Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Giving Thanks in Circumstances You'd Never Choose & Wednesday's Link-up Party!


This Thanksgiving week, maybe you like me, are stopping to ask yourself, "do I really possess a thankful heart?" I know Thanksgiving is a wonderful time with families, but for many, holidays are a difficult time. I want to speak to you today if you are facing a difficult time in your life this holiday season, or know someone who is.

I remember so well when my daughter, Mary, was born totally blind. Her story is here with a letter I wrote when she was born. No one but God knew that she would be born without eyes. It was as if God was saying to me ... 

Will you trust me, Juana? Will you praise me, Juana? Do you believe that I know what I'm doing? Will you believe that I'm trustworthy? Will you have a thankful heart?

I can tell you with certainty, while I didn't feel like trusting Him, I did. I did not trust him based on my feelings. We do not have to be slave to our feelings! Don't listen to the culture's bombarding messages to follow your feelings! I trusted God by a sheer act of my will. Obedience always lies in the will.

Thanksgiving is Obedience's brother—so to speak. We choose to have thankful hearts. The will of God is a course we choose, and we choose it by faith.

When my daughter was born, two well-meaning friends came to visit us on two different occasions. They wanted to pray that Mary would grow eyes.

God had been challenging me and teaching me for years before Mary was born to live with a thankful attitude. I knew in my heart, He wanted me to receive the gift of suffering that He had allowed, and to be thankful. I even talked with that dear saint of our faith, Elisabeth Elliot, about it when my little daughter was only 3 days old.

She said that when her second husband Addison Leitch was dying of cancer, many people told her that he would get well and the cancer would go away. She told me that she thanked them for their prayers (knowing that God could do a miracle, but thinking that they were setting themselves up for disappointment). I took her cue, and thanked our well-meaning friends for their prayers for our daughter.

More than anything, I wanted her, like my other children, to serve God wholeheartedly, and I wanted to thank God for all He was doing in spite of what Psalm 139 calls her "unformed parts." It was enough that her Creator God knew her even before she was born we're told in Jeremiah.

    "Thou hast given so much to me, Give one thing more, a grateful heart..." 
~George Herbert

Perhaps you know someone going through a difficult time with something in their life they never would have asked for or wanted. My friend is coming up on the one year anniversary of her son's death. He died just before Christmas last year. Another acquaintance lost her daughter this year in a car accident. Please pray for these families this Thanksgiving and  Christmas. You too, may know of someone who is facing a heartbreaking, unfathomable loss.

I pray for myself, too, that no matter what may befall me, that God will give me a grateful heart. I need God's grace in my life, too. I often write out of my own need!

Read the prayer below by Robert Louis Stevenson on giving thanks with a grateful memory.

We thank Thee, Lord, for the glory of the late days and the excellent face of Thy sun. We thank Thee for good news received {Juana: Excuse me for butting in on Robert but I can't stand not interjecting my good news here: I was praising and thanking God in the hospital after Mary was born blind to find out the next day that she could hear very well out of one ear! Two weeks later I was praising Him over the good news of a normal brain MRI. Her whole brain was there! Normal? She is in fact so smart that she can remember dates for up to three years ago!!! Philippians 4:8 became a Psalm in my heart! Whatever is true...noble...right... lovely...excellent...praiseworthy.... think about these things!}. We thank Thee for the pleasure we have enjoyed and for those we have been able to confer. And now, when the clouds gather and rain impends over the forest and our house, permit us not to be cast down; let us not lose the savor of past mercies and past pleasures; but, like the voice of a bird singing in the rain, let grateful memory survive in the hour of darkness.

I'm going to write a note to my friends I mentioned, and give them Robert Louis Stevenson's prayer. Perhaps there is someone you'd like to share the prayer or this post. My share buttons are at the bottom of this post below my signature.
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You might also enjoy this clip.
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Now it's time for 
Wednesday's Prayer Girls & Link-Up Party!

Each Wednesday I like to offer to pray for your non-confidential prayer request or praise in the comment section below. Please enter a prayer if you would like me to pray for you (and pray for one another!) and I will reply to your prayer there or if you just have a comment (click the word "COMMENT" located below my signature below, under the colorful social media sharing squares:-)


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If you're a Christian blogger, we all would love to see what you've been writing! Enter your blog link below to join the party! For readers, enjoy the blog party below!
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As always, I'd love to connect with you wherever you most like on: FacebookTwitterInstagramPinterest, Youtube or Google+You may follow my blog here or on Bloglovin'. 


Walk by Faith,

19 comments:

  1. What an amazing prayer by Robert Louis Stevenson and a moving post sharing a relevant message to us all. Have a blessed week.

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    1. Thank you, Dayle! So happy you are here today! Happy Thanksgiving!

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  2. What a beautiful reflection on Thanks.

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    1. Hi DD! {Hard working pasta-making Mom!} Thank you so much for taking time to say such a nice comment.

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  3. What a beautiful voice and song your daughter has. Thank you for sharing.

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    1. Oh, thank you, Jamie! Thanks for taking time to say such a beautiful compliment for her! Happy Thanksgiving!

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  4. I am so glad that I found your blog and especially today's post. My son has epilepsy, delays, sensory issues. We saw a new doctor this week and have to start a who new path with more testing and assessments. This has been our life for 4 years now. We too choose to be thankful each day.

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    1. Oh Sandy, so glad to "meet" you, the best we can at this point! I so identify with you, & want to pray for your now. Lord, give Sandy patient endurance as they begin a new road in the long road she has already been on. May she know your constant prescence & assurance that your will is perfect, and in fact your work the best in weakness (forgive me Lord for wording it that way, for all your ways are perfect!) Help Sandy know that there is no fulfilment in life compared to you working out your whole will in our lives day by day, including for her lots of doctor's appointments. Amen.

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  5. What a beautiful prayer by Robert Louis Stevenson. So glad that you shared it! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

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    1. Happy Thanksgiving to you, Joanne! I love to pass on the best of what I find!

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  6. Just what I needed to hear today! I'm scheduled for additional test to follow up on a recent mammogram. This is as much as spiritual battle as it is a medical matter.

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    1. Yes, Rebecca! Lifting you up right now. Dear Lord, I lift Rebecca up to you, the God who Sees us! You go before Rebecca & we ask you give her a heart of trust & thanksgiving in You that she may do your will moment by moment, Amen.

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  7. Juana,
    I love this post--you're transparency shines a bright light of truth and hope to those who may be facing their own dark night of the soul. What a precious gift it is to know that no matter the difficulty, God's mercy will follow us and His love will keep us. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.
    From Florida,
    Debi

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    1. Hi Debi in Florida! I so appreciate you being part of the conversation and what the Lord's doing on the linkup here! You kind words meant so much to me Debi, and a big Happy Thanksgiving to you down in the sunny state! Love, Juana

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  8. I for one, do not thank my Father enough, but we have SO much to be thankful for. Thank you for reminding us. Prayers for Wayne, feeling better after his last Chemo treatment. Next scan December 12th, then surgery decisions. Prayers still for Mary and housing. For me and my jewelry business this HOLYday season, going well, but would love more sales. With all the added expenses of houseguests, there may not be much for our own family this CHRISTmas. Please pray specifically these last few days of the month that my husbands invoices will be paid.

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    1. Happy Thanksgiving, Jana! Let's pray now. Heavenly Father, we lift up Jana's friend Wayne to You. Guide his surgery decision. We thank you that he is feeling better right in time for Thanksgiving. We pray for housing for Mary & her children. We pray for those invoices to be paid, Lord, and for favor on Jana's jewelry business this Christmas. All of our hope & confidence is in You, Lord. Amen.

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  9. Thanks for sharing your daughter's lovely version of this Psalm with us!

    I also love Elisabeth Elliot! I've read all of her books and remember searching the computer archives for hours to find and read transcripts of her radio program. She has spoken truth into my life and so many others. What a blessing that you have such a special relationship with her!

    I teach English in a Christian high school & every other year or so have one of my classes read Through Gates of Splendor. Then we watch the related documentary & movie (Beyond the Gates of Splendor & End of the Spear.) My class is always fascinated.

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    1. Oh, what a great English teacher you are! Your students are bless, Renee! I'm so glad you are here, and hope you come back to join us regularly!!! I have Beyond Gates of Splendor the movie, which I bought to share with middle schoolers (but I love the footage on it, too!) You might enjoy clicking the "Elisabeth Elliot" tab on the top right-hand side of my blog. Love, Juana

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