Saturday, November 03, 2012

Things I'm Thankful For

November is the month when we stop to give thanks for all of our blessings.  On Facebook, Twitter, and blogs , I see that many people are observing "Thirty Days of Giving Thanks." Each day during the month, they post one thing for which they are thankful.  What a great way to observe the season.

When I was teaching school, I taught the children a song entitled "Things I'm Thankful For." As we sang the song, I walked around the room with a hand-held microphone.  It wasn't connected to anything, but that didn't matter.  When we came to the refrain, we sang, "I'm thankful for..." and I held the microphone up to one of the children who would name something for which they were thankful.  I don't know about the children, but I loved it!  I was always touched by the way the children responded, naming so many things that we often take for granted!  That song always comes to my mind whenever someone asks, "What are you thankful for?" 

There are many things I am thankful for,
I can find them near and far.
There are many things I am thankful for,
Let me tell you what they are.

I'm thankful for...

    Each new day,
    for time to work and time to play
   
I'm thankful for....

     Our daily bread. a nice warm bed
    and a roof overhead

I'm thankful for...

    Family and friends who through the years
    have stood beside me in laughter and tears

I'm thankful for...

    Pastors and teachers in church and school
    Who teach us to live by God's golden rule

I'm thankful for...

    The sunshine and I'll be thankful for the rain
    whenever God chooses to send it again

I'm thankful for...

    Freedom to worship and freedom to pray
    and for those who serve to keep it that way

I'm thankful for...

    So many things today
    But most of all, I'd have to say
   
I'm thankful for...

    God, the Father, and for Jesus his son
    for it is through him that the vict'ry is won

No matter how you do it, make every day this month one when you "Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name."
Psalm 100:4