The Season of Thanksgiving prompts us to think of the many ways we have been blessed. It is a right time to step away from disappointments and anxieties that will always be a part of life and count our blessings instead. Here are some at the top of my list:

I am grateful

• for having been born into a family that believed in God and saw food for the soul as important as food for the body.
• for parents who sacrificed for our family without ever saying it was a sacrifice.
• for being taught the discipline of working hard, even at things I would not choose to do but was necessary for gains I wanted.
• for growing up in a small town where people watched after one another; sometimes seen as a nuisance when a child but realized as a blessing once grown.
• for being born into a free nation with values many have never known.
• for never having been without food or shelter or clean clothes.
• for friends–some that I’ve had since early childhood–who have enriched my life and been around to walk beside me in hard times and laughed with me in the good times.
• for my daughter and son-in-law who have a marriage made in heaven. There is no greater joy for a mother.
• for my daughter’s salvation at the tender age 7 and her faith that has remained strong through every trial—and there have been many. That she never gives up, no matter what life hands her.
• for my son-in-law’s ever-positive attitude and solid grounding in what marriage is supposed to look like through hard times as well good. He is strong and steadfast.
• for my Vietnamese family who call me Mom and Grandmom and Sister; for how God brought us together and united us in spirit and in love.
• for brothers, grandparents, and other extended family members, whose love I have never had to doubt; that each one is saved and will share eternity with me.
• for the three ministries of this life I cherish most, and oddly, none of the three was expected or planned: working with the mentally challenged, working in a hospital as a problem solver between patients/families and their caregivers, tutoring second grade children. I have clearly seen Jeremiah 29:11 in action: For I know the plans I have for you . . .
• for the three church denominations that have blessed and enabled my growth in the Lord at just the proper time: Baptist, Methodist, Assembly of God.
• for health in this seventh decade of life.

Most of all, I am grateful for the faithfulness and unfailing love of God. I don’t know how He can love one like me, but I am thankful beyond expression that He does. To God be every glory and honor!

What blessings do you count most dear?

. . . always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.   –Ephesians 5:20 (NIV)