Being Thankful on November 1

I was feeling a little grumpy because it is winter and coldish. Then I took the dog for a walk and saw the beauty of God’s Yukon winter creation with fresh eyes “and behold, it was very good.”

Photo by Andrew Stark
(click on photo for larger view)

Today I’m thankful for the beauty of the place where I live.

What are you thankful for?

• Tulipgirl has a whole list of things she’s thankful for.
• Kim of Hiraeth is thankful for past blessings.

Updates:

• Dorothy is thankful for the health and strength to do yard work…and more.
• Rain and the strength and energy for a hike are two things for which Willow is thankful.
• Julana has a whole list of things and she’s thankful for them all.
  
• Crystal says, “Here in Hinton Alberta it was a beautiful sunny day and I am thankful we got to go outside and enjoys the beauty of the day and praise God for all he has made.”
• From Candy

  thankful for rain today. I am thankful for changes in the seasons. I am thankful that in these uncertain times in America that I belong to the God of the Universe, and no matter what changes happen in our country, He is unchanging.
  
  I am also thankful that you are having a draw for such a beautiful calendar!

• Karen is yet another Californian thankful for rain: “I am thankful for the few drops of rain we had today and may have tomorrow.”
• Jean in Wisconsin is thankful for snow. She likes winter.
• And Suzanne starts with a whole list, too.
• Sally Apokedak is thankful she’s not fighting snow right now.
• Connie is thankful for God’s marvelous creation.

I’m celebrating good gifts from God during the month of November and hoping you’ll be thankful for your good gifts, too. Here’s how you can join in the thanksgiving and even, perhaps, get something material from it.

Being Thankful in November

Grace by EnstromFor the third year, I’m declaring November a month of thanksgiving at Rebecca Writes. Every day in November I plan to post something for which I’m thankful.

I’m inviting your participation, too. Every one of us has an abundance of good gifts from God and listing our good gifts and thanking him for them is an an exercise that makes that crystal clear.

Here are three ways you can join in the thanksgiving. Feel free to participate as often as you like.

• Mention something you’re thankful for in the comments here and I’ll included it in one of my thanksgiving posts, or
• Email me to tell me what you’re thankful for and I’ll include it in a post, or
• Post your thankful thought(s) on your own blog, send me the link(s), and I’ll link to your post(s). Update: If you plan to make your thanksgiving posts daily during the month, let me know that and you won’t need to continue sending me daily links.

(click on photo for larger view
or here for back viewTo encourage you to contribute to this celebration of God’s goodness, I’m offering a draw prize for all participants. Thats right, I’m bribing you to be thankful. Every time you participate by sharing your thankfullness in any of the three ways listed above, I will enter you in the draw. On December 1 (or thereabouts) I’ll send a beautiful 2009 calendar by Yukon photographer Wayne Towriss to the one person whose name I draw from all the entries.

It's the Gospel: October 31

I’m not entirely happy to be leaving the gospel-filled month here at Rebecca Writes. Here is the last round up of gospelly posts:

Once again we start at Hiraeth, where Kim tells us that “The Christmas Message is nothing more or less than the Gospel Message.” Because, of course, there’s no better day than Halloween and Reformation Day to start thinking about Christmas, especially how we may keep Christmas well.

Then it’s over to Crossway.blog where we learn from Robert Yarbrough that “Suffering Creates Teachable Moments for Gospel Reception”.

This link I’ve stolen from today’s Reformation Day Symposium because it’s about the gospel. And I liked it, too. It’s Jared Wilson of The Gospel-Driven Church on The Five Solas for Evangelicalism Today. He says,

Our flesh cries out for works; we are all legalists at heart. We are constantly tempted to trust our productivity and our propaganda as self-justification, when Scripture bids us return to the self-reducing, God-exalting truth that we are justified by faith.

Hop on over there and read the whole thing.

And here on this blog I killed Reformation Day and our gospel-themed month with one post: It Was All About the Gospel. And while I was at it, I recommended some good gospel listening.

Update: At the Fieldstone Cottage, Dorothy is serving up a quote and a hymn about sharing the gospel.

I do want to say thank you to everyone who participated in my month of gospel by contributing a post or posts. I enjoyed them all and and I love the gospel more now than I did on October 1.

Yes, I have a theme for November, too. If you’ve been reading here for more than a year, you might be able to guess what it is. I’ll have the exciting details later today. And the details are exciting, because there be a draw prize for participants.