Thanksgiving, Being Thankful

[LauraA]

I thought this would be a good time to start a thread about things we are thankful for.

Colosians 3:15
And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.

I'm feeling very thankful these days that my husband has a job that is stable and not in any known threat of being cut. Thank you, Jesus!

[Kelly]

I'm thankful for God's perfect timing and His understanding and forgiveness when I get impatient waiting for things to happen.

I'm also thankful for my wonderful, extremely close-knit family! We're like a group of best friends! It's amazing! And others are constantly commenting on how close a family we are. It's a very rare thing and such a blessing!

[LauraA]

That is amazing, Kelly! God is so good.

I'm also thankful for my family. I'm thankful that our little guy always prays and says "Thank you, Jesus for my family, and my gerbils and my dog." :) It touches my heart.

[drake71449]

i am thankful for all of you my family in Christ and for my earthly family and that they are saved...and for J and his full committment to Christ and his family...i am thankful for what Jesus Christ did on the cross and the salvation that is free

jd :p

[drake71449]

there really are not enough words to even to begin to thank God for all he has blessed me with

:p

[DawnAurora]

I'm thankful that the Lord is still running Deschappelles.

[LauraA]

I'm thankful for all the precious friends that I've been blessed with through Jeremy's old and new message boards. You are all so wonderful and encouraging!

[Kelly]

I'll second that for sure!!! I look back and part of me can't believe it's been almost a year since I joined TC, and part of me can't believe it's ONLY been a year! So much has changed in my life this year and this ministry has been a HUGE part of that change. I am forever grateful for this place, for all of you, for Jeremy and the band, for his ministry. What a blessing it's been in my life! Love you guys!

[mst]

I am thankful that the Lord has brought me through many family struggles with my son.I am thankful that Nate is at palce where he is receiving the help he needs.I am thankful that my daughter, Cahty & I have a better realtionship.

Mostly , I am thankful that I have learned to lean on God and don't get stressed out as much from situations.I am thankful for my family, my church family and my jeremycamp boards family.

[Psalms23]

I am thankful for being raised in a Christian Base home!

[Kelly]

What I'm thankful for: http://kellygirl.tumblr.com/post/61739157/what-are-you-thankful-for

[HAPPYHANDS4JESUS]

I'm thankful that my brother is safe he's home with us now:D.
and family. I don't think there's anough room on here to say all that I'm thankfl for lol:D

[drake71449]

thankful to have met such wonderful ppl here on the boards

:p

[Psalms23]

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

[Kelly]

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!! Mine's been awesome so far! Hope yours has been too!

[wwjd26]

i am thankfull for my family friends and church if i didnt have my church that i do now i would be really diffrent and i am thankfull for animals:D

[drake71449]

amen thankful for my family in Christ and for the health of the lil one on the way

:p

[cori]

i'm thankful for all that the Lord has done in my life this year. to make a long story short, i started the year off in a serious struggle with depression - last fall (as soon as it was cool enough to get away with long sleeves without being questioned), i started cutting, and by Easter my dr had put me on prozac (which was another incredibly low blow). truly, words cannot describe the depth of self-hatred i was consumed with. my family was falling apart, my marriage seemed hopeless, my children were suffering MAJOR consequences of financial struggles, the battles in my heart & mind brought more shame & grief than everything else combined. in short, i was falling short in every POSSIBLE area of life. in june, i told my husband i wanted to file (serious issues, not just me running away in search of something better), and i took the boys & went to spend some time with my family (which is equally as messed up as what mine had been) to clear my head before stepping out into my own apt, etc...

while in colorado, i was separated from all of the constant reminders of my failures, therefore able to HEAR Him again (i was hearing Him during the battle, but it was so muddled with my own voice & we musn't forget the familiar voice of satan!). He restored a lot of things that were broken beyond words, and, in a month's time, i was able to come home from colorado & stay in my home and try to repair my marriage.

the cutting is done (i was done with that before the prozac RX, due to a cutting mishap that landed me 4 hrs in the ER - leaving my babies with a mere acquaintance (now friend) and 4 hrs to really face what i had done), and the prozac ran out at the end of july. God told me to not get the refill (which, honestly, i struggled with wondering if that was the Lord or my own flesh, because...i really hated myself even MORE for needing the prozac - and it was a very unpleasant experience outside of my own pride! i felt the same emotionally, but i was unable to react because of the chemical adjustment, but it turned out that it actually WAS His voice & not my own), so i've been off of the prozac since aug.

and i have NEVER felt better. i actually FEEL what people are talking about when they refer to the JOY OF THE LORD! O.O

i came back to CA on july 21, and it was early august that i bought Beyond Measure. (prior to that, i only had ONE JC song - enough - on a worship together compilation cd) i had heard some of his stuff on the radio, but...i'm a cd buff, myself. i don't listen to the radio except when my husband wants it on (and he prefers tv, so...it's limited to in the van or going to bed), so i knew i liked his music, but..i was unsure about buying an entire CD. but i did.

yep, let it fade was the first song that really spoke to me, because my depression was primarily fueled by the things in my past that would constantly haunt & torment me. i am still in the midst of those skeletons, but...i have learned how to deal with them and learn from them, rather than bowing to their chilling reminders of who i WAS. (i could not grasp the concept that they were reminding me who i WAS....kept feeling like it was who i AM) then beyond measure....man, that one broke some pride, for sure! if JC can be where HE'S at after everything that HE'S been through, what the heck am i sniveling for?!?!?! (of course, God's correction through that song was much more gentle than that - that was my beating-myself-over-the-head paraphrase! lol) and then i am nothing - (for now), that is my all time favorite. "seems i'm always in this place, where the things i seem to take, are the things i wish would fade." i'm telling you, God had JC write that song JUST for me!

anyway, i hope this is not coming out as pride, because it's soooooo NOT pride. but...i look at myself today, and i reflect on who i was a year ago (a very FAST year, mind you!), and....there is absolutely NO explanation for the change except the gracious hand of the Lord.

and for that, i am thankful.

so much for SHORT, eh? sorry!!! (and i still want to post the story about my dad!!!)

[cori]

ok....witnessing to my dad.

it's always been an interesting conversation (every time i've tried before), because he was raised lutheran. but, you'd never, in a bajillion years KNOW that just by looking at him. my parents are the TALK Christians, but the WALK is straight through the muck of the world. so, as i'm sure many Christians do when it comes to witnessing to their families, i got discouraged & frustrated, and figured that, in light of maintaining the REST of the relationship, i would stop trying to cram God down his throat.

ok, so the last 5 yrs have been really hard on him. REALLY hard. he discovered years of infidelity on my mother's part, believed all of her pathetic excuses & lies about it and tried to move on. only to experience MORE infidelity. but...you see, my dad's way old school - you don't walk out on marriage, men don't cry, dad is the provider, etc... anyway, because of the stress (the infidelity, plus many OTHER issues that i'll spare you the details of) of the last decade or so raised his blood pressure through the roof. his face is ALWAYS flushed & he needs the air conditioning when everyone is freezing (legitimately freezing, too! not just "ooh, i'm cold" when the rest of the room is hot). he's been on blood pressure meds & countless other meds, all stemming from his marriage. (and you have no idea how hard this is to acknowledge these truths about my own mother!) so..i was very worried about him when i was there visiting in june/july.

after i headed home, he told my mom that they were done & moved into my sister's garage. (hopefully things are about to turn for him, because i'd wager that a garage home in a colorado winter is downright COLD!) and my sister called me last sunday morning with bad news.

my grandpa - my DAD'S dad - had died earlier in the week, and my dad is broker than broke, unable to get to the funeral (being held the day before thanksgiving) - can i help. seriously, i honestly didn't think my dad could handle anything else! (my mom had ZERO reaction to his leaving, and apparently in the last few weeks, decided to up & move to wisconsin without bothering to tell ANYONE where/when/why...i can maayyyyyybe see why she didn't tell my dad, but to not tell her own kids?? i just don't get that) so...i told my sister that absolutely, positively, i would do everything i could on my end to help get him there. and then i talked to my dad. who was NOT doing well - he was on the verge of tears, and...reminder, he's one of the gruff-gruff-real-men-dont-cry types. needless to say, he didn't talk to me for long, because it's a great source of humiliation for him to cry.

anyway, he ended up renting a car to get there & was not even going to bother himself with trying to figure out how he was going to get home. he had enough money to get there, and....i think he was hoping that somehow things would work out so that he wouldn't need to borrow money to get there, or that if he DID need financial help, he could ask one of his brothers, rather than one of his kids (dad=provider). i kept trying to press him for the truth there & reminding him that i was HAPPY to help if he needed it, but he just kept saying, "i just want to GET there - i'll figure everything else out once the service is done."

so, off he went. he arrived early tuesday afternoon (was driving to north dakota from colorado). i didn't call him tuesday, because i knew he would be busy with his family there (has not seen any of them for years) - i didn't call weds, because i didn't know WHAT time the service was & did NOT want to interrupt that - and i didn't call on thurs, because i didn't know what was going on with the family there for thanksgiving, mourning, etc... but i finally called him yesterday morning.

service was nice, he looked just like normal - got the coroner's report & he died of natural causes (well, he had a lot of things wrong with him, that he should have been on meds for, but...he didn't die of cancer or anything suspicious). small talk as i'm trying to get a feel for how my dad is doing, because, to be completely honest, i've been VERY worried about him. so then i asked him when he was headed home (to segway into the "do you need money" part of the conversation i knew he was dreading). he told me that his 2 sisters had left that morning to go home, so now it was my dad & his 2 brothers staying to tie up loose ends. then he was going to drive one of his brothers home to belgrade, mt, and be back in colorado by the end of next week. while we were talking, he said that he & my uncle were on their way to return the rental car. so....get ready for what God did!!!!!

i asked him if he decided to turn it in & then just rent another when it was time to head out (that was one of his dilemmas - what is the best financial decision - to KEEP the rental car the entire time he was gone, or to return the car & have no transportation while there and then rent another to get home). he said that he did not NEED the rental car anymore, and would not need to rent one to get home - HIS DAD LEFT HIM THE TRUCK!!!! which, i found out, is a bigger blessing than just having something willed to you - my dad's truck has been on its last leg for a few months, like so bad that he's been wondering if he'll actually MAKE it to work when he goes! so....it was an immediate AND a long term provision!

so then i asked if he would need help with gas money, and he said, "money isn't going to be a problem either - dad took care of that," so i suspect that he left my dad some money, too. how much, i don't know - i don't care, so i did not ask, but....how awesome how the Lord works, right!

so, i took those opportunities - especially since i had a concrete example in my DAD'S life to work with - to share about how God saw those needs, and God worked through this awful, tragic situation to create a beautiful blessing to MEET those needs. and the best part??? MY DAD ACKNOWLEDGED IT!!!!!! he's always very patiently listened to me as i've tried to share God with him (and the rest of my family), but he's never really agreed with anything....when he agreed yesterday when i pointed it out, i could tell it was like fresh revelation for him, and i could almost literally hear him drinking it in. it was amazing. :)

and, he sounded much better than he's sounded in a long time. it was like getting away from the stresses in HIS life (my mom & all the other issues they had between them), and reconnecting with OTHER people who love him opened his eyes & ears to the Lord. he sounds MUCH less stressed - he actually sounds HAPPY, which i have not heard in years!

so, i am also thankful for God's hand in THAT area of my life. :) i love Him!

[Kelly]

Wow that's so awesome! Thanks for sharing Cori! Praise God! :)

[drake71449]

amen cori....its just amazing how God works...and i'm so thankful for all the blessings God gives us wether we are saved or unsaved...for real...looking back at when i wasnt saved i could have died a couple of times or been in a worse shape than i am now...so i just thank Him for all things

:p

[cori]

i hear you, drake! i "got saved" when i was 8 (had full awareness of the decision i was making, but had NO concept of a RELATIONSHIP with Jesus being THE KEY....). when i was 11, my family was in a serious car accident - my mom's pelvis was shattered & she was supposed to never be able to walk again, my sister lost her left hand, and i had MAJOR head trauma (i suspect that i was in a coma, because i was told my injuries were the worst, yet my sister & mother were in the hospital much longer than i was). we ALL should have died that day - we had 7 people crammed in one of the old broncos (you know, the uber-cool ones that had no interior anything...just seats inside that metal box!), and we rolled. none of us had seatbelts on, so we were all thrown from the vehicle, which rolled SEVERAL times (the top of the vehicle was completely flat....COMPLETELY flat), and managed to not roll on top of ANYONE!! (it rolled OVER a couple of us, but did not touch us!)

when things have gotten tough, satan has tried to convince me to walk away from God - you know, those dry times when it seems He's so far away - but....when i remember that day, you can't TELL me that God doesn't have a plan for our lives!

(and, for the record -> mom is walking, has been since less than a year after the accident, does not even have residual PAIN from the accident; sister has no limitations with only one hand; and my only remnant of the accident is serious migraines...GOD IS GOOD!!!)

[drake71449]

WOW... we are so undeserving of the LOVE of GOD...and we are so BLESSED by him each and every day

:p

[cori]

indeed! just remembering that day makes me want to spend the rest of the year on my face in repentance for all the times i've been tempted to walk away when it's tough.

i'm SO grateful for His faithfulness, even when i'm not!

[drake71449]

Amen....he said he would never leave us nor forsake us....thankful for the comforter

:p

[cori]

heather clark (canadian worship leader - the female equivalent to JC, in my book -> www.heatherclarkband.com/New_Site/Home.html if you're interested...) said it best (talking about God & all that He is for us):

"never changing, yet always moving" (i can't remember the REST of the line, but...that's the part that this conversation made me think of...i can get the rest of the line, too, if you want it)

[drake71449]

checkin it out now!

:p

[cori]

she's amazing....she also has a myspace page with some music on it (i don't think you can hear any of her music on her site....), and....i've got most of her stuff. she did a lot of the worship for the outpouring of the Lord in lakeland, fl earlier this year. 2 cd's came out of that, but she felt that God wanted her to do more, so she put some of the music on a cd & gave it away for free, encouraging those of us who got it to give it out. so...i can hook you up, if you want! lol

and....i can sing with her! jeremy's a little LOWWWW for me....not that i care, i still sing, but....working on the "joyful" part of the noise in that verse (make a joyful noise unto the Lord)! lol anyway....

if you're interested in that cd, let me know & i'll figure out how to get it to you :)

[drake71449]

hey i would love to hear her stuff...whats the myspace addy.... and i would love to see what your vocal range is too...J is actually a tad too high for me...he's more of a B range and i'm an A range...as far as my quartet leader says

:p

[cori]

hey i would love to hear her stuff...whats the myspace addy.... and i would love to see what your vocal range is too...J is actually a tad too high for me...he's more of a B range and i'm an A range...as far as my quartet leader says

:p

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewProfile&friendID=53259617 - heather clark's myspace page

lol, my vocal range - other than the falsetto stuff (not a big fan of that, personally), i can match her note for note. i just don't sound as nice as she does! lol i LOOOOOVE singing, but....whether or not those around me love it WHEN i sing....that all depends, i guess...lol

are you interested in that free cd she did? i can get it to you....

[Jesuskid]

My family. and my chruch. my music. my AWESOME God!

[drake71449]

i'm reviving this but...today i wanna thank GOD for all he continues to bless me...a sinner saved by grace...with....i seen the doctor today for my check up and labs...all i was charged for was the lab work...i thank GOD so much for his blessings...like J said....I'm so in love with you....and :) i finally have learned the song "so in love"

thank you GOD for saving me before i needed saving!!!

:p

[Convicted]

Everytime I hear Jeremy's song, "So In Love" it reminds me of a song from a cassette tape that I've had for like a decade. The song says basically the same thing, "Lord, I'm so in love with You. For everything You are, and everything You do, Lord I'm so in love with You." That really is the core of everything I'm thankful for.

On Thanksgiving, it's really something we should do everyday of the year, not just once. I have too much to be thankful for... I couldn't even tell all of it. This is why we should continual be in a thankful heart, because it not only gives God the praise He deserves but it puts our hearts in the right attitude. The more we look at the many things we CAN be thankful for, the more the things that we aren't thankful for pale in comparison. And really, we can even be thankful for those things, if we see them in a different light.