How thankful are you?

I've been reminded through several things this week that I am called to be thankful in all things- not just the good things, but the bad as well. The Bible says "all things work together for good for those who are called according to His purpose". I've had a rough time over a situation going on, and I had just about given up on things working out, but God reminded me to pray and turn things over to Him. Almost immediately afterwards, I found out that things are going to work out, and will be better than I expected.
One of my favorite Bible stories is in Genesis, the story of Isaac's father wanting to find a wife for him. He sent a servant back to their homeland to find one from among his kinfolks; I was reading the story the other day and a phrase caught my attention: while the servant was looking for a wife for Isaac, he prayed, asking God to give him guidance. The Bible says "and while he was still praying" God answered his prayer (emphasis added). We're so quick to think God isn't listening, or that He won't answer us, that we forget how often He answers "while we were still praying"...
Please remember to be thankful for the good and bad things in your life- you never know what will come from them.

Johnny Appleseed

Oh, the Lord's been good to me, and so I thank the Lord
for giving me, the things I need, the sun and the rain and the apple seed;
Oh, He's been good to me!

A little girl I used to know, sang this as her blessing at mealtime. It's from the Disney short, Johnny Appleseed. I've always thought that was a sweet way to say thanks for what we have.

Are we thankful for what we have? That's something I struggle with every day. I want to let God know that I'm thankful for what He's done for me, but I let other things get in the way. And I have more things than ever to be thankful for- our family is doing well and growing (a new grandbaby due any time!) we're doing some much-needed work to our house, my business is growing. One of my goals is to stay in a thankful attitude and to keep the main thing, the main thing.

Like the old song says, when things get bad, start counting your blessings. You'll be glad you did!