My 2014 Thanksgiving List

Faith—I must place my Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, at the top of this list. He loved me enough to die for me and lavishes His grace upon me every day.

Family—The Lord blessed me with amazing parents, a missionary husband, three kids that I love to the moon and back, a wonderful daughter-in-law, and the three most sensational brothers in the world. And don’t get me started on my cousins and nieces and nephews! They are incredible.

Friends—I’ve made some new friends. I met them in my Bible Study Class. We’ve already found that we can study, pray, and laugh together.  But I also have some friends I've known for a long time like the ones I write with on this blog. We also pray together and share our love of writing. The Ponderers amaze me both with their books and friendship.

But I have one friend I’ve known for…well, really, I never remember not knowing her. Becky Dickens. When we were girls, we played for hours and hours with the old Betsy McCall paper dolls. (Anyone remember those?) Incredible imaginations transformed our bikes into “horses”. Thankfully, we now live within walking distance and take many hikes around the neighborhood sharing all these things.

Fiction—I was reading a story one day when I was a young girl--one of the old Danny Orlis books--and a temptation came my way. Some could argue that those books were not terribly faith building or not well written enough to matter. But I found enough Christianity in the book that it fortified my young conviction enough to say “no” to the temptation. Since then I’ve been inspired and convicted by many of my favorite authors with lessons from stories that stay with me long after I close the book.

Yes, I have many reasons to give thanks unto the Lord! What are you especially thankful for this year?

(Image from debspoons at FreeDigitalPhotos)