Thanks-Giving
My family and I have much to be thankful for.
Many families have suffered great loss and tragedy this year...the victims of Hurricane Helene come to mind as I type this. Given that, I have posted a couple of links at the bottom of this newsletter if you're interested in contributing to their recovery. You can direct your funds specifically for those recovery efforts through either of these organizations.
I hope you are refreshed through this autumn season and find encouragement from the newsletter that follows.
I Pray
Fall is my favorite time of the year! Even though most of the retail stores had Christmas decorations waiting in the wings for Halloween to be over I just can't bring myself to bypass the autumn colors and smells. Maybe this is my favorite season because my son was born during this time but it seems as far back as I can remember that has been the case. Either way, I feel I've missed something special if I bypass my fall decor with the fat "eat more beef" turkey centerpiece and go straight to Christmas. Perhaps I just move at a slower pace.
On this cool autumn morning as I sit in the quiet before tackling my day's to-do list I think of all the things that have transpired in the world as of late. There are truly many distractions and worries I could spend my time and thoughts on while sipping my coffee. I think of Thanksgiving and the Christmas Holiday season that approaches and I remember when the house was much more crowded. I'm also reminded there are those who are hurting and the upcoming holidays will be heavy for them. I think of friends who will be celebrating the holidays with one less family member this year. I know it will be difficult. For each one of you who have a hole in your heart know I'm praying for you. Some of my friends will be celebrating without grandma...and even though you did everything just like she did on the dressing it somehow doesn't taste the same. I pray you are blessed with the ability to enjoy your dressing and the memory of how grandma did Thanksgiving. There are those who will be missing mom or dad (or both) this year. These next few weeks will leave a haze of sadness at times. I pray you will be blessed with the joy of Our Father that rises above the haze and reflects beautiful memories from the good times shared together. I pray especially this morning for my friends who have had death visit their children. Even though you may carry the promise of seeing them in Heaven again I can not imagine the emptiness you carry right now. I can't pray for you from an understanding heart so I pray from a mother's heart. I pray blessings of peace over your troubled spirit today. I pray you can move forward in a joy you didn't have yesterday. I pray before this day has ended God will give you a special memory to carry with you over these next few weeks and I pray you will look back and see His fingerprints all over this season of your life.
The Lord gently reminds me He is here with me and He will take those troubling thoughts from me if I will allow Him to. So I slow my mind down and, intentionally, sweep up the little joy-stealers and give them to Him...then I sit with Him and listen. He reminds me of how much He loves me, how blessed I am and how He loves it when I see Him in the smallest of things. He reminds me that He's there during all of my "seasons" from the favorite and joyful to the harsh and dry. Just as God promised His chosen people in the wilderness Jesus promises me today that He will never leave me, never forget me and never love me less for
"He has engraved me on the palm of His hands" Isaiah 49:16
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