A Month of Thankfulness: Day Twenty-Six

Its Thanksgiving Day! My very favorite holiday of the year! I awoke early to see a light, lovely snow covering everything, the first snow of the season, and felt a surge of appreciation for its beauty and the fact that it came today!

In many ways, its not a typical Thanksgiving at the cottage this year. I'm not up to fixing the usual Thanksgiving feast and couldn't eat most of the traditional foods on my low iodine diet anyway. Not all of the Thanksgiving decorations ever made it out. And I'll be taking my naps to make it through the day.

But some things are the same. Its been a long time since we lived close to extended family so its customary for Andy and Emily and me (and of course, Charlie) to be together. Sometimes we've enjoyed the festivities with others but the three of us is a constant. The other constant is the turning of our thoughts to God in thanksgiving for His more than abundant provisions for us this past year...and always.

From the fullness of His grace we have received one blessing after another.~John 1:16

This day my particular thanksgiving to God is for that blessing of togetherness that the four of us share in our warm little cottage on a damp and cold Thanksgiving as the early snow melts and we play a game or two anticipating our very untraditional meal of pork roast and potatoes.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Now let's all share in the rejoicing at Rebecca Writes!

A Month of Thankfulness: Day Twenty-Five

I'm feeling the most hypothyroid I've felt this day. Just totally wiped out! So I'm very thankful that I didn't have to go out anywhere. In fact, I allowed myself the luxury of not even getting dressed. I'm still hanging out in my pj's, intermittently napping, thankful too that Emily fixed dinner, and resting in this promise:

You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.~Isaiah 26:3

My mind has been rather scattered lately but it is steadfast enough to know where to place my trust! And that's another reason to give thanks.

How about you? Please share your reasons to give thanks over at Rebecca Writes.

A Month of Thankfulness: Day Twenty-Four

What a difference a day can make! Yesterday, I was uncertain and upset about how things were unfolding regarding the scan for my thyroid cancer. I went to bed just trusting in God's sovereignty and His power in my weakness. This morning, I had the scan and God met me in my need in a powerful way! First, I had the kindest, most caring technician attend to me at the Nuclear Medicine lab. She positioned me on a warm blanket on the bed of the scan machine, wrapping me in it as she brought it together in front of me, fastening it to keep my arms close to my sides. The image of being wrapped in God's Everlasting Arms sprung to my mind! Then she told me to call her if I became uncomfortable, that she would rather have to restart the scan than have me lay there, still but in discomfort, for the next hour. And so the the scan began and I started praying, thanking God for His sovereign, enveloping arms and His strength and power in my weakness. I thanked Him for His provision of that compassionate young technician. Then I thanked Him for my family and my dear church family and many other brothers and sisters in Christ that I knew were praying for me. I thanked Him for each one of you, my dear bloggy sisters, in the overwhelming knowledge that I had people all across this country and even a couple in Canada praying for me! Peace and comfort descended upon me! I am so richly blessed! What had been an ordeal turned into a precious time of intimate fellowship with my God through the Holy Spirit. I am humbled with the wonder of it and so very, very thankful tonight.

The Lord is near. ⁶Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.~Phil. 4:5b-7

Please share in the thanksgiving at Rebecca Writes. Its a blessing to us all!

A Month of Thankfulness: Day Twenty-Three

This morning I had the preparatory dose of the radioactive iodine for my total body thyroid scan tomorrow. There have been some changes is medical protocol for the tests and treatment of thyroid cancer since my last re-occurrence of it and frankly, some of them have caught me off guard. I was reading an article about thyroid cancer on-line just a little while ago and the thyroid expert mentioned that no one who is hypothyroid, as I am in preparation for these procedures, should be driving. We should consider ourselves impaired as are people who are "driving under the influence." The other times I went through this, I drove...and did many other things...without even thinking about it. Yes, I was tired but it needed to be done. This time, I just can't seem to do that. I feel impaired regarding more than just driving!

Back to the changes in medical protocol and how they caught me off guard. Decisions were made that I feel less certain of this time. But my faith and reliance on God in His sovereignty is stronger this time. So this afternoon of tiredness and uncertainty, I am very thankful for Christ's all-sufficient grace and power.

But He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 2 Corinthians 12:9

Praise God for His blessings over at Rebecca's today and each day of this month of Thanksgiving.

A Month of Thankfulness: Day Twenty-Two

Others have said it, but today is my turn to say how thankful I am for good, solid exegetical preaching! And the Lord's Supper!

Visit Rebecca to see what others are thanking our Good God for this Lord's Day.

Sunday's Hymn: Leaning on the Everlasting Arms

What a fellowship, what a joy divine,
Leaning on the everlasting arms;
What a blessedness, what a peace is mine,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.

Leaning, leaning,
Safe and secure from all alarms;
Leaning, leaning,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.

Oh, how sweet to walk in this pilgrim way,
Leaning on the everlasting arms;
Oh, how bright the path grows from day to day,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.

What have I to dread, what have I to fear,
Leaning on the everlasting arms?
I have blessed peace with my Lord so near,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.

Elisha A. Hoffman, 1839-1929
Tune by A. J. Showalter

A Month of Thankfulness: Day Twenty-One

Right at the top of my list of things to be thankful for today is...the color pink. Its my favorite color! There's nothing like pink flowers to make me feel like skipping...at least on the inside. I love the pink in the sky in the morning for its expression of hope. And wearing pink always makes me feel better when I'm having a down day. I'm not having a down day today but I am wearing pink. Just because I can and I want to. Maybe I'll even wear another shade of it tomorrow. So thank you, God, for the color pink. Sometimes its just the little things.

Now let's head over to Rebecca's to see what everyone else is thanking God for today!

A Month of Thankfulness: Day Twenty

The hoops have been jumped through and I am set for my total body thyroid scan next Monday and Tuesday, the 23rd and 24th. Monday, I go to the hospital to swallow a small amount of Iodine 131 which the remaining thyroid tissue in my body absorbs and then on Tuesday, I am scanned to see where and how much there is. A couple of additional thyroid blood tests and the results of the scan determine when and how much of the radioactive Iodine 131 is given to me to (theoretically) destroy the remaining thyroid tissue in my body, all of which is assumed to be cancerous. So I am getting near the end of the process and for that I am very thankful!

Throughout this week, I've been clinging to this particular verse:

The eternal God is your refuge,
and underneath are the everlasting arms.
Deuteronomy 33:27a

I am humbled and most thankful for His everlasting arms.

Please join us in this feast of thanksgiving which Rebecca is hosting each day for the month of November. Its so much more satisfying than any big meal and has only the most positive eternal consequences!