Giving Thanks ~ Day One

When I was in elementary school, my dad went back to school. When he started studying a new field, as a kid, I just figured it meant he could find a position with a local company. That was definitely not the case. When he was done, he started a job two hours away from the place I had always called home. And when the school year ended, the rest of us packed up our home and joined him there.

I remember in the beginning how I cried and plotted with my sister that we would run away and get back to what we had always known. At 13 and 14 (I'm older) our plan seemed logical, even if it was completely unrealistic.

But over time, what felt like an eternity then and looks like the time it takes to breathe in now, Erie, PA started to grow on me. And because we moved, 14 years and a few days after we got there, I met my husband.

I would have never guessed on the day the For Sale sign went up that I would be thankful for the change. I would have never suspected that this one simple, common event would be the catalyst to things I couldn't have imagined in my wildest dreams. But it was. And for it, I am incredibly thankful.

When we moved, I didn't know Jeremiah 29:11. For that matter, I didn't know there was even a Jeremiah. But the words he wrote that were given by God have come to me in so many situations. They continually remind me that God knows so much more about my situation and what's in my best interest and in the best interest of those I love. He has undoubtedly prospered me, especially in my faith. I am convinced that the hope and future I have now are far better than what would have happened otherwise. And not a single moment of what made me feel sad, scared, or frustrated was meant to cause me harm. (that was my own doing with crazy thoughts)

While I am thanking God for the move specifically, I realize it truly all began because of railroad layoffs when I was much younger and my dad losing his job. That was why he went back to school, why he got the job in Erie, and why we ended up there. The roots always go much deeper than the significant event.

Today, think about one thing that started some thing you couldn't have planned, plotted, or pictured if you tried. Trace back the steps and find the moves God made on your behalf to make it happen. And then thank him for what has come from his intervention. It was never meant to cause you pain or distress, it was meant to give you something more than what you wanted for yourself.

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Thanksgiving daily gratitude challenges have always left me scrambling to write things down at the end of the day. From now until Thanksgiving, we're turning our focus to the things we are most thankful for in the past to remind us of God's ever-present faithfulness.