought that up a bit sooner. Or, maybe I just wasn’t listening to his leadership in the beginning. 

I had been struggling to write before I hit delete. After I hit the delete key, the ideas flowed. I hope you will get the app and listen, even if just to November. God led me to rewrite so that I could talk about the blessings of offering our praise to God. 

Why is praising God essential for our souls? 

I can answer that question in just two verses. Psalm 95:1–2 says, “Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!” 

Why can God’s children praise him this month? Why can we praise him regardless of our circumstances? Why should we praise him every day

  • God the Father, Son, and Spirit invites us to “come.”
  • God tells us to sing to him because he is always, always listening.
  • God tells us to bring our “noise” to him with joy.
  • God reminds us that he is a rock upon which we can stand and be saved.
  • God tells us that our praise of thanksgiving ushers us into his presence.
  • God welcomes our noisy prayers and songs of praise.
  • God wants to be near you, hear you, encourage you, and enjoy you each day.

November is a month for praise 

Let’s commit these next weeks to the praise of God. Let’s “taste and see that the Lᴏʀᴅ is good” (Psalm 34:8). Let’s enter God’s presence each day with words of praise and words of thanksgiving.  

God doesn’t need our praise. God wants us to praise him for our sakes, not his. When we praise God, we enter his presence, approach his throne, and stand on the rock of our salvation. It is from that rock that our healing and hope will come. 

It’s only two weeks until Thanksgiving. When the table is set and the meal is prepared, may all of us know and say, “Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable” (Psalm 145:3). 

November is a perfect month to praise the greatness of God. May our praises be a fragrant offering lifted to our God. May our praises fill us with his joy.

Happy Thanksgiving

This is the week we celebrate Thanksgiving, but, for Christians, thanksgiving is to be our lifestyle.

Someday in heaven I will look up a Christian woman by the name of Hannah Whitall Smith. Every now and then I read about women in ministry and realize women like me owe them a great deal of gratitude. 

Who was Hannah Whitall Smith?

Hannah was born in 1832 and raised in Pennsylvania as a Quaker. Later in life, she married a Quaker man, but they both left that faith after what they described as a conversion experience. They became involved in the revival movement of the Methodist church, traveling in America and Europe. Both Hannah and her husband spoke evangelistic messages about living higher, holy lives for the sake of Christ.  

Hannah Smith’s most famous book, The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life, was first published in 1875. Since that time there have been more than ten million copies sold. The title is a misnomer in our culture today. This book is not “seven easy steps” or a “how-to” list of activities to accomplish the goal of happiness. Hannah had a difficult life, and the book is about the discipline of living as a Christian through all times of life. That spiritual discipline is the only lasting road to happiness for a child of God.

Hannah’s message for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is so much more than just the holiday we celebrate, and I thought Hannah Whitall Smith said that well. She wrote, “This way of seeing our Father in everything makes life one long thanksgiving and gives a rest of heart, and, more than that, a gayety of spirit, that is unspeakable.” 

The most important part of celebrating Thanksgiving this week is learning to see God in all aspects of the day.

  • What opportunities will we have to share our faith?
  • There is joy in caring for others, feeding others, and helping them to feel loved.
  • Jesus can be a tangible presence in our lives, our homes, and our words.
  • Thanksgiving is a chance to rest from the regular and remember we are blessed.

 

The news and the Good News

There will be all the normal news reports of harried travel, high prices, and social dynamics. Recipes can be googled or family cookbooks can be dusted off and reread. It is a fun holiday to enjoy and probably a full day of “comfort foods,” family, and football. We have a lot to look forward to and be thankful for. 

This is a season for good news, glad tidings, and joy. But, as Smith said, it should be about more than that. When we give thanks, we find rest for our hearts and a “gayety of spirit” that is “unspeakable.” 

Avoid the heaviness in the news if you can and enjoy the faces of people you love, the faces of people you can choose to love, and be sure to include the face of the Lord who is love

We need and deserve a time of Thanksgiving

I hope all of us will have a holiday filled with the Presence of Christ. I hope all of us have the opportunity to recognize the fact that God is present in everything, if we just take the time to look for him. And I hope when the turkey is deboned, the pie is eaten, and the games are all won or lost, we will go to sleep filled with gratitude for God’s blessings. 

The psalmist wrote, “Oh give thanks to the Lᴏʀᴅ, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!” (Psalm 107:1). 

It’s that time of year, once again, to seek joy in Jesus. The first step to joy is gratitude. God is good, and his love for us will endure for all eternity. This is a good time to “taste and see” that the Lord is good. What a privilege to help someone else do the same. 

I wish you and yours a blessed day of Thanksgiving.

God is love and God is good. May he be a tangible Presence in your celebration.

We need and deserve a day to realize just how blessed we are by our great and holy God.

Help us remember, Lord, that thanksgiving is for every day.

We thank you, Father, for making us part of your family.

 

Happy Thanksgiving! 

Why should we consider Christmas before Halloween?

The kids are planning their costumes for Halloween. The news is already discussing the shortage of turkeys and the cost of this year’s Thanksgiving meal. The airlines are scheduling holiday travel and the big box stores are already lining their aisles with Christmas trees. We have reached that time of year when one holiday merges right into the next. 

It is the “most wonderful time of the year” in many ways. 

That said, there are many people who have arrived in this country who will want to celebrate Christmas but might not have a home or the means to do that this year. The entire population of Ukraine is likely to have the most difficult Christmas season of their lives. 

Every Christmas season has its own unique stories, but every Christmas season is truly about the original Christmas story. That is why we should consider Christmas now, before Halloween.

These holidays are something most people have in common

Embedded in this long holiday season will be a political election that promises controversy. Some of the issues making our news may also gather around our Thanksgiving tables and Christmas celebrations.  

It will be easy to know the things we disagree about, but what do we have in common? 

I was outside of a Trader Joe’s supermarket this week and saw a sign that stated their company values. It said things like integrity, kindness, courtesy, quality, friendly, helpful, and top quality. It struck me when I looked at the sign how much most people have in common. Who doesn’t appreciate high standards and great character? 

We all have a lot of differences these days, and it was good to realize that we also have a whole lot in common. 

The holiday season is a great time to remember that most of us share similar goals in life, even if we believe there are different paths to reaching those goals. It might help if we would focus more on what we have in common than what we consider to be our differences. 

“Happy” Halloween?

I like the pumpkins but not the skeletons. I enjoy the kids in cute costumes but not the adults who scare the kids with what they chose to wear. I probably wouldn’t mind Halloween if it were celebrated as it was intended, the eve of All Saints’ Day. The saints are worth celebrating, not Satan. 

A verse for Halloween: “O you who love the Lᴏʀᴅ, hate evil! He preserves the lives of his saints; he delivers them from the hand of the wicked” (Psalm 97:10). A happy Halloween is remembering we live to honor the saints and celebrating the fact Christians are delivered from all things evil or wicked. 

A day for thanksgiving

I have always loved Thanksgiving. I love the food, the football, and the idea that we should take a day to be truly thankful for the lives we are blessed to live. I am thankful for my family, my friends, and mostly for the faith we share. God deserves our praise and our expressions of gratitude. It is good for our souls to be thankful. 

My favorite verse for Thanksgiving is: “Oh give thanks to the Lᴏʀᴅ, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!” (1 Chronicles 16:34). 

God is good and deserves our deepest gratitude. 

A Christmas about Christ

Every year I am determined to celebrate Christmas with greater simplicity. I sometimes wish for the holidays I see pictured in movies. Busy schedules, various cities, and diverse families often don’t blend during the holidays. In many ways, Christmas seems more about scheduling than celebrating. 

But one thing holds firm. Christmas is the story of Christ. 

Christmas is about “Joy to the World” that arrived on one “O Holy Night.” 

Christmas is about the “Angels from the Realms of Glory” who announced that “Love Came Down at Christmas.” 

Christmas is about how “Good Christian Men, Rejoice” and the time “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.” 

Mostly, Christmas is about “The First Noel” and the “Sweet Little Jesus Boy” that “The Little Drummer Boy” worshiped.  

Every Christmas is celebrated with important traditions that just need a few adjustments each year. Even in changing seasons, the theme of Christmas will always be the same: “O Come All Ye Faithful” to praise, sing, and pray, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.” 

Why should we consider Christmas before Halloween?

This year’s Advent Book is a second printing of The Songs Tell the Story, first published for Christmas 2019. I wrote it as a reminder that the great hymns of Christmas tell us the true and timeless story of our Christmas season.  

We sold out early in 2019, and many people expressed a desire to purchase more copies than we had to share. This year, we are taking preorders so that, hopefully, everyone who wants a copy can receive one. As always, many of our donors will be sent a copy as our gift, but if you would like additional copies, you can preorder those now. 

Why should we consider Christmas before Halloween? 

Because, while all the holidays are special, Christmas and Easter are truly “holy-days” for Christians. 

Our ministry wants to help you keep your Christmas holiday focused on the pure story of our Savior’s birth. The Songs Tell the Story is something you and your family can share this Christmas season, and we hope it will bless your holiday. 

The Apostle John said that Jesus, “the true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world” (John 1:9). Jesus is the “light of the world,” and sharing the celebration of his birth is something most people have in common. I hope this year’s Advent book, The Songs Tell the Story, will help you spend time with Christ each day of your holiday season. 

Let the holiday season begin! And may the holiday be a holy-day. 

Preorder The Songs Tell the Story here. 

 

Thanksgiving Prayers

One of the most important things to prepare for Thanksgiving is our hearts. I wanted to share a few prayers with you for your holiday. Thursday will be about food, family, and football. Let’s make today about our faith. As we prepare for the celebration, we can prepare our hearts for the day as well.

Pray to make a difference

John F. Kennedy said, “We must find the time to stop and thank the people who make a difference in our lives.” Chances are, several of those people will be at your Thanksgiving table or central to the holiday weeks ahead. Pray for the opportunity to tell them how they made a difference in your life.

We can also pray to be a person who makes a difference in the lives of those around us.

Lord Jesus, 

As we gather around our tables, may you give us your eyes to see everyone as you do.

Show us who belongs to you, and who needs to.

Show us who has joy and who is still searching.

Reveal those who need to know they are greatly loved by their heavenly Father.

Then, Lord, fill our words and our ways with the power of your Holy Spirit so that

people can’t help but notice you have a place at the table too.

Come to our table, Lord.

With grateful hearts, we pray. Amen.

Pray for the conversations to be uplifting

Most families have variety. Some of our votes cancel some votes of others. Some opinions are shared as fact. Some facts are shared as opinions. Some are hopeful about the future and others are not. Thanksgiving can be a day of diversity or a day to celebrate all we have in common. The Thanksgiving table is a place to find some common ground. 

Nora Ephron was a famous author of many popular feel-good movie scripts. She said, “The turkey. The sweet potatoes. The stuffing. The pumpkin pie. Is there anything else we all can agree so vehemently about? I don’t think so.”

We can pray that when everyone heads home they are thinking, “That’s the happiest Thanksgiving I have ever celebrated.”

Lord Jesus,

You are King of kings and Lord of lords.

It is You we want to impress with our words.

Help us to remember the variety of people around your table, in the Upper Room.

We know you loved and then died for all of them.

May the conversations we have be pleasing to you.

May our voices bring your wise counsel to the room.

May all of us enjoy and embrace those who are different because you did.

 You knelt in the garden and prayed we would be unified.

Lord, may we be an answer to your prayer as we gather together.

May we enjoy our table and eat in remembrance of yours.

With hopeful hearts we pray.

Amen.

Pray for the day to be about gratitude

Something might be overcooked and something else undercooked. Someone may get sick and someone may talk too much about their aches and pains. Our team may win and our team might lose. And one child may shove another or say something that produces anger or tears in their cousin. 

Every moment is a chance to respond with gratitude. Last year we were all worried Thanksgiving would cause the virus to spread. It did. Last year the stands at the games were empty and the parades were canceled. Last year the cousins probably didn’t fight because they were probably not able to play together.

This year, every moment is a chance to be grateful.

Bruce Wilkinson wrote, “A moment of gratitude makes a difference in your attitude.” 

Let’s pray we will embrace any and all of the moments of this holiday with cheer-filled joy. It’s Thanksgiving, and this year we have a lot of reasons to be thankful.

Dear Lord,

Your word says, “Give thanks in all circumstances; 

for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

We do thank you, Lord.

For health and for happiness.

For blessings of family and friends.

For the perspective from your word that says

we can be grateful . . . in every circumstance.

That’s what you want for our Thanksgiving celebration.

In gratitude, for you, we pray. Amen.

May your holiday be filled with overwhelming gratitude for his great goodness.

I wish you a blessed Thanksgiving!

Empty shelves, rich lives

I took my mom to do a little shopping and, I have to admit, the news reports were right about the shortages on the shelves. The stores are decorated for Christmas, but where are the stacks of merchandise that usually fill the shelves? “’Tis the season” but there “is no reason” to do much shopping!

Apparently, our Christmas gifts are floating off the coast of California. This is either an excellent marketing strategy for retailers, or we are going to have some amazing after-Christmas sales in February and March.  

The good news for this holiday season is the good news of God’s priorities. The most important holiday celebration this year might be Thanksgiving.  

The empty shelves at the mall might lead us to live richer lives, filled with better priorities. 

A turkey shortage?

CBS News reported that there will be ten things that will be tough to find and small turkeys topped the list. It sounds like we need to clean out our freezers to accommodate a giant frozen turkey in the next week or do without. I vote for a pork tenderloin and no stress or mess! 

Apparently, there is a gaming system that will be almost impossible to find. I think all of us can think of about forty reasons why we shouldn’t be too sad about that one! 

A lot of toys are floating on those ships. Maybe we will all use our imaginations to create gifts that require imagination instead of batteries. 

Sportswear is in short supply. But, how much sportswear do you have stacked on your shelves or hanging in the closet? I don’t want to admit this, but if I didn’t buy another piece of sportswear until 2025, I’d be just fine. 

There is an alcohol shortage. How is that a bad thing? 

As I scrolled through the rest of the article, I realized that this “CBS Essentials” article was really just an ad for all the things they were suggesting people buy that are in stock. If you click on the article and then choose to buy something, CBS makes a little money too. 

I miss the days when CBS made money for reporting accurate news or producing entertaining shows.  

A gift that “keeps on giving”?

I couldn’t help but wonder if there was a Bible shortage as well. No one has said anything yet, but a lot of our Bibles are printed in China too. How many cases of God’s word are floating on those ships? 

What if this is the year we give Bibles to the people we care about? What if we personalize them by highlighting our favorite verses before we wrap them up? It will take a while to do, but that time is part of the gift. Giving a gift that shares God’s word is an idea that the apostle Paul would recommend. 

Paul wrote about the value of God’s word to the church in Colossae. He encouraged them to “let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God” (Colossians 3:16). 

Last year was a difficult year, and we have so many reasons to be thankful this holiday season. Our gratitude will be for what we have, not for what we can or cannot buy. If every one of those cargo ships carrying toys, sportswear, and other things we don’t need sank, we would be just fine. (Unless the ship is carrying coffee . . . that would be a problem!) 

What is the Lord asking us to be thankful for in 2021? 

Our offering of praise

We don’t know who wrote the book of Hebrews, but he was a wise and godly man. The words of that book are profound, written to Christians who understood the value of a life lived with God’s priorities. 

The writer of Hebrews closed his letter with some great advice for all Christians. He said, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). He encouraged them to be strong in their faith and live godly lives that honored Jesus. The author said, “Through him [Jesus] then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name” (Hebrews 13:15). 

Christians have the most amazing gifts to give this year.  

  • We can give the benefits of God’s word and wisdom with thankful hearts. The best thing about the current angst in our culture is that Christian calm and peace are really being noticed!
  • We can encourage a discouraged world by offering our praise for all we have instead of complaining about what we don’t have or can’t get.
  • The “fruit of our lips” will be the things we say that acknowledge the place Christ has in our lives.

Empty shelves or full hearts

What are you purely grateful for today? 

God is redeeming 2020 even as we close out 2021. We have a lot to be thankful for in our lives. What will be your “offering of praise” this holiday season? 

God is at work in our lives, changing our priorities to line up with his. Christians shouldn’t be focused on the empty shelves. Instead, let’s focus on our rich blessings. We are called to “continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God” because “the fruit of our lips” will be the things we say that “acknowledge his name.” 

Allow the empty shelves to inspire

The empty shelves are a strong reminder of everything we don’t really need. God doesn’t want our lives to be filled with stuff. He wants us to fill our lives with praise for all that matters most. That is our offering to him and to our culture. 

Praise God for the ability to be thankful, not the fact you scored a small turkey at the grocery store.

 Praise God for the ability to be with family, not shop for them. 

Praise God for filling your life with his rich mercies and those empty shelves won’t bother you very much at all. 

Let’s empty our witness of the cultural angst and allow our voices to be an offering of praise. God is redeeming 2020 with the unusual blessings of 2021. 

May the empty shelves cause us to be thankful for everything we already have, starting with our salvation in Christ. 

After all, there is a reason we call our holiday Christmas.

A Mr. Rogers Thanksgiving

My husband and I saw A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, the new Tom Hanks movie about Fred Rogers. I was telling Jim what I planned to blog about this week when he got a sheepish look on his face. 

Apparently, after thirty-nine years of marriage, we tend to think the same thoughts quite often. His article about the movie was already written and scheduled to go out on Monday morning.

At first I was disappointed. I had planned a great Thanksgiving blog for my readers. But, then I decided to see my dilemma through Mr. Rogers’ eyes. Jim wrote a great article about the amazing life of a man that many of us have enjoyed through the years. If he already wrote about it, then I don’t need to. 

On this busy Thanksgiving week, I will just spend time writing my to-do lists instead! 

Mr. Rogers once said, “All of us, at some time or other, need help. Whether we’re giving or receiving help, each one of us has something valuable to bring to this world. That’s one of the things that connects us as neighbors—in our own way, each one of us is a giver and receiver.” 

So, Jim gave a “valuable” article about Mr. Rogers, and I want to make sure you receive it! Jim provided me some extra time in my busy week and I’m going to receive that as my gift. For thirty-nine years, he has been my closest neighbor and I’m thankful that God “connects us.” 

Listen to Mr. Rogers

I was telling someone at church about the movie and the blog I planned to write about Mr. Rogers. She reminded me of the moment at the Emmy Awards when Mr. Rogers received his Lifetime Achievement Award. Excitedly, I told her that I would put that in my blog post. 

I was relaying that conversation with Jim when the sheepish look appeared on his face. He had already embedded the video in his article. 

So, just in case you don’t have time to read Jim’s article, I want all of you to take time to watch the video. 

Look for “extra-special meaning” this Thanksgiving

One of the quotes Fred Rogers was known for is something all of us should consider as we step into this busy, wonderful holiday season. Mr. Rogers said, “How many times have you noticed that it’s the little quiet moments in the midst of life that seem to give the rest extra-special meaning?”   

It’s a busy time of the year and a special time for our souls. Let’s begin the holiday season in the best possible way by celebrating all that we are truly thankful for. 

Take some time to “be still” and know that he is God. Take time to “give thanks in all circumstances” because you know that God’s will is always for your eternal good in Christ Jesus. 

And, know that I give thanks for all of you who read and share in this ministry God has called us to. 

Thanks for being “my neighbor” now and, one day, on those golden streets in heaven. Imagine the time when every day is always “a beautiful day in the neighborhood.”  

We have a LOT to be thankful for this week. My blog post is done, and I’m going to write my grocery list now! 

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!  “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
—1 Thessalonians 5:18

Happy Thanksgiving

King David praised God saying, “Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!” (Psalm 107:1) Every November we take a break from the daily news and our daily chores to celebrate all that we are thankful for. It’s a busy week full of preparations and travel so I will simply use this blog post to wish each of you God’s abundant blessings for your holiday. I pray that you will have safe travels and ask God to bless the moments you spend with family or friends. May your celebration be filled with a sense of God’s loving presence.

God is good. His love is steadfast, never changing. And we celebrate Thanksgiving knowing that his love is ours this week, and for all eternity.

Max Lucado wrote: “Measure the gifts of God. Collect your blessings. Catalog his kindnesses. Assemble your reasons for gratitude . . .” King David said, “Oh give thanks to the Lord.”

We are his children and heir to his greatest blessings. We have so much to be thankful for. Happy Thanksgiving to each of you.