THANKSGIVING

“Count your many blessings; name them one by one and it will surprise you what the Lord has done.”

The other night I was having trouble sleeping. Some people say that sleeplessness is a part of the aging process, but I am too young for that to be the problem, so there must have been another reason. Pretty soon I was having a real pity party. In my mind I was going through a long litany of problems and things that were wrong in my life. Then all of a sudden the words of a song I thought I had long forgotten came into my mind. Try as I would I could not get these words out of my consciousness.

Those words were: “Count your many blessing, name them one by one, count your many blessing see what God has done.” I began to do that and pretty soon I realized just how much God has blessed me. The next thing I knew it was morning. When I awoke I wanted to finish my list. I soon realized it could not be finished! God’s blessings are really without number!

Maybe what I came to understand is the true meaning of what Thanksgiving really is: being thankful for the good things God gives us and not allowing the problems that we incur become the things that control us and give us our identity. When we dwell entirely on the negative we lose sight of the positive.

By the way here are some of the things that topped my list. 1. Jesus Christ-God loved me enough to send His Only Begotten Son to be my Savior. 2. The beauty of creation-God looked at all God had made and indeed it was very good. [Geneses 1:31] That goodness has not been totally overcome. 3. First United Methodist-Galax- I am blessed to serve a church that loves the Lord and cares of each other. 4. The portion of health that I enjoy-my health problems are not getting any worse. 5. Family-I thank God for those who love me, sometimes in spite of me.

I am also very thankful for friends, for our new Daybreak Worship Service, and the fact that three different people have told me within the past month that we are a friendly, warm, caring congregation.

May we all begin to count our blessings and realize just what God has done for us. May we do this not just on the fourth Thursday of November but each and every day we live.

Richard