Dear Church Family Members,
For what are you thankful? I recently glanced through a book entitled 199 Reasons to be Thankful*. Some of the entries were the usual types of things, such as family and friends, health and employment, adequate food and housing, patience and encouragement, etc. But other entries led me to further reflect on some things many of us may take for granted. for example: the sound of the ocean, laundry, entertainment, limitless possibilities, prayer, umbrellas, a new day, contentment, God’s love and grace.
If each of us was asked to list some of the things we are thankful for, we could probably name 10-15 items quite easily. But what about a list of 25 or 50 or even 199? Then we would need to do some serious evaluation of our lives and what we think is important. Being thankful for something does not necessarily mean that we like or enjoy it – just that we find value in it.
In this season of Thanksgiving, I encourage you to reflect on your lives and make a list of the large and not-so-large aspects for which you are truly grateful. When the national day of Thanksgiving arrives later this month, I hope you will meditate on your list and offer a heartfelt prayer to God expressing your gratitude for all of your blessings. As song writer Johnson Oatman, Jr. wrote:
Count your blessings, name them one by one.
Count your many blessing; see what God has done.
We will have two ways to tangibly express our gratitude to the Lord during the worship service on November 22. The first is our Thanksgiving Offering. The second is our annual Thanksgiving Ingathering of food for those who may not be able to enjoy a Thanksgiving dinner. You are invited to bring nonperishable items which will be donated to Housing Families for their clients who are living in transitional housing.
Happy Thanksgiving,
Rev. Martha A. Dominy
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* Janice Hanna, Barbour Publishing Inc. 2009