Thankful Thursday

1 Thessalonians 5:18 :  "in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."

Thankful Thursday....and I have so much to be thankful for! But if I had to choose just one "thankful" thing to write about today, it would be the promise of eternal life through my Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. That promise becomes dearer to me with each passing day as I see the condition of the world around me: wars, famines, earthquakes, and the list goes on and on; not to mention the hardships and suffering that I see my family and friends going through. There is pain and sorrow everywhere. It is easy to become disheartened and even depressed if I dwell on these things.

But I have to remind myself that this earthly home is not my eternal home. (If this world was the best that I could hope for, how sad that would be!) I need to keep my eyes looking heavenward, where the Lord has been preparing a place for me.  In these troubling times, what a comfort that is!  And the more I see of this earthly home, the more I long for my heavenly home -  to be with my Lord.

Hymnwriter Henry F. Lyte penned it well when he wrote:

"My rest is in heaven, my rest is not here,
Then why should I murmur when trials are near?
Be hushed my sad spirit; the worst that can come
But shortens the journey and hastens me Home."

Phillipians 3:20  : " For our citizenship is in heaven..."

 I'm so thankful for my heavenly home.....definitely something to look forward to!  :)


This post is linked up at http://theimperfecthousewife.com/2011/06/thursday-link-up-6/ 

and at http://www.eph2810.com/thankful-thursday/thankful-thursday-gods-shelter/

On Learning Contentment

Being content is something I've been trying to learn for a long time, and the Lord continues to work on me about it. I am so thankful for my loving -  and patient -  Heavenly Father.

It's not that I long for or wish for what someone else has or does. For me, it's mostly thinking, "Why do things like this have to  happen to me (or my family)?" But over the years I have (slowly) learned that the Lord uses all kinds of situations - good and bad - to help conform us to the image of His Son.

I like what John MacCarthur says about learning contentment, based on Phillipians, ch. 4...

- trust in God's providence
- be satisfied with little
- be independent from circumstance
- be sustained by Divine power
- have a pre-occupation with the well-being of others

The third point really hits home with me.  "independent from circumstance" So when things are going rough, I should not let it affect  me at all. Wow! That's a hard one! I find it much easier to just grumble and complain about it.  But as I tell my children (and I'm preaching it to myself, too), "The right thing to do is usually the hardest thing to do." So instead of asking, "Why me?",  maybe I should ask, "Why not me?"

"Now godliness with contentment is great gain."  1 Timothy 6:6

What's in a Name?

Some of you may be wondering how I came up the name for my blog. My dear father-in-law, who unexpectedly went Home to be with Lord on December 27th, would come have dinner with us twice a month. While looking at the children all seated around the table, he would say, "Seeing all your children around the table reminds of  Psalm 128:3."  So I guess you could say that the idea actually came from my Dad.