Thankfulness day 22

Today I am thankful for my friends and family. Even though I am not near my family in miles, they were in my heart today. We should be thankful everyday for our friends, family, faith, and everything else. Thank you to my friends for being my family away from my family.

Life

Life is short and that is never more evident then when you find out one of your friends has stage 4 cancer - at the age of 33!! However, this wonderful, smiling, always happy friend of mine has something going for her - she knows the Lord. Please lift a prayer up for Jaime over the next weeks, months etc as the doctors do all they can to help her fight this battle with all of their knowledge. She and God are going to fight this battle and win. I posted part of Josh Turner's song Me and God on her wall today:

He's my Father, He's my friend, The beginning, And the end, He rules the world, With a staff and rod
We're a team. Me and God
I am weak and he is strong, Me and God, He forgives me when I'm wrong, Me and God, He's the one I lean on, When life gets hard, Me and God

Through Jaime's struggles, I came to realize that there are several people that I need to forgive in my family. I will never agree with everything they do, and I admit I will probably never understand why they do half of what they do, but they are family and because of that I need to FORGIVE them. I need to show them that with me and God working together there is nothing he can't do!!

1 Thessalonians 5:11 states: So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing

It is time that I encourage instead of discourage. Feelings have been hurt, but it is now time to move on.

Ephesians 4:32 states: Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you

It is time to be kind!! It is time to forgive!!

Romans 12:17 states: Never pay back evil with evil to anyone. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable

Now is my time to be honorable, to show that me and God can overcome some of the petty family matters that have occurred.

I'm not saying this is going to be easy. In fact, I know that this is going to be one of the hardest things that I will ever do BUT I know that I have God on my side and that with him and thru him I can do anything!!!

It is time for me to do as 1 Peter 5:6 - 7 states: So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and in his good time he will honor you. Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about what happens to you.