Day 25

Why I Am Thankful

If you had asked me a few months ago what I was thankful for, the first things that would have come to mind would have been a bunch of really nice circumstances. Family, church, friends, comforts, and so on. I would have thought of spiritual things, too, that I am thankful for, but they would have been slightly more of an afterthought, and a little bit taken for granted (“Well, of course I’m thankful for my salvation …”).

But that was then and this is now. We’ve had a hard couple of months— my husband has just started cancer treatment, one daughter has been in the hospital for seven weeks so far (no end in sight), another daughter is debilitated by a different disease, and there are several other things that are very difficult. Does it sound melodramatic to say it’s a dark time?

Dark times change priorities. While I am still thankful for my family, our church, and my friends, what I am most grateful for are the promises of God. Honestly. I’m clinging to those right now.

God has forgiven my sin.
God has promised me a home in heaven.
God has promised never to leave me or forsake me.
God has promised to strengthen me, help me, and uphold me.
God has promised that all things work together for good to those who are His.

My human nature calls these promises into question regularly. I am a very weak person—in the words of Christina Rossetti, “the feeblest of God’s host/The sorriest sheep Christ shepherds with His crook.”  I do not naturally rise to a challenge—I’m far more likely to give up early and slink home. But Jesus does not fail, and He upholds me. This is what I am thankful for this year.

Barbara Cornthwaite writes historical fiction and cozy mysteries in the Irish countryside with a husband and a houseful of children to distract her.

The following Barbara Cornthwaite books are published by Celebrate Lit:

Much Ado About Persuasion