Thankfulness, Day 8

Happy Thanksgiving!

We are thankful for our families. We love you all so much!

the O'Neals


the Cavies

Thankfulness, Day 7

I am thankful for my husband. I can't believe it has been four years!













I love you, sweetheart. Happy anniversary :)

Thankfulness, Day 6

Yesterday I had the opportunity to go with my mom and sisters to the Ohio Theatre to hear the Columbus Symphony Orchestra play. It was a concert just for kids, so Mom was able to get discounted tickets through the homeschool co-op, and invited me to come along.

Because the concert was geared toward kids, they played a lot of "fun" music, like John Phillip Sousa's "Stars & Stripes Forever", John Williams' "Hedwig's Theme", and a movement from Antonín Dvořák's New World Symphony (my personal favorite).



So today I'm giving thanks to God for...



...beautiful music (and the ability to enjoy it)...



...and parents who sacrificed so much to home school me and my siblings and give us opportunities to enjoy beautiful music like this (I have many fond childhood memories of family outings to the symphony, usually on special "home school field trip" days).

Thankfulness, Day 5

I'm thankful to serve a God who does not forsake his people.

Psalm 37 (ESV)

He Will Not Forsake His Saints

Of David.

1 Fret not yourself because of evildoers;
be not envious of wrongdoers!
2 For they will soon fade like the grass
and wither like the green herb.

3 Trust in the Lord, and do good;
dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.
4 Delight yourself in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.

5 Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in him, and he will act.
6 He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,
and your justice as the noonday.

7 Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;
fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way,
over the man who carries out evil devices!

8 Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!
Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.
9 For the evildoers shall be cut off,
but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.

10 In just a little while, the wicked will be no more;
though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there.
11 But the meek shall inherit the land
and delight themselves in abundant peace.

12 The wicked plots against the righteous
and gnashes his teeth at him,
13 but the Lord laughs at the wicked,
for he sees that his day is coming.

14 The wicked draw the sword and bend their bows
to bring down the poor and needy,
to slay those whose way is upright;
15 their sword shall enter their own heart,
and their bows shall be broken.

16 Better is the little that the righteous has
than the abundance of many wicked.
17 For the arms of the wicked shall be broken,
but the Lord upholds the righteous.

18 The Lord knows the days of the blameless,
and their heritage will remain forever;
19 they are not put to shame in evil times;
in the days of famine they have abundance.

20 But the wicked will perish;
the enemies of the Lord are like the glory of the pastures;
they vanish—like smoke they vanish away.

21 The wicked borrows but does not pay back,
but the righteous is generous and gives;
22 for those blessed by the Lord shall inherit the land,
but those cursed by him shall be cut off.

23 The steps of a man are established by the Lord,
when he delights in his way;
24 though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong,
for the Lord upholds his hand.

25 I have been young, and now am old,
yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken
or his children begging for bread.
26 He is ever lending generously,
and his children become a blessing.

27 Turn away from evil and do good;
so shall you dwell forever.
28 For the Lord loves justice;
he will not forsake his saints.
They are preserved forever,
but the children of the wicked shall be cut off.
29 The righteous shall inherit the land
and dwell upon it forever.

30 The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom,
and his tongue speaks justice.
31 The law of his God is in his heart;
his steps do not slip.

32 The wicked watches for the righteous
and seeks to put him to death.
33 The Lord will not abandon him to his power
or let him be condemned when he is brought to trial.

34 Wait for the Lord and keep his way,
and he will exalt you to inherit the land;
you will look on when the wicked are cut off.

35 I have seen a wicked, ruthless man,
spreading himself like a green laurel tree.
36 But he passed away, and behold, he was no more;
though I sought him, he could not be found.

37 Mark the blameless and behold the upright,
for there is a future for the man of peace.
38 But transgressors shall be altogether destroyed;
the future of the wicked shall be cut off.

39 The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord;
he is their stronghold in the time of trouble.
40 The Lord helps them and delivers them;
he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
because they take refuge in him.

Thankfulness, Day 4

We're thankful for new friends...



After several months of praying and searching for an associate pastor, the Lord answered our prayers by bringing the Savage family to our church. We are so thankful to have them, and look forward to getting to know them better in the months to come!

Thankfulness, Day 3: EDIT

It was brought to my attention that the last picture on my Day 3 post hadn't shown up originally. Anyway, it's fixed now. Andrea, I had a picture of you at the end of that post, but it wasn't showing up because I messed up the formatting. I hope you know that I am thankful for you too, and I certainly include you with the rest of my sweet, silly sisters (whether you want to be or not, haha) ;)

Thankfulness, Day 3

I'm thankful for my sweet, silly sisters...



...all of them!

Thankfulness, Day 2

I'm thankful for good hymns, new and old, that point me to Christ and His cross.



One of my favorite hymns is, "My Heart is Filled With Thankfulness", by Keith & Kristyn Getty. I hope these lyrics bless you as much as they have blessed me.

My heart is filled with thankfulness to him who bore my pain
Who plumbed the depths of my disgrace and gave me life again
Who crushed my curse of sinfulness and clothed me in his light
And wrote his law of righteousness with power upon my heart.

My heart is filled with thankfulness to him who walks beside
Who floods my weaknesses and strengths and causes fear to fly
Whose every promise is enough for every step I take
Sustaining me with arms of love and crowning me with grace.

My heart is filled with thankfulness to him who reigns above
Whose wisdom is my perfect peace, whose every thought is love
For every day I have on earth is given by the King
So I will give my life, my all, to love and follow him.

A Month of Thankfulness

"Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."
- Thessalonians 5:18



Two years ago, on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, our pastor in Louisville preached a sermon entitled, "Thankfulness: the Soundtrack of the Christian Soul". For whatever reason, it was one of the sermons that had the most impact on my life while we were there. It helped me understand the place (and importance) of thankfulness in the Christian life - every moment of every day, no matter what.

I just listened to that sermon again today, and was re-inspired to live a more intentionally thankful life. So, this month I will be blogging about thankfulness. Mainly, I'll be sharing the things I am thankful for. I'm hoping to make it every day, but we'll see. I would love for you to join me, if you have a blog (or even if you don't!). If you want to participate, just leave me a comment & I'll post a link to your blog along with my post every day. If you don't have a blog and would like to participate, feel free to leave a comment on my posts. Or, find someone every day to share your thankfulness with.

If you decide to participate or not, please please please listen to this sermon. It's worth your time.

Don't Forget...

...to vote tomorrow!

Spurgeon on Autumn

“To the Christian it should be great joy, by means of the harvest, to receive an assurance of God's faithfulness. The Lord has promised that seed-time and harvest, summer and winter, shall never cease; and when you see the loaded wain carrying in the crop you may say to yourself, "God is true to his promise. Despite the dreary winter and the damp spring, autumn has come with its golden grain." Depend upon it, that as the Lord keeps this promise he will keep all the rest. All his promises are yea and amen in Christ Jesus: if he keeps his covenant to the earth, much more will he keep his covenant with his own people, whom he hath loved with an everlasting love. Go, Christian, to the mercy-seat with the promise on your lip and plead it. Be assured it is not a dead letter. Let not unbelief cause you to stammer when you mention the promise before the throne, but say it boldly—"Fulfil this word unto thy servant on which thou hast caused me to hope."

Shame upon us that we so little believe our God. The world is full of proofs of his goodness. Every rising sun, every falling shower, every revolving season certifies his faithfulness. Wherefore do we doubt him? If we never doubt him till we have cause for it we shall never know distrust again. Encouraged by the return of harvest, let us resolve in the strength of the Spirit of God that we will not waver, but will believe in the divine word and rejoice in it.”

Pictures

I love having such beautiful subjects to photograph :)