4 hours ago
I was listening to Hugh Hewitt yesterday (I know, alot of talk radio this week), and Tarzana Joe, a poet for the Hugh Hewitt show, came on to read a poem for Thanksgiving this year. I liked it so much that I'm going to re-publish it here. I thought this year's Thanksgiving poem is great, and really brings things into focus.
Without further ado, the poem read on yesterday's Hugh Hewitt show:
Thanksgiving 2009
By Tarzana Joe
While thanking God this week for all our blessings is the norm
I say we should be thankful for the calm and for the storm
For the things that seem a hazard, when we think about them longer
Are somehow, by the will of God, designed to make us stronger
And so, I'm doubly grateful for the blessings and the curses
And humbly I acknowledge both my good and better verses
I thank Him for the grace that pumps the heart that keeps me living
And all the things I’ve done in life—I thank him for forgiving
The hand of God has fashioned this broad universe of beauty
And thanking him for all of it--is our pleasure and our duty
But more than for creation—for the rose and for the lotus
We ought to thank Him most for all the things we’ve yet to notice.
I really like that last line about thanking the Lord for things that we haven't noticed yet. I'm thankful for all the big things - my husband, my family, a house to live under, food to eat, dogs to cheer me up, having a job, being born an American. I could go on and on about each one of those things, and I do go on and on about them in my prayers of thanks to Jesus.
But after reading that poem, I've been trying to think of things for which I can thank the Lord that I haven't noticed before.
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I'm thankful for my nice cozy down comforter.
I'm thankful for mud. It's fun to squish between my toes.
I'm thankful for all the great inventions that make my life easier. Like the microwave. How often do I thank the Lord for the microwave?
I'm thankful for electricity. That's what powers all the afore-mentioned inventions.
I'm thankful for the way it's so easy to connect with other Christians these days via the telephone, the internet, etc.
I'm thankful for color - can you imagine how wonderful the mind of God must be to think of something like color?
I'm thankful for spiders, because without them flies would take over the world. It's true, is it not?
I'm thankful for bacteria, because through the study of them we can get an entirely new glimpse at the ingenuity and creativity of God.
I'm thankful for space. There is no better proof of the existence of God.
I'm thankful that the Lord Jesus chose to die on the cross to save the likes of me. Me, with my selfishness, my pride, my sins.
I'm thankful that God chose to make a place like Heaven. I'm thankful that He died and rose again to make me a citizen of Heaven. I'm thankful that one day I'll spend the rest of eternity with Him.
I'm thankful for that eternity. It's a mind-boggling thought.
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I've noticed some of these things before, but not in the way that I would thank the Lord for them.
Okay, and those last three weren't things that I haven't noticed before. Of course I've noticed what Jesus did for me - that's why I follow Him. But somehow I tend to forget to thank Him for it like I should. And that is shameful on my part. It's the ultimate thing to be thankful for.
I hope you find that ultimate gift of Christ's death and resurrection this Thanksgiving, and if you have already, I hope you remember to thank Him for it.
Poem: Thanksgiving 2009 by Tarzana Joe. www.tarzanajoe.blogspot.com; www.tarzanajoe.com.
Without further ado, the poem read on yesterday's Hugh Hewitt show:
Thanksgiving 2009
By Tarzana Joe
While thanking God this week for all our blessings is the norm
I say we should be thankful for the calm and for the storm
For the things that seem a hazard, when we think about them longer
Are somehow, by the will of God, designed to make us stronger
And so, I'm doubly grateful for the blessings and the curses
And humbly I acknowledge both my good and better verses
I thank Him for the grace that pumps the heart that keeps me living
And all the things I’ve done in life—I thank him for forgiving
The hand of God has fashioned this broad universe of beauty
And thanking him for all of it--is our pleasure and our duty
But more than for creation—for the rose and for the lotus
We ought to thank Him most for all the things we’ve yet to notice.
I really like that last line about thanking the Lord for things that we haven't noticed yet. I'm thankful for all the big things - my husband, my family, a house to live under, food to eat, dogs to cheer me up, having a job, being born an American. I could go on and on about each one of those things, and I do go on and on about them in my prayers of thanks to Jesus.
But after reading that poem, I've been trying to think of things for which I can thank the Lord that I haven't noticed before.
------------------
I'm thankful for my nice cozy down comforter.
I'm thankful for mud. It's fun to squish between my toes.
I'm thankful for all the great inventions that make my life easier. Like the microwave. How often do I thank the Lord for the microwave?
I'm thankful for electricity. That's what powers all the afore-mentioned inventions.
I'm thankful for the way it's so easy to connect with other Christians these days via the telephone, the internet, etc.
I'm thankful for color - can you imagine how wonderful the mind of God must be to think of something like color?
I'm thankful for spiders, because without them flies would take over the world. It's true, is it not?
I'm thankful for bacteria, because through the study of them we can get an entirely new glimpse at the ingenuity and creativity of God.
I'm thankful for space. There is no better proof of the existence of God.
I'm thankful that the Lord Jesus chose to die on the cross to save the likes of me. Me, with my selfishness, my pride, my sins.
I'm thankful that God chose to make a place like Heaven. I'm thankful that He died and rose again to make me a citizen of Heaven. I'm thankful that one day I'll spend the rest of eternity with Him.
I'm thankful for that eternity. It's a mind-boggling thought.
------------------
I've noticed some of these things before, but not in the way that I would thank the Lord for them.
Okay, and those last three weren't things that I haven't noticed before. Of course I've noticed what Jesus did for me - that's why I follow Him. But somehow I tend to forget to thank Him for it like I should. And that is shameful on my part. It's the ultimate thing to be thankful for.
I hope you find that ultimate gift of Christ's death and resurrection this Thanksgiving, and if you have already, I hope you remember to thank Him for it.
Poem: Thanksgiving 2009 by Tarzana Joe. www.tarzanajoe.blogspot.com; www.tarzanajoe.com.
Categories:
Holidays,
Thankfulness
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