Thankful for friends

     Thankful for friends!  I'm out of town for one night with four dear girlfriends, and life is good, good, good.  Amazing what a few hours away from the daily grind can do for your perspective.  I left the Mt. Everest of laundry loads to be folded, but somehow, I don't think anyone will go to school naked tomorrow.  Will someone walk and feed Moses?  Will they remember to make lunches for tomorrow?  What on earth is happening with homework?
     Guess what?  I'm not worried about it one whit.  Food will still be consumed, clothes will be worn, and dogs will be cared for whether I'm there or not.  So rather than worry, I'm just grateful for friendship and for moments of rest and relaxation.
     I just recently read of a story Erma Bombeck wrote about thankfulness years ago when she was dealing with cancer.  "When she forgot to be thankful among cancer survivors, she would hear the voice of a particular eight-year old named Christina, who had cancer of the nervous system.  When Christina was asked what she wanted for her birthday, she thought for a moment and then responded by saying, 'I don't know.  I have two sticker books and a Cabbage Patch doll.  I have everything!'"
     We truly do have "everything" if we have someone to love, a roof over our head, and the God of the universe in us and with us.  Sometimes we (or at least, I) forget and think we need more of something or less of something else or maybe something different before we can truly be happy.  Wrong!  And when we have that discontented attitude, we will never fully experience the peace or the joy or the abundant life that Christ died to give us.
     It is our love for the Lord and for the people He has sovereignly placed in our lives that provide us with never ending grounds for gratitude.  There is always always always something for which to be thankful.  Wherever we are, whoever we are with, God has placed us there, and because He is a perfectly, completely good God, then there will something for which to be grateful in every situation. Sometimes we may have to really look, but it is there.
     "The optimist says, the cup is half full.  The pessimist says, the cup is half empty.  The child of God says, my cup runneth over."  (David Jeremiah)   In Christ, our cup runneth over.  And the only response should be "Thank You!"
      So thank You Lord for friends and for family... and for a moment to reflect!  Today, name out loud 5 people for whom you want to thank the Lord.  Then tell Him... and them.  To God be the glory.