Am I Really Thankful?

Yes, a very common theme every November.  Facebook is now full of people thanking God for their families, their friends, their jobs, their pets, their homes, their stuff.  And we are all truly blessed!!  But now this year is different for me.  At church this month we have talked about thankfulness.  How do you know you're thankful?  A thankful person...

1. is content.
2. is joyful.
3. is humble.
4. is forgiving.
5. is patient.
6. remembers.
7. is generous.
8. lives with a sense of anticipation.

Last week we talked about the first four, and I much enjoyed the discussion.  Tonight we started with #5 and pastor pretty much read my mail for the rest of the night!  Patient...really God?  Don't you know I have a child I've never met, on the other side of the world, who is in need of medical care, and I have heard NOTHING about our progress in 3 WEEKS?  Only the sound of crickets from China, I tell you!  And I need to be patient?  That's apparently what James 5 says.  Patient.

Then #6...Remember what the Lord has done.  When was the last time I dwelt on all the times God met me in the past, kept my family together, kept my kids healthy, and provided for us every step of the way?  Why is it so much easier to focus on the needs of the present?  Has God ever let me down before? 2 Cor 2:14

Then #7...Generous.  Lord, really??  Have you seen our paychecks go from 3 to 1?  Did you know it is more expensive to live in DC than it was California?  Have you seen what airline tickets to China cost now?  I filled 2 Christmas shoeboxes last year, so can that count for this year too?  I have my own kid in need!  It seems thankful people want to be generous, because they know they are merely stewards of what they have been given.  And since God is the source, we are free to be doers of HIS work without the worry of "if" we will have enough to do the job.

And #8...live with a sense of anticipation.  Not fear of how this whole thing is going to work out financially?  We are talking a GOD-sized number here you know!  Not anxiety over whether my boy will stay healthy until we get him home?  He is not being treated for a life-threatening disease, remember!  Anticipation...because with God all things are possible!  Luke 18:27

So through tears as we sang "Great is Thy Faithfulness," I made a choice!  I choose to be truly THANKFUL, including patient during this LONG adoption process, because I know God is in control.  I will remember how God has kept me and my family and always provided for us, so I do not have to worry.  I will be generous, because I want to bless others as God has blessed me!  And I will live with anticipation that God will write a beautiful ending to this adoption story, so that all who hear it will say, "Great is Thy Faithfulness!"

So as I am running over all of this in my head and surfing mindlessly on the computer, up pops an email...with sweet pics of my little boy, whom I've never met, on the other side of the world!

 

And I am truly THANKFUL!

"Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!  His faithful love endures forever!"  

I Chronicles 16:34