Thank You is Not Enough

"Thank you" is such a small phrase to show gratitude to a God so wonderful, A God who sent His one and only Son to die on the cross for all of us, for me.

I did not reside in Orphan Annie's "cell block" in the orphanage but boy did I have a hard knock life. I have experienced things that some of you could never even imagine and have lived through it all.

Why?

Because God has never left my side and His faitfulness is awesome.

I reflect a lot. I suppose it's because I am a writer but in my reflections, I laugh, I get angry, I cry but most of all I rejoice.

What have I triumphed through with God's help?

So many things. So many horrors. But only for God to always be glorified at the end.

I have been attacked on more than one occassion.

I have had a gun pointed to my head, twice.

I have been on deaths door a few times.

I have seen abuse in my family as a child and have experienced it first hand from a self proclaimed atheistic father, young and overwhelmed with family and responsibilities.

I have experienced death in my family, loved ones who have surely gone to be with the Lord and others that I pray, repented before dying.

I wear the scars of major surgeries that have practically cut me in half.

I have lost dear friends.

I have lost possessions of things that were precious to me.

And yet...I can not cease Thanking God, daily for my life.

I have been attacked but I have been rescued and lived to tell the story another day and to console others who have gone through the same experieince and tell them "I know what you are going through." without being hypocritical or insensitive.

I have had a gun pointed to my head and have had the shooter run away,cry or fall on thier knees and ask for forgiveness.

I have had a knife pointed to my neck, the tip burying in, only to have the assailant flee for no apparent reason (that he knows of)

I have returned from experiencing God glorious wonders in a Holy Spirit packed service just to get beaten by my father as soon as I walked through my front door at home, just because I attended church.

I have been told I will die by my doctors and here I am typing these words to you.

Those who do not know God would probably think I should be resentful, bitter or angry but I can't be.

Don't be mistaken there are times when the "Why me?" person comes out but then there is that ever consoling, loving hand that reassures me that I was never alone and will never be alone and through the good times and the bad, through the celebrations and the grief, He will be there for me always.

Thank You Father for my life, spiritually,physically and emotionally.

Thank you for the friends you have given me near and far.

Thank you for giving me an appreciation to embrace the differences in my friends and to celebrate the diversity of your people.

Thank you for friends of all different shapes, sizes, ethnicities, religions and backgrounds.

Thank you for my husband, my precious loving husband, we grew together in you and have lived God centered our entire married life.

Thank you for my dear, dear children from birth to womanhood. They have grown so much. Thank you for letting me witness their enormous stages of development, thier successes, thier triumphs.

Thank you for allowing me to witness thier first steps,words, phrases and praises to You.

Thank you for allowing me to hold thier tiny, fragile and beautiful bodies in my hands and for giving me the privilege to see them walk down the wedding aisle, preach a sermon, become productive citizens in society and making thier mark as Christians.

Thank you for the laughter.

Thank you for my sense of humor.

Thank you for the humor in my family and friends.

Thank you for my appreciation of music and literature.

Thank you for my voice.

Thank you for my words.

Thank you for those who teach me about You.

Thank you for the abiltiy to understand Your word.

Thank you for the Holy Spirit who You have sent to guide us.

Thank You for Your Son, the greatest gift of all.

My Thank you list can go on forever but as you can see it is much longer than my prior list.

This doesn't mean that I will not suffer, it only means that I have hope and peace and strength through those few times of suffering.

Thank you is such a small phrase for the ultimate gift given to me, my salvation through Jesus Christ, the son of God.

Count it all Joy as long as your will is being done, Father.