"Give thanks to the Lord for He is good; his love endures forever."
Psalms 105, 106 and 107 all begin with this command -- to give thanks and to express thanksgiving to our God.
In spite of the severity of the challenges and trials that we may go through, His love gives us something to be thankful for.
"What are you doing for the holiday?" We have been looking forward to this week for a long time. Last night I was able to go to a concert with my older brother Kendall along with Heidi, Alicia and Levi. Tomorrow night we will have our "Thanksliving Service" at church. In the morning we will go to Greenlake for a good walk/run before coming home for the traditional Thanksgiving meal. This year we will be getting together with our own "blended family" of friends from Eastside, relatives and people from our community. Thanks to my good friend Russ, we will be having salmon alongside the traditional turkey.
Friday is a day to relax with my family before leaving for Manila. On Saturday I will be leaving Seatac at 4 p.m. for a six day trip to the Philippines. I will be updating my blog regularly while there. I appreciate your prayers while I am away. During this week I will be meeting with the leaders of the Urban Church Planting Project to strategize and plan for 2008. What do we need to change? What can we do better? How can we be more effective?
So what are you doing this Thanksgiving? Aside from your "holiday plans", what are you thankful for? I hope you're able to take time this week to reflect on this question. I invite you to post your answers here. Happy Thanksgiving!
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Further reflections on Thanksgiving:
Gratitude takes nothing for granted. It acknowledges each favor, each gift -- both big and small. It also recognizes the giver. "To be grateful is to recognize the love of God in everything He has given us -- and He has given us everything. Every breath we draw is a gift of His love, every moment of existence is a grace, for it brings with it immense graces from Him. Gratitude therefore takes nothing for granted, is never unresponsive, is constantly awakening to new wonder and to praise of the goodness of God. For the grateful person knows that God is good, not by hearsay but by experience. Gratitude therefore is the heart of of the Christian life." -- Merton.
"Morning has broken like the first morning, Blackbird has spoken like the first bird. Praise for the singing! Praise for the morning! Praise for them springing fresh from the Word! Mine is the sunlight! Mine is the morning, born of the one light Eden saw play! Praise with elation, praise every morning, God's re-creation of the new day!"
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