THANKSGIVING 2012

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."  Philippians 4:6,7 NKJV
This passage has always been especially dear to me for many reasons (not the least of which is that I have always been an anxious person), but in the recent past it has become special to me for another completely different reason:  those two little words, "with thanksgiving".  Sometimes I think that we (or at least, I) have a tendency to overlook those two important words........and believe me, they are very important!  So many times I have been looking for the answers to those "requests" or waiting for that "peace that passes all understanding" to arrive, and I tend to forget to thank Him for all of the things that He had already provided........not to mention giving thanks beforehand for the things that I am asking at that time!  You see, I believe that is exactly what this verse means, that whatever it is that we are praying for at that particular moment, we should be thanking Him for it before He even grants it.  Not too long ago a very wise Christian Counselor pointed this out to me, and I am so grateful that he did because it has changed my prayer life immensely!  There are alot of things in prayer that I had never really thought about when praying, like the verse in The Model Prayer where we asked to be forgiven of our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.  When I think about that, I really start quaking in my boots!  Do I really want to be forgiven by the way that I forgive??  I realize that I have digressed here, but I just had to get that thought out!  Clearly, this post is to be about Thanksgiving!  So, I have many, many things to be thankful for this year, but I really wanted to share my thoughts on this verse in Philippians because it has become so very dear to me lately........in fact, the whole book of Philippians is dear to me!  Some of the things that I am truly grateful for this Thanksgiving:  God and His Holy Word; a very wise Christian Counselor; my family; adoption and how God has blessed our family through it; God's provision for me; an awesome Church family; the gift of friendship; all of the miraculous ways that God is working in my life!  Obviously, I could go on and on and on, in fact, I just thought of several more things in that few seconds........you get the point!  I hope that each of you had a truly blessed Thanksgiving, as I did........many blessings to you until next time!