Give Thanks with a Grateful Heart

 

 

Give Thanks with a Grateful Heart

Hurray! Another Thanksgiving holiday is here! I am grateful to God for the privilege of salvation, to be able to call Him my Father is priceless to me. To have His Holy Spirit living in me, accompanying me on my journey is the icing on the cake!

I thank God for life! Much more than ever, I appreciate the value of being numbered among the living. I thank God for family and friends kept by the mighty hand of God. God has preserved us through these tough months of the pandemic. He healed our bodies when we were sick. He gave us peace that calmed our fears. He strengthened our hearts and gave us grace to deal with any losses we may have experienced. He put food on our tables and some more in our pantries. He kept a  roof over our heads! 

                 

As you celebrate thanksgiving with your family, let your heart align with your words. Ruminate on the goodness of God. Sing and make melody in your heart to the Lord. The psalmist said:

That my soul may sing praise to You and not be silent.

O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever (Psalm 30:12).

 

I See Men as Trees

 "As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth

 and increase upon it." - Genesis 9:7

Father's Day was fast approaching, and this year I decided to switch things up a bit. Some days ago I asked my son if he had any thoughts on fathers. These are the thoughts he shared:

Fathers are like Trees

All life is predicated on the responsibility of fatherhood

Being the base unit of exponential growth, fathers hold the key to life

Fathers are creators. God The Father created. 

He created a man and gave to him the ability to create. 

To invest in their kin and nurture, till they too, begin to bear fruit after their own kind.

Abraham was that kind of father, a father after God's own heart

For God said, (and with all certainty too), "I know that he will command his children,

And his household after him, to keep the way of the Lord"

Oh what a divine cycle of creation initiated by the Almighty Father, 

A father enabled by The Father plants seeds in his garden

He does the watering, and the much needed nurturing

But it is God that gives the increase

What the world sees is a well watered garden

Filled with herbs. flowers and trees. fruits that hold seeds, ready to bear again.

Jesus healed the blind man and asked him, "What do you see?"

"I see men as trees," said he. And he lied not.

He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. - Psalm 1:3

Happy Father's Day to my amazing dad and father figures everywhere!