What I'm Not Thankful for This Year

Happy Thanksgiving! Hope you will have/are having/had an awesome Thanksgiving!!!

Isn't it amazing how reflective we get this time of year? I feel especially reflective. My daughter's first birthday is this week, so I'm really thinking about the days leading up to her birth. The labor. The surgery. My gorgeous daughter's little face now and then.

And turkey. I didn't get any turkey last year. I want turkey and stuffing this year. Yeah, I'm thinking about that, too.

I'm thinking about how this week five years ago, my husband and I started dating.

I'm also thinking about all the changes of the past year. Good and bad. I'm thinking about my daughter's first steps and the first time she got really sick. I'm thinking about my debut novel releasing. I'm thinking about my husband's new job. I'm thinking about my family.

These events play in my mind's eye. There are a lot of things that I am thankful for. So many blessings, opportunities, and triumph.

And there are a lot of things I'm not thankful. A lot of hurt and heartache. A lot of long days and sleepless nights. A lot of disappointments.

"Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, 'Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.'" Job 1:20-21

I was thinking about Job and how he still blessed God in the good and the bad. I have definitely not done that.

"Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." Ephesians 5:20

I have definitely not thanked God in the good and the bad, FOR the good and the bad.

My feelings towards many things this year wouldn't be described as thankful, but Job's words give me some perspective. Because all the things that I'm not thankful for this year could never outweigh the blessings I've been given. Starting with my God.

Give thanks.

Hugs!

V. Joy Palmer

"His Hearts Cry"

The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying: "Arise and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause you to hear My words."

Then I went down to the potter's house, and there he was, making something at the wheel.

And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make.

Then the word of the Lord came to me saying:

"O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter?" says the Lord. "Look, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel!

"The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it,

"if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it.

"And the instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it,

"if it does evil in My sight so that it does not obey My voice, then I will relent concerning the good with which I said I would benefit it.

"Now therefore, speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, 'Thus says the Lord: Behold, I am fashioning a disaster and devising a plan against you. Return now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.' "     Jeremiah 18:1-11

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I love that He sent me to the potter's house today for the very same reason that He had sent Jeremiah all those years ago. The Lord sent Jeremiah to the potter's house to observe the potter and his ways for a very special purpose. He wanted Jeremiah to receive a important message. One that He wanted delivered to His people. Remember, His heart is to always take the marred vessel in His hand  and rework it into a different vessel, a vessel of honor, made for His purpose. (Then the word of the Lord came to me saying: "O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter?" says the Lord. "Look, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel!") Jeremiah 18:5-6

He is the potter and we ARE the clay. Are we willing in this day and hour to do the very thing that He sent Jeremiah to the potter's house to do in his day. Are we willing, not only to receive this amazing message of hope for ourselves but are we willing to take it to the nations as well? Are we willing to call His people to a place of repentance? Are we willing to heed the words that He is speaking
and call His people into a place of obedience to truly hear His voice?

Are we willing to use our voice to echo His hearts cry for our generation ... "Return now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good!"

God Bless!