Hide His Words in your Heart---November's Verse

"Enter his gates with THANKSGIVING

and his courts with praise;

give thanks to him and praise his name."

~~Psalm 100:4

See, I'm true to my promise. Only one verse to memorize this month. Although it was hard, I really wanted to memorize the entire chapter of Psalm 100. Like most psalms, it's a beauty and such an encouragement. A psalm for giving thanks...and should be easy to remember during this particular month!! :)

Here's the thing....I want you to immediately think of the Lord's blessings when you walk into the grocery store, the craft store, the office supply store, when you look upon the bulletin boards or artwork at schools, the calendar on your desk at work, the butterball turkey commercials, the green bean casserole recipe from your Grandmother, the pilgrim hats your grandchildren will wear at lunch one day, the design graphics for all the TV specials and college football games......

Basically this is a deep sensory scripture memorization. Every time you see, hear, touch or smell THANKSGIVING, at any time this month, I want you to stop and thank the Lord. Give Him the honor and praise....for all of our blessings come forth only by HIS HAND alone.

And I must also give you an early challenge this month. I'm certain all of us will be able to hide these words in our heart long before the month ends. However, I would like you to take it a step further. Your challenge is this:

• Every single day, when you read your index card, or however you plan to memorize this verse, I challenge you to name a blessing from the Lord you are thankful for.....a different blessing, each day.
  

It's easy to come before God with a list of things we need help with, baggage from the past we can't let go, hurt, shame or pain that never seems to go away. And you know, we should, in fact we are commanded, to pray about those issues. However, we should also always remember to Praise God. Even in the bad times. Even when the day seems like there was nothing good that happened, nothing worthy to be thankful for, nothing at all. Look again. There is never a day we can't praise God by telling him how great he is.

I know that we have H3 participants (or their friends and family) in our group this month who will be experiencing life, the good and the bad with things such as heartaches, marital bliss, labor and delivery, travel, loss, marital dismay, a new business, unemployment, a new home, birthdays, financial burdens, physical therapy, the unknown....and the list goes on and on.

Every day we have SO much to be thankful for....even if it's when we look in the mirror and say, well, at least I'm having a good hair day. Because remember, he even knows how many hairs are on your head...including the grey ones!!

• Thank Him because your hair stylist can color those grey ones right up!
• Thank Him because your son can walk.
• Thank Him because the forecast shows no rain all week!
• Thank Him because your family is always there for you to lean on....even when miles separate you.
• Thank Him because sweet potato pie is your absolute favorite. Or pecan, or pumpkin, or anything dessert related!!!
• Thank Him because that cute sweater just went on sale.
• Thank Him because the foliage he paints every fall is gorgeous.
• Thank Him because your daughter reads His word.
• Thank Him because the weekends provide a time of rest, a big pot of chili, and some SEC football.
• Thank Him because you have parents who were Godly examples.
• Thank Him for dishwashers, I know I do.
• Thank Him for allowing you to know ladies who can make really good dressing. (I think you Northerners call it stuffing.) Too bad you don't have our southern dressing. I feel sorry you have to eat stuffing. :)
• Thank Him for showing you your mate...even if you were apprehensive to trust Him with that choice.
• Thank Him for the coupons in Sunday's paper, because they match up with your weekly meal plans.
• Thank Him because he holds your tongue.
• Thank Him for whoever invented cranberry sauce.
• Thank Him for Book Club.
• Thank Him because he gives you terrific friends to surround you in joy or sadness.
• Thank Him because he is your friend.
• Thank Him because he forgives you, daily.

Thank Him for sending his Son. Otherwise, we would certainly have nothing to be thankful for....

Okay, so get started. I encourage you to write down your thankful thoughts somewhere as reminders now and for years to come. Maybe on your calendar, in a journal, just jot down one word responses on a sheet of paper stuck in your bible, or maybe on a little something you'll be receiving in the mail from me. (And if you are new this month, or just didn't have time to participate last month, be sure to send me an e-mail (bowlingfamilymoments@yahoo.com) with your mailing address.) Or if you have aboslutely no idea what H3 is....click here to read more.

I may check in throughout the month, and post on what I was thankful for that day. I'd love to hear some of what you may be thankful for this month. If you have a thankful moment you want to share, a funny story, a sad time that brought about unexpected thankfulness, whatever the case may be, you can feel free to e-mail me, or leave a comment, or post it on your own blog, or send someone you are thankful for a note via the pony express. Who knows what blessings the Lord has in store for each of us this November.

And remember, EVERY day must be something NEW to be thankful for.....30 days, 30 thankful measures, no matter how big or small. Better start immediately, you're already 3 days behind. :)

Today, I'm thankful for all of you!