Thankfulness Thursday

Wow! It's one week until Thanksgiving Day! I am looking forward to spending the holiday with my mom at my uncle's house in Memphis, and we'll get to see lots of other people from that side of the family. And eat lots of delicious food!

Last night at my community group, our leader asked us to each share about when we first received Christ as Savior. It was such a rich time of hearing how all of us could look back and see the benefits we have because of God showing us our need for Him and how our lives have been transformed by His grace.

So, in light of that time of sharing, here's what I'm thankful for today:

• God's grace and mercy that saved me, for Jesus' death and resurrection, and for His continuing grace and mercy that is continuing to transform my heart by the power of the Holy Spirit.
• My parents and grandparents, who prayed for me, taught me about Jesus, brought me to church, and shared their faith with me. God used them to bring me to salvation and I am so thankful for that heritage and opportunity.
• The churches that I have been a part of throughout my life and for the pastors and teachers who spoke truth into my life and helped me to grow in my faith.
• The "mountaintop" and camp experiences I had during the summers when I was growing up that gave me opportunities to be with other believers, to see Christian young adults who loved the Lord and were serving Him, and gave me more teaching and building up in my faith.
• Bible studies and groups that I have been a part of that have helped me to learn more about the transforming power of the Holy Spirit and how the gospel is relevant for my life every day.
• Daniel's salvation and faith in Jesus Christ. I will always cherish the memory of the times we shared when he was young and would ask questions and that God allowed me to be with him when he received Christ into his heart.

"God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." (Eph. 2:4-10)