Thank you, Lord!

Give thanks to the LORD,

call on his name;

make known among the nations

what he has done.

Psalm 105:1

This Thankful Thursday, Thanksgiving 2008, I'm thankful for so many things. First and foremost, I'm thankful for Jesus Christ. There are many wonderful things about life, but nothing would be as it is without Him. He gives life purpose and meaning, and I'm so thankful for His forgiveness and grace!

Secondly, I'm thankful for such a wonderful husband who loves the Lord and seeks to honor Him with his life. That is most important to me because everything else falls into place because of his love relationship with the Lord. After all, God is the author of true love! I'm thankful for the unconditional love he shows and the friend that he is to me, and the wonderful father he is to our children. I'm thankful for the sacrifices he makes for our country and his Soldiers, and his willingness to put others before himself. He's a wonderful man!!

I'm thankful for my children and the wonderful blessings each one of them bring to our lives. This Thanksgiving our son couldn't be with us, but my parents flew my nephew to South Carolina to be with him. Praise God! It did this mother's heart good to know he would not be without family this Thanksgiving. I'm thankful that each of my children have a personal relationship with the Lord, and that no matter what this life holds for them they have the Savior walking by their side all the way. And, now that we're about to give our daughter away, I'm so very, very thankful our soon to be son-in-law is a Christian, too, and was raised in a Christian home. There's nothing more important!

I'm thankful for my parents. I'm thankful they love the Lord and raised me in a Christian home. I'm thankful for their love and support all these years. I'm thankful for the example they've been to me and for their evident love for the things of God. This Thanksgiving is very special because my parents are here! What a blessing it has been to have them in my home this Thanksgiving week!! For weeks now I've been wishing my mom was here to share in the planning of my daughter's wedding with me, and how great God is that he laid it on their hearts to come visit. The blessings have overflowed.

I'm thankful for a wonderful and amazing mother-in-law. Life hasn't always been easy for her, but the strength of the Lord has ALWAYS shown through. I could not have asked for a better mother-in-law.

I'm thankful for my brothers, brother-in-law, and sister-in-laws...and all their children. Seeing our Christian heritage continue on is such a blessing. I love each one of them and I'm so very thankful to have the family that I do.

I'm thankful for friends...old and new. I can't imagine life without friendship! I am so thankful that no matter where we go God always has someone in mind to befriend us. It was so hard to leave our friends in Texas, and I struggled for a long time when we first arrived here...then one day God put Sheryll in my life. I tear up any time I think about us having to move to different Posts one day (My prayer is that won't happen and we can end up at the same Post!). She has been a huge blessing to me in this move!! (Please pray for her and her husband as her husband is serving our country in Iraq right now. Thank the Lord for our chaplains who are there for our soldiers during the holidays!)

I'm thankful for the freedom we have in our country, and the military members who have fought and are fighting to keep us safe and free! I'm thankful for the freedom we have in this country to worship God. Is hard for many of us to even comprehend what some Christians are going through right now. I'm thankful for the freedom we have in Christ and the sacrifice He made so that we might be free!

I could go on and on, but I'm going to stop here and go spend time with my family. I'm thankful for each of you that have become dear friends through this blog. I appreciate you and pray you have a wonderful, blessed day!