I Am Thankful...

 

 

Because God gave us...

JESUS!

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:16

More grace...

 You adulterous people,don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. ⁵ Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us? ⁶ But he gives us more grace.
James 4:6

Strength & Victory　

"It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect. He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he enables me to stand on the heights. He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze. You give me your shield of victory, and your right hand sustains me; you stoop down to make me great. You broaden the path beneath me, so that my ankles do not turn." Psalm 18:32-36

Provision

And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.  Philippians 4:19

 

Peace

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." John 14.27

The Lord gives his people strength. The Lord blesses them with peace." Psalm 29:11

"And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful." Colossians 3:15


 The Holy Spirit

 

 

15 "If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.  John 14

If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" Luke 11:13


Power, Love, Self-discipline

"For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline." 2 Timothy 1:7

He gives power to the weak
and strength to the powerless.
Even youths will become weak and tired,
and young men will fall in exhaustion.
But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.
They will soar high on wings like eagles.
They will run and not grow weary.
They will walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:29-31

 

Rest

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Matthew 11:28-29


Great Promises　

And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires. 2 Peter 1:4

 

 

 

A Future & Hope

For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11

 

A Home in Heaven

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. ² My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? ³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. ⁴ You know the way to the place where I am going.” John 14

 

 ~Thank you, LORD!~

~HAPPY THANKSGIVING!~

~Blessings & Love~
and always remember, we are...

~NEVER FORSAKEN~

 

　

　

Forty Years Ago Tonight

Whitefish Point, (Lake Superior) Michigan

*Posted at 7pm, November 10th* (to commemorate the time when she sank)

http://www.shipwreckmuseum.com/edmund-fitzgerald-36/

 

Edmund Fitzgerald

Edmund Fitzgerald, St. Mary's River, 1975. Photo by Bob Campbell

The legend of the Edmund Fitzgerald remains the most mysterious and controversial of all shipwreck tales heard around the Great Lakes. Her story is surpassed in books, film and media only by that of the Titanic. Canadian folksinger Gordon Lightfoot inspired popular interest in this vessel with his 1976 ballad, "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald."
The Edmund Fitzgerald was lost with her entire crew of 29 men on Lake Superior November 10, 1975, 17 miles north-northwest of Whitefish Point, Michigan. Whitefish Point is the site of the Whitefish Point Light Station and Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum. The Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society (GLSHS) has conducted three underwater expeditions to the wreck, 1989, 1994, and 1995.
At the request of family members surviving her crew, Fitzgerald's 200 lb. bronze bell was recovered by the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society on July 4, 1995. This expedition was conducted jointly with the National Geographic Society, Canadian Navy, Sony Corporation, and Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians. The bell is now on display in the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum as a memorial to her lost crew.

Gordon Lightfoot - The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald Lyrics

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they called 'gitche gumee'
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
When the skies of November turn gloomy
With a load of iron ore twenty-six thousand tons more
Than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty
That good ship and crew was a bone to be chewed
When the gales of November came early

The ship was the pride of the American side
Coming back from some mill in Wisconsin
As the big freighters go, it was bigger than most
With a crew and good captain well seasoned
Concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms
When they left fully loaded for Cleveland
And later that night when the ship's bell rang
Could it be the north wind they'd been feelin'?

The wind in the wires made a tattle-tale sound
And a wave broke over the railing
And every man knew, as the captain did too,
T'was the witch of November come stealin'
The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait
When the gales of November came slashin'
When afternoon came it was freezin' rain
In the face of a hurricane west wind

When suppertime came, the old cook came on deck sayin'
Fellas, it's too rough to feed ya
At seven pm a main hatchway caved in, he said
Fellas, it's been good t'know ya
The captain wired in he had water comin' in
And the good ship and crew was in peril
And later that night when his lights went outta sight
Came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

Does any one know where the love of God goes
When the waves turn the minutes to hours?
The searches all say they'd have made Whitefish Bay
If they'd put fifteen more miles behind her
They might have split up or they might have capsized
They may have broke deep and took water
And all that remains is the faces and the names
Of the wives and the sons and the daughters

Lake Huron rolls, superior sings
In the rooms of her ice-water mansion
Old Michigan steams like a young man's dreams
The islands and bays are for sportsmen
And farther below Lake Ontario
Takes in what Lake Erie can send her
And the iron boats go as the mariners all know
With the gales of November remembered

In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed,
In the maritime sailors' cathedral
The church bell chimed till it rang twenty-nine times
For each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call 'gitche gumee'
Superior, they said, never gives up her dead
When the gales of November come early

 

This is an awesome tribute and also plays the song...
Watch video here!

The place in the photo is of Whitefish Point, my favorite place in the world, but also where the ship went down.
Although we've been experiencing warmer than normal weather, in a couple days we are expecting some weather similar to that November day forty years ago.

Hope you enjoyed a piece of Michigan history!

~BLESSINGS & LOVE~
and always remember, we are...

~NEVER FORSAKEN~

Re-cluttered

This photo has nothing to do with this post

,

 Its the first haircut since my hair grew back after chemo.

*NOTE*
I have hidden three words within this text, these words are from three other blogs that I enjoy reading...Can you find them, and recognize if they are from your own blog post, or a blog post you have read recently?

Life is ever changing.
Once again I am laughing at myself!
It's Ok...I'm actually laughing with me, not at me, lol!
I did an earlier post where I was very excited about the idea of de-cluttering my home, but once again I had forgotten that I am not the only inhabitant of this home, and the sparser environment is not necessarily favored by the other.
Having said that, I will now attempt to explain why I think we humans tend to want to change our environs from time to time...
We may feel the lack of control over things that are happening in our lives. I have noticed in my own life when things are not going as planned or I am at a low point, I want to take action, some action, ANY action in order to feel like I have some control over SOMETHING.
So, I start rearranging the tangible things in my home...the things I can put my hands on. The truth is, the things that I constantly rearrange, are not what is bothering me. The fact that I have two, three, or five throw pillows on the sofa is not the issue...The problem is that I sense there needs to be some change in my life, but I am not trusting God to take care of the details. I am not willing to patiently wait for the answers, or to accept that sometimes I may never know what the answer is to why things are the way they are.
So, I turn to the one thing I THINK I can accomplish on my own...CHANGE the furniture, the décor!
Well, I'm not saying that is wrong in and of itself, not if we are doing this in order to clean things up, or make room for something new, but if it becomes a nearly daily thing...Well, then something is not right! And that is where I am now. I have literally worn myself out, and worn out my poor husband's patience in the process!
 The truth of the matter is, I cannot affect the change that I want, that I am seeking, by changing my exterior world...I must decide that only God has any real control in my life, and I must be patient and willing to listen and hear from the Holy Spirit on what gives my life meaning, and what I must work at in order to "accomplish" anything worthwhile....And...
I mustn't stay busy tinkering around with unnecessary distractions all the time, I MUST get busy with the things that the Lord is putting on my heart; things like Bible study, listening to the Word, and to good Christian music, listening to the elder Christians who are wiser...gleaning from their godly counsel the things The Lord wants me to learn....I must learn prudence!
 Looking around on the internet, I see clearly that it's not just me. It's actually quite a trend lately...Just Google the word 'De-clutter' and you will see many websites and many books or items being sold on the subject. Another key word is 'minimalism'...The idea is that by emptying our environment of clutter, the clearer our minds become...only this can be taken to the extreme when the goal is to rid your house of most of your possessions, many of which are actually necessary items, items like furniture...a bed for instance. Well, I suppose some people don't need a bed, but most of us do. The point I'm trying to make is that there are folks out there making money by trying to sell us an idea that living in a bare room somehow makes us mentally or spiritually healthy. This is just another way of replacing a relationship with Jesus with some type of religion or spirituality. The scary thing is...I have seen this in some Christians, myself included!
 The Lord doesn't want me to abandon my domestic responsibilities, but He is showing me that I must learn contentment, and temperance when it comes to my home and that begins within my spirit...not on the outside environment. It is within that He wants to change and rearrange in order to make me more mentally and spiritually healthy.
 My body has grown weak, too weak to rearrange the furniture, but I am growing stronger spiritually in Jesus...for He alone is my strength.
So whether my home is cluttered, or bare...My mind is full of treasure from the Lord, and my heart is content to be under His control

Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.…
Phil.4:11-13

*The words are:  "tinkering" from 'Sharon Sharing God', "strength" from 'Lighthouse Vision" and "prudence" from 'Crown of Beauty'!
Thank you, ladies for your inspiring posts this week!
(All of these gorgeous blogs can be found on my blog roll below)

 ~Blessings & Love~
and always remember, we are...

~NEVER FORSAKEN~