Always be thankful

Today the sun is shining and there is a warm breeze blowing from the south.  A chorus of birds, crickets, and frogs is the only sound that breaks the silence, and it is easy to be thankful for my surroundings. 

We, especially in this part of the country, are so blessed.  We are sheltered from so many bad things that happen all over the world.  The destructive weather, earthquakes, tsunamis, and escalating crime are not headliners in our small communities and I hope we recognize this and send our thanks to God for that protection.

And while we give thanks for those good things, it’s pleasing to God when we also give thanks for things that are not so good.  Our personal trials are blessings because they make us stronger in our faith.  The idiosyncrasies  we often chastise ourselves over keep us humble and remind us that we are weak humans who need God.

Small, annoying things like mosquitoes, dogs that dig holes in the flower beds, dead car batteries, traffic, and difficult family members grow our patience, and if we didn’t have these things to contend with we would remain immature.

Corrie TenBoom, in her account of the Nazi occupation in Holland, grumbled many times over the bed bugs in the beds of the prison camp where she and her sister were imprisoned.  When Betsy showed her that those bed bugs kept the prison guards out of their bunk house, she realize God sent them as a gift to the women.  Because there was less monitoring of their activity, the women were free to sing and pray and read the Bible each night.  I want to be just as mindful of difficult circumstances as Betsy and pray:

Thank you Lord for all you have blessed us with.  Thank you for those trials which pull us towards you, and thank you for the gifts that show us how much you love us.  Help us never to take anything for granted but to see everything with eyes of gratitude.