Remember when you were a kid and you made this incredibly LONG list for Christmas? I loved when Mom would bring home the Penneys, Sears and Wards Christmas catalogs (that was our "internet shopping"). I would pour over the toy sections for hours dreaming, wishing and hoping for all the things I didn't see in the stores year 'round.Now that I'm older I'm glad to report that my Christmas list is shorter and my Thanksgiving list is the longer one :)
But take a look at this excerpt...it echoes my thoughts exactly through this difficult year:
"When the Rev. Doyle Masters was stricken with cancer shortly before Thanksgiving in 1978, he chose not to hide it from his congregation. He wrote an open letter to his people and this is what he said:
'These past few days have rolled over us like an avalanche, leaving in their wake some central certainties which make up my Thanksgiving list. Out of the dark night of the soul has come the sunlight of God's love. I am thankful for God who is real and personal, for a Christ who is present in power, and for the Holy Spirit who is by our side in every struggle...My Thanksgiving list is made this year not from what I have, but from who has me--a God who is able to do exceedingly and abundantly above all I ask or think. ' "
That spoke to me tonight when I was reading part of it from the book I mentioned a few days ago, Meeting God at a Dead End. (And funny that I noticed just now when re-reading it here, that last phrase was the Scripture verse that accompanied every prayer my father ever prayed when annointing someone as well as many other prayers throughout the years. I can still hear his voice saying it like only his voice could...)
So this year, I too, shall be thankful...not for what God has given me, but for being Who He is!
5 comments:
Good post, Sara. My Christmas list is much shorter than it was even 10 years ago! I get more joy from watching my kids open their gifts, and I am just thankful for my family, the God who has me, and being with family. Christmas is too materialistic.
I like your last statement about thanking God for Who He is & not for what He's given us. In the human, sometimes that is a hard thought to separate. I'm working on that too....!
Sara, This brought tears to my eyes. So many times we thank God for all he does for us or all we have but often we forget to thank him for who he really is. If I stop to think about who God truly is....WOW!!!!
I, too, echo the thanks to God for who He is...without Him, my ship would have sunk for sure in the past 6 months. Some days, I feel like it is all I can do to "cling" but I keep "clinging" and He keeps "rescuing" me. There are days I wonder if this is EVER going to get better..."But God" (I love that song! (I think it's by Legacy 5 ~?~)
I understand your thoughts exactly! There are times when all we can do is thank God "that he is" and know that he will see us through!
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