Give Thanks
Good morning! It's another July Monday and the weather forecast calls for warm and sticky. I'm not a fan of humidity but then again who is? I'm thrilled that I got eight uninterrupted hours of sleep last night. The past several nights have been rough thanks to a pinched nerve in my back which leads to flare-ups of sciatica. After browsing YouTube I found a couple stretches to do that managed to relieve the ache. Two 30 second stretches on each side and relief is mine! I'm so thankful for being able to find good information on the internet.
That brings me to today's Bible verse:
1. Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness. Let the whole world know what he has done.
PSALMS 105:1 NLT
I use YouVersion Bible app on my phone along with my assortment of Bibles when it comes to reading and/or studying the Word. Today's verse brings me such joy because it's confirmation that God hears me as I go about my day thanking Him for the tiniest, possibly silliest things. When I'm in the kitchen cooking I'll dance around and sing "Thank you Lord for these cutting boards that my husband found!" or "Thank you Lord that the green pepper is still fresh because I forgot I had it in the fridge!" I thank Him when I trip over a dog toy. "Thank you Lord that I didn't fall on my face and break a hip!" I now thank thank Him when someone cuts me off in traffic and that's something of an accomplishment for me. It's easier to rant about being inconvenienced than it is to give thanks. Maybe they were rushing home because they got bad news. We don't know what goes on in the lives of others so I'm trying to find the good in every little thing.
For years we've been worrying about a tree in our backyard. In 2018 we had a tree removed from the front of the house but didn't remove our hedge or this tree in the back. In the past three years this tree was constantly losing large branches, "widow makers", during storms. In late June another storm hit and several branches crashed down into our fence and our neighbors' yard. We hired pros to take it down as well as remove the unsightly hedge.
It took 2 1/2 weeks to get the work done.
Storm June 21
June 23, our sons tried to remove the branches but we all agreed it was too dangerous. Called local contractors.
June 28 finally got a quote. Hired the company. Set June 30th as day to do the work.
Work cancelled due to weather. Said they'd be out Friday the 1st.
Work cancelled due to heat. Absolutely do not blame them.
Follow up with tree guy on Tuesday the 6th. Said they'd be out Wednesday the 7th.
On Wednesday they showed up but 30 minutes into the job the hydraulic line for the lift broke and hydraulic fluid came pouring out onto the yard. Said they'd get the part and be back Thursday morning, the 8th.
Fixed the truck on Thursday but they got jammed up with an emergency job. Said they'd return on Friday.
Friday came and we received a text saying that his wife was sent to the ER. Possibly ruptured appendix. We told him we'd be praying for them.
We didn't expect to hear anything over the weekend but they showed up at 7:45 on Saturday morning and got the tree down.
Sunday morning, the 11th, showed up again and worked for 6 hours removing the hedge.
Tuesday, July 13th finished removing stumps from hedgerow.
Could we have called someone else to get the job done faster? Sure. But we both felt strongly that this was our guy. Could we have spent days worrying when we didn't hear from him? Yeah. We could have worried about the tree causing more damage with each new thunderstorm that brewed. But we chose to be thankful instead. And when he came round to pick up his money he told my husband, "Thanks for being so patient."
In this day and age people want things done yesterday. We're thankful that we had the money to deal with the fallen tree. We're thankful that we found a local company that stuck by their quote and saw the job through to completion. They did an outstanding job. We're thankful that his wife was taken care of at the hospital. We're thankful for every little thing every single day.
Life is too short to worry about things.
Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
1 PETER 5:7
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
PHILIPPIANS 4:6-7
Worry is a cancer to our minds and our bodies. There are days when I turn on the news and struggle to find something good in all the crazy. God is offering to take that worry so that we can go about our day thanking Him, praising Him and sharing His love with others. Why not take Him up on that offer?
I'm thankful you read through my rambling post here on my blog.
Peace and love.
