Day 28
I am thankful that I have not 1 but 2 wonderful families that are close enough to celebrate Thanksgiving with. It can be hard to split time on holidays between two families, but it is worth it! I am also thankful that I was able to host my family this Thanksgiving. We had such a wonderful time sitting around the table talking about our blessings and eating yummy food.
Day 29
I am grateful to have the extra money to go shopping to buy things for my home and Christmas presents for others. Do you participate in Black Friday? My mom and sisters always like to go out together on this day. We try to avoid the craziness as much as possible... we never stand in line waiting to get in to a store and we refuse to go shopping on Thanksgiving day now that many stores open Thursday evening. We are very rarely after a hot ticket, door buster item, so there is no need to involve ourselves in ridiculous behavior over sales, but we do enjoy this shopping day/night together as girls. We get up early (or this year we went out at 12:30am), get ourselves some Starbucks and do some Christmas shopping together.
Day 30
I am grateful for Christmastime! We always spend the weekend after Thanksgiving setting up our Christmas decorations and trimming our Christmas trees. It is a great way to transition from the fall season into the winter and Christmas spirit. Love, love love the spirit of celebration and anticipation that is in the air the whole month of December, don't you?
Todays sermon just so happened to fit beautifully with the end of this 30 Days of Thanks series. My pastor preached on 1 Chronicles chapters 15-16 with the focus on Praising the Lord. He spoke on the need to praise the Lord continuously, creatively, in celebration and despite circumstances. And to remember that God inhabits the praises of His people! What a great reminder that it is important to Praise God and thank Him for who He IS and the great things He has done not just during the month of November as we celebrate Thanksgiving, but all throughout the year.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name;
make known among the nations what he has done.
9
Sing to him, sing praise to him;
tell of all his wonderful acts.
10
Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
11
Look to the Lord and his strength;
seek his face always.
12
Remember the wonders he has done,
his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,
13
you his servants, the descendants of Israel,
his chosen ones, the children of Jacob.
14
He is the Lord our God;
his judgments are in all the earth.
15
He remembers[c] his covenant forever,
the promise he made, for a thousand generations,
16
the covenant he made with Abraham,
the oath he swore to Isaac.
17
He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree,
to Israel as an everlasting covenant:
18
“To you I will give the land of Canaan
as the portion you will inherit.”
19
When they were but few in number,
few indeed, and strangers in it,
20
they[d] wandered from nation to nation,
from one kingdom to another.
21
He allowed no one to oppress them;
for their sake he rebuked kings:
22
“Do not touch my anointed ones;
do my prophets no harm.”
23
Sing to the Lord, all the earth;
proclaim his salvation day after day.
24
Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous deeds among all peoples.
25
For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise;
he is to be feared above all gods.
26
For all the gods of the nations are idols,
but the Lord made the heavens.
27
Splendor and majesty are before him;
strength and joy are in his dwelling place.
28
Ascribe to the Lord, all you families of nations,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
29
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
bring an offering and come before him.
Worship the Lord in the splendor of his
holiness.
30 holiness.
Tremble before him,
all the earth!
all the earth!
The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved.
31
Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;
let them say among the nations, “The Lord reigns!”
32
Let the sea resound, and all that is in it;
let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them!
33
Let the trees of the forest sing,
let them sing for joy before the Lord,
for he comes to judge the earth.
34
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his love endures forever.
35
Cry out, “Save us, God our Savior;
gather us and deliver us from the nations,
that we may give thanks to your holy name,
and glory in your praise.”
36
Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting.
1 Chronicles 16:9-36
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