Created to be His Helpmeet, Chapter 4

Thanksgiving Produces Joy

What God Says:

I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart; I will tell of all Your wonders. (Psalm 9:1)

I will praise the name of God with song and magnify Him with thanksgiving. (Psalm 69:30)

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. (Philippians 4:6)

My thoughts:

In many ways this chapter is a continuation of the previous one.  The difference is chapter three discussed thanksgiving more theoretically, while this one is very practical.  As I read, I was challenged to thankfully enjoy each moment, and to focus on God while doing it.

I am very thankful for my husband.  He is not perfect, but neither am I (to be honest, sometimes I’m not thankful enough).  We have some friends who are having some serious marriage problems right now, and I have become still more thankful.  I am thankful for his care for me, for our enjoyable togetherness, for his expressions in music, for his care of Little Man.  And I have been analyzing my own proneness to discontent.

However, as I was thinking about how thankful I am for Benjamin, I realized that I need to not focus my thankfulness on him (the “gift”).  After all, he is human and will fail me at times.  I much focus my thankfulness on the Great Giver.  God is the only one who can satisfy me, and only in Him can I achieve true thanksgiving.  He has given me my Benjamin, and it is He who should receive my ultimate praise and thanksgiving.  When I am securely rejoicing in my faith in and thanks to Him, I will be able to properly express my thankfulness to Benjamin.

A favorite quotation from the book:

“We have learned that all of life is fun and needs to be shared with our best friend, playmate, and lover.  This, then, is the rule of life for wives: Live with thanksgiving, forgiveness, and joy, and enjoy all your moments as if they were your last.  Someday, soon enough, they will be.”

Practical goals for this week:

~Focus on the Giver first of all.

~Think an abundance of thankful thoughts and remember to actually express them verbally instead of assuming that Benjamin can read my thankful mind. ; )

~Think of creative ways to be “fun” in appropriate times and ways.