THANK OFFERINGS

Hello friends,family and foreigners,
There has been much time that has passed since I last posted on this blog because of a change in my lifestyle with homeschooling but this week everyone, even my husband has taken time off for Thanksgiving. I am so excited because it is my favorite holiday. Maybe you think that odd coming from a good Christian girl like myself. Why isn't Christmas and Easter at the top of my list? Of course I love Christmas when celebrated appropriately as it helps us focus on the birth of Our Savior and Easter too because of reflection on the Sacrifice that Jesus made so we could live at peace with God. But these holidays are no longer "holy" days in the world we live in. I have chosen to celebrate God and who He is everyday and it takes the stress out of trying to make these days the end all and be all to my worship of God. My family appreciates it when mom is not trying to rush everyone here and there and we can just enjoy each other.

That brings us to Thanksgiving! In a sweet new devotional I am reading called,Jesus Calling, Sarah Young writes as is Jesus is speaking. A few days ago, this was her entry: "Thankfulness opens your heart to My Presence and your mind to MY thoughts." This reminded me once again why I love this season we are in.
One night I was lying in bed praying for my brother which I had been doing for 20 years. He was the only member of my immediate family who was still running from the God who loved him first. He was a miserable,lost man. He never came around the family. It was as if he was hibernating away from all those who cared about him. He never wanted to expose himself to the Light. I tried to reach out to him as much as I could. I sent him cards and letters,helped him financially when his only child was born with Downs Syndrome and medical bills were piling up for all the surgeries he needed for his heart. I gave him great books to read that I hoped would open his heart to God's love. Because he loved to read, my Granny Langston gave him a Bible one year for Christmas. We decided that we would agree in prayer that he would have a desire to read it. Years went by and finally one day his wife made a passing comment at a family function. "You know, he reads that Bible every day." My heart lifted. God was moving!! Years went by.......... and that is where you find me at the beginning of this story.
Lying in bed,tears running down my face, I asked God,"Why haven't You saved Timmy yet?"
Like a bullet,not with pain but with quick precision,His answer came. It was a short statement about me,not my brother. I was shocked and a little perplexed but I didn't feel condemned or attacked. God said to me,"You don't THANK ME enough!" I quickly agreed with God and began at that very moment telling Him Thank You for all He was doing in my life. The next morning I wanted to continue to be obedient and I started a THANKSGIVING journal and each day I began to jot down a few things I realized I had never Thanked God for. It was amazing how many times He had answered very specific prayers and I had not even noticed. I had been doing this for about 2 weeks when my phone rang one morning. It was my brother. Immediately I knew that this phone call was either going to be very good or very bad. My brother had never called me in my adult life. He said,"Denise I needed to call you and tell you that today I tried to kill myself, I couldn't do it. I begged my wife to do it,she of course wouldn't do it. I was so miserable and unhappy and finally I fell on my knees and cried out,JESUS SAVE ME! Denise, He DID! You are the second person I called..... the first person was Granny Langston." This was the most wonderful phone call I have ever recieved. I jumped up and down praising God for hours afterward and never knew that God was teaching me something about Thanksgiving.

Months went by...... I was reading my Bible one morning and came across this verse: "He who sacrifices THANK OFFERINGS, honors ME and he prepares the WAY that I may show him the SALVATION of GOD"(Psalm 50:23) I was blown away.....that is why God wanted me to THANK HIM more. Through my Thankfulness, He prepared Timmy's heart for Salvation. Just like in Sarah Young's writings... Timmy's heart was opened to God's Presence and God's Thoughts toward him. Isn't that amazing!!!! So now you know why I love THanksgiving!

This is my simple prayer for you: May you THANK GOD and prepare the Way for HIS SALVATION!!!!" As you are gobbling turkey ponder that thought and know this I Thank My God for every remembrance of all of you who read this humble little blog!!! dedelang