Being Thankful

I often think that others have great ideas, and I sometimes intend to put those ideas into practice. Yet most of the time, I rarely follow through with those good intentions.

One of the ideas I'd like to try to copy is a month of gratitude. The past few years, I've seen people all over the blogosphere keeping a list of things that they are thankful for throughout the month of November. So... here is my attempt:

November 1

Today I am thankful for my husband who works hard at making his family a priority. He has been through some stressful changes this year, but one of the things that he has realized throughout the struggle is how important his family is to him. So, one of his new goals has been to limit his time away from his family and to invest in us. I think that is a big gift for him to give to us, especially to his son, who seemed pretty confused this summer when his daddy was away from us for 5 weeks to train for a really stressful job. I know that lots of people are away from their families for years serving in the military. I don't mean to belittle their experience by saying that our struggle was SO hard. I really have no idea how those families cope. . It seems like it would be SO hard. To us, however, the last three months with that job were the most stressful we've ever experienced. Donnie decided to quit his job because he was away from us so much and because when he was home, he was preparing for his job or anxious and completely wiped out. So now, he has a job which does not require him to bring work home. Regular hours and only a 15 minute commute. He is returning to himself and is working on finding ways to spend quality time with Dawson and I. So thankful!

Daily Reading 18

I just have to start off by giving you the gist of the last part of Max Lucado's writing for today. If Jesus were just God he could not understand us. If he were just man, he could love us but never save us. Then he says, "But a God-man Jesus? Near enough to touch. Strong enough to trust. A next-door Savior."

In the reading from Luke chapter 7, Jesus is watching a funeral procession. A mother is burying her little boy. Instead of standing with his head down and eyes watering like most of us would be, Jesus is whispering to the mother. She looks shocked and then nods. Jesus tells the men carrying the casket to wait. Then he speaks to the boy, "Young man, I say to you, arise!" -Luke 7:14. He says it with power and authority. Kind of like when your mother uses your full name. He meant business. The boy starts to breath again, his skin warms up, and he jumps into the arms of his mother.

Amazing. Raising someone from the dead. Kind of creepy, too, but definitely amazing. After the funeral, Jesus is eating with the disciples and Peter realizes who is sitting beside him. Jesus is sitting there eating lunch, probably laughing and telling stories with the guys. Peter thinks back to what just happened and the reality of this powerful, Godly man hits him. He probably wonders why this man is not surrounding himself by kings and angelic beings. But that is the irony of Jesus. He came for everyone, not just the rich and powerful. In order to let people know who he was, he did lots of amazing things. But at the end of the day, he was also a man, who could understand people because he was living right there with them.