In Every Thing Give Thanks

1 Thessalonians 5:18 -  In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

This is where I have found myself over the past couple days, and having a thankful spirit has been harder than normal. It's mostly surrounding work, nothing extra ordinary just feeling like I can't do anything right. I know that's not true, and that any pity I may feel the enemy loves to perpetuate even further in my own mind. This is not a fun place to be. Which is why when I woke up this morning I made it a point to continually thank the Lord for my blessings, like my job, my new home (another source of recent stress), my Riley:), my friends, my Bible, even the recent trip to the Dentist office which had me diagnosed with TMJ (I clench my teeth at night) got a praise because now that I know why my jaw hurts I can fix it (hey, no cracks about how much I talk;)).

See yesterday I made a couple mistakes on some of my write-ups, and with business being slow right now, it didn't make the boss to happy, which bummed me out because they were really ridiculous mistakes (I like my job and I always strive to do my best so I took it really personally, probably more than necessary). Then I found out that my new land lord decided that she wanted to change her mind on me not paying last months rent, although she is giving me a little more time to pay it since I wasn't prepared for it. This was a major disappointment though, because I had planned on using it to make a big payment towards paying down my credit card, especially since my rent is more expensive now and bigger monthly payments will be a bit more challenging. This was my day yesterday. The only pleasant thing about it was that it ended with me sitting in my usual pew at church for mid week service and prayer, boy did I need it. The message didn't relate to my situation at all, but just being where I could hear from the Lord was all I needed to end my night on a peaceful note.

Thank you Lord for my long exhausting day.

Today was better at work, although I was still mad at myself. I accepted my plight with the rent and I got to take Riley on a walk before the rain came.

Thank you Lord for holding back the rain so I could walk my dog and gain some perspective. It may have been gray outside, but it wasn't snowing like it is on my friends & family back east and it was over 40 degrees.

Shortly after the walk I decided to go to H&R Block and ask them a question about my 1098-T from WSU. I only usually file a 1040EZ, but I wasn't sure what to do with the new Tax form from the school. So the lady explained it to me and I basically had to do a 1040A (well really Tax Slayer did it for me online). I inputted my information when I got home, and the outcome was good...at first, but then it turned GREAT!!! Without talking actual numbers lets just say that after using the education credit I'm getting ALL of my $ back from school and that will help me make an even BIGGER payment on my credit card then I had planned, and pay for my last months rent, AND have maybe a little left over for some paint for my room:)

Thank you Lord for exceeding my expectations and for making me patient, even if I was whining a little. I apologize. It may be the IRS doling it out, but no one can out give God!

If you're facing your own set of trials I hope that you remember to take the time to thank the one that gave them to you, you never know where the blessings will come from. 

Thanks for giving

Much to my chagrin this has been my only post for November and my first post that I've wanted to write in a while. Trust me I've had plenty going on, I've just felt like being silent. However today is the day that American's have chosen to celebrate their reasons for being thankful and so I feel the need to share my own reasons for why I am thankful. Psalm 34:1 "I will bless the LORDH at allH times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth". So in no particular order I begin. . .

I am thankful to the Lord for giving me life, both physical and eternal. Psalm 139:14 "I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well". Without the Lord giving His life for mine I couldn't be here today in the life that He has blessed me with. So I thank the Lord for giving me what I do not deserve, mercy, grace, and patience in all that I do.

I am thankful to my friends for giving me their friendship, their time and their talents have been an extrodinary blessing this year and without them my life would a little on the dull side. Proverbs 18:24 "A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother".

I am thankful to the Lord for giving me His infallible word, the KJV Bible, Proverbs 30:5 "
Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him", and for the talents that he has chosen to bless me with in my life. As well as giving me some wonderful girls for my Sunday School class. They are truly so much fun and offer a lot of challenges and blssings to my life.

I am thankful for the Lord giving me my family, both blood & church. Ephesians 3:21 "Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen". The Lord has given me some wonderful Pastors over the past few years and I am eternally grateful for their wisdom and guidance in my life.

I am thankful to the Lord for giving me challenges as well as blessings. Without the challenges the blessings would not be as sweet and I would not be able to grow spiritually, and without the blessings I would be feeling pretty beat up from constantly being challenged by the unfriendliness of the world. Romans 8:28 "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God,to them who are the called according to his purpose". This next year will be challenging as I get closer towards my goal of completing my college education (I was accepted to WSU for the Spring 2010 semester).

Thanks Lord for the giving.

Thank you

Here is my post full of "Thank You's" for the gifts that people gave to me this Christmas. It was all wonderful. Somethings I wasn't actuallyable to get a pic of, so I appologize if it's not in a picture.

My pig slippers (always a hit): From Jack

This one takes a little explaining. See I love musicals!!! Growing up Annie was one of my favorites (only this version though, I don't like the new one with Kathy Bates). Anyway, the dress in the background was one of my old Halloween costumes (the mask has obviously bit the dust). I'll tell the story as it's been told to me over the years. This particular costume was worn to a Halloween party when I was about 4 for one of the girls in my pre-school and it was held at a house in, Sea Cliff, a very rich part of San Francisco. Most, if not all, of the other kids at the party were made up to be dressed in rented, ornate, uncomfortable, and lest just face it ridiculous costumes that children will wreck if they are allowed to play at all (which as I understand it they weren't allowed to do). Now then that leaves little ol' me in my plastic dress, cheap suffocating mask, and black patent leather mary janes to run and play and have the best time there (which still has a habit of happening to me, what can I say). Well, one of the things that my Dad gave me was the DVD of Annie accompanied by my plastic dress. I no longer celebrate Halloween, but it's a fun story to tell,especially if you know me already and know what a fun social person I like to be:)

From the Willow Tree collection the "Angel of Caring": From Sam

1,000 Gluten Free Recipes: From Matthew

A chance to die - The Amy Charmichael Story: From Nancy

Boy Meets Girl: From Nancy

America's Cheapest Family: From my Dad

The Muppet Show - Season 1: From my Dad

A pink scarf/head covering: From my Mom

An hour glass necklace filled with diamond dust: From my Mom

It's not Christmas without a new sweater: From my Dad

This is the fabulous red hat that I bought myself in San Francisco:) It's way cute!!!

Gifts not pictured:

From Maggie: I got Love Letters of Great Men and Women
From Sharon: I got two rice bags (which have been really nice to have lately)
From Nicki: I got a serving/decoration tray
From both Kali & Nicki: I got a certificate for an "All expenses paid trip" to help me complete some of the goals on my list. I can't wait to see what they plan.
From Steve & Sherri: I got a gift card to the Trumpeter restaurant in Mt. Vernon (it's all GF)!!!!
From Shannon: I got an ice cream scoop with a pig handle
From my Mom: I also got some snow boots

Thanks everyone for your thoughtfulness. If I forgot anything I appologize. Obviously I was very blessed this year.

It is a good think to give thanks unto the Lord

Last weekend in my SS class our lesson was about King Hezzikiah, and his the gratitude that he had towards God after saving the Jews from the Assyrians. My question to the girls was, Are we only allowed this one day to say thank you to God for his blessings? Their answer surprised me, for they answered "Yes", that we were only allowed this one day to say thank you. Now my girls are young, 6-9, but we have a special time on Sunday mornings allotted to praise the Lord for his provisions and blessings. However, when these answers do arise it's also a great time for teaching and reinforcing what they already know to be true, sometimes they just need a little help. So my next question was, "Well, if that's the case do you think that you could remember an entire years worth of thank yous?" Of course, as children often are they decided to be contrary and said "Yes they could." But as they started to think about it some more they started to change their answer.

Anyway, Thank you for me comes rather naturally off my tongue. You see it was my first word. According to my baby book it came out more like "tank too", but obviously my mom new what I meant. I don't know what I was saying thank you for, however that's really not the point. The point is that we should be grateful for the blessings that God has given us and not hold onto them for a year (or a really long time). We should thank him often for his provision and thank those who are in our lives for the things they do for us. Why it takes one specific day to drag it out of most people is beyond me, but it is nice to have a day that we can take time out, slow down, and appreciate the gifts that we do have. So without further ado (and in no real kind of order) here is what I'm thankful for.

Thank you for:
~ My eternal salvation. Why God did what he did is beyond me and there are not enough thank yous that could be said for that. (If you're wondering what I'm talking about click on the e-Life studies link on my sidebar or take The Good Person Test to find out).
~ My family
~ My church
~ My friends (Kali, Nicki, Meleah, Laura, Shannon & Pastor J., Steve & Sheri, Maggie, Sharon, Katie & Tim, Vicki & Pastor S., The rest of the SPG's, Abbey, Chris & Selena) If I missed anyone I apologize because there are a lot of you. All of you bring something special to my life.
~ The King James Bible AV1611
~ My health ~ My working car
~ My apartment
~ Mrs. Reid, who is going the extra mile to make sure I have a GF Thanksgiving
~ My SS class. Those girls are so great. Each one of them brings something unique to the class each Sunday. There are very few dull moments:)
~ The opportunity that the Lord gave me to share my recent testimony at our Ladies Bible Fellowship. It's wonderful how the Lord works things out for us whenever we let go of our hangups.
~ The dress I just got from Abbey
~ The quiet days with nothing to do
~ The busy days with to much to do
~ My job
~ My new phone (pic soon to be posted)

There is so much more that I'm missing that it doesn't seem right to end the list now. So I'll porbably end up psoting things as I think of them. I hope that you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving! Gobble Gobble