Last
time, I began a list of items I’m thankful for, each correlating to a letter of
the alphabet. I stopped in the middle,
at “M”. This last half was more
difficult than the first, just because of letters like Q and Z. I had fun though! Without further ado, let’s resume.
N: Nourishment. I may have surprised you
with this one. Hunger and thirst are
very powerful motivations; that’s why I submit that food and water are
incredible gifts for which we should be thankful to God to receive.
O: Olfactory sense. That is, the marvelous gift of the sense of
smell.
P: Preaching/Sermons. Just as food is nourishment for the body,
Biblical sermons are nourishment for the soul and spirit.
Q: Quantity of
life. Psalm 139 says that God predetermines the number
of our days before even one of them unfolds.
Quantity of life, therefore, is ultimately in God’s hands, and I’m so
thankful for this fact. I’m also
grateful for whatever amount of days God has chosen for me.
R: Roam. According to my thesaurus, some synonyms for
“roam” are words like “stroll” “walk” and “traverse”. I am thankful for the ability to stroll,
roam, and walk!
S: Songs/music. What a gift!
I have found that when I’m discouraged and depressed, it’s helpful to
listen to uplifting, edifying music.
T: Taste/touch. That covers the five
senses; sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. I’m appreciative to God for each of them.
U: Unseen realm of
Heaven. It was Greg Laurie who said that whenever a
loved one passes away, you begin to live with one foot in the door of Heaven. He’s right.
I certainly have gripped tighter to the reality of Heaven than ever
before since my dad passed away.
V: Vehicle. My car has endured a
lot over these years, but it continues to get me from point A to point B.
W: Writing/words. I love to write. It is a
wonderful gift for me to write in this blog.
Further, when I say “words” I mean the ability to speak. If you’ve ever temporarily lost your voice due to a sickness, like I have, you know what a wonderful blessing it is to have
a voice to speak.
X: (E)xercise. Here’s another sensational gift!
It’s wonderful to work off the stresses of life by exercising.
Y: Yahweh/Jehovah. Did I surprise you with this one? George W. Knight and Rayburn W. Ray in their
book “The Illustrated Bible Dictionary” write this regarding their definition
of Jehovah: “A translation of Yahweh,
a Hebrew word for God in the O.T. [Old Testament] that indicates His eternity
and self-existence. This word is based
on a Hebrew verb meaning “to be”; thus, the name “I AM” by which God revealed
Himself to Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3:14).” No matter what I go through, I am thankful that
the eternal God of the universe – Yahweh – is always with me.
Z: Zany moments. My life can be intense, chaotic, and heavy;
I’m thankful for every instance of zany, light, silliness that comes my way.
The
grand truth is that even though I’ve listed twenty-six things I’m thankful for,
I have only scratched the surface.
There’s so much more that I didn’t mention! This is not even close to an exhaustive
list. What I’m trying to convey with
this is how it’s important to practice thankfulness and gratitude in life.
To
be continued!
Kevin
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