Appropriate thanksgiving…

We’re on a good streak right now and I’ve often heard that when things are going well, we often forget to give God the thanks and attention He deserves. We’re real good at complaining, asking for help or lifting up our anxiety and concerns to Him, etc… so I want to take a moment to give God His due in all this. Certainly His hand has been in all these things going on (which, I realize begs the bigger question of where His hand is in things when they are not going so great; the great problem with pain and evil. I’m not about to get in a theological debate here, but I will say, He’s there in those things, too.) and I am so thankful and full of rejoicing in knowing He has guided our path all along the way.

In the span of the last few days my dad has gone into the hospital with chest pains and returned home after having a stent put in, feeling way better than he did before he went in, we closed on our new house (quite possibly our forever home) and found out that all is good with the sale of our current home (the appraisal came back at value and with no additional repairs). Thank you, God. I feel overwhelmingly blessed and lucky. My dad reminded me that God helps those that helps themselves – not sure I wholeheartedly adhere to that thought since I believe He also helps those who cannot help themselves – but I do agree that we have to do our part in things (God wasn’t going to sell our house without our cleaning and packing – not that He couldn’t, just that He maybe wouldn’t; and if my dad hadn’t listened to his body and taken himself to the ER, things could have taken a very bad turn), but that without Him, it all would not have gone as smoothly and as low-stress as it has gone (despite my useless worrying). God’s timing is perfect, but it is not always ours (if it was, for sure Simon would be working first shift by now) but He sees the bigger picture and brings it all together so much better than we ever could have imagined. There are often lessons to be learned along the way and sometimes those lessons rather suck, but without lessons, we would never learn. So I’m thankful it’s not my problem to figure it all out, but it is my job to listen to His voice as best I can, give credit where credit’s due and enjoy the blessings He’s bestowed.

Our family is currently in the midst of a season of change and I know it will bring some growing pains, but it’s the trials in life that make us stronger and condition us to do the hard work that can lie ahead. We are also entering a season of thanksgiving and are able to give thanks and recognize that we are so very blessed. Hopefully we are doing that without it seeming like bragging because that is the furthest thing from how I feel… all this goodness was not of my own doing and I didn’t receive it because I did anything right but because I have a good Father who gives good gifts. And it’s a beautiful thing.