"Willingly I will sacrifice to You; I will give thanks to Your name, O LORD, for it is good."
"thanks" Hebrew word yadah Definition: to give thanks and praise, ALSO to confess the name of God
...for the Christian, it is not only to have a spirit of thankfulness but also a spirit of praise and to rightly confess that God is the Author of blessing - to publicly proclaim it.
So then, I want to publicly proclaim my thankfulness to God in a quick list here:
- I am thankful that my back injury pain is nearly overcome. I can sit and walk and lie down without the glass-sharp agony I had only months ago.
- I am thankful to God for giving me my wife Jill who has been a pillar of strength through all of this misery and trial.
- I am thankful that my mother-in-law Marlene is recovering from the blood clot ordeal. Thank you, Lord, for intervening!
- I am so very thankful for my children. Nicholas is full steam ahead in work and school studies. Peter is maturing every day. Julianne - now 4 years old - is the the entertainment value that every member of our family gets each evening. She's the Human Cartoon.
- I am thankful to God that He allows us to have the College Bible Study, and for me to travel and speak to various groups and conferences.
- Thank you, Lord, for the new writing assignments and book opportunities.
- Thank you, Lord God, for good friends like Doug Walker and Kerry McDuffie and the Mooreheads who showed genuine interest and gave serious prayer to our family during these trial periods.
- Thank you that I can say I have three jobs where I know that some people do not have one.
- Thank you for our home and that we can use it as a haven for Bibel studies and overnight stays for those needing one.
- Thank you for our dear British friends the Hydes, whose son Oscar is doing well at Princeton.
... among all other things, Lord, thank you that through this extremely brutal year You have been patient with me through my doubts, depression and crying. Thank you that You did not leave me nor forsake me. Thank you that You listened when I just could not pray but the Holy Spirit heard my groanings and utterings.
Thank you, Lord.
