We Gather Together

So very much has taken place over the past month at the ITC--I hardly know where to begin writing... Conferences and banquets, decorating for Christmas, preparing my family's li'l apartment for their upcoming arrival, daily chores and housekeeping, Bible studies, quilting classes, and the list goes on and on! It's so much fun to serve here, but sometimes I get so caught up in the daily routine of work that I lose focus of the service that is most important of all... So I've been trying to take time each day to do something special for others--such as spending time making paper snowflakes with a delightful roommate, encouraging someone with a verse of Scripture, organizing everything in the Resource Center, or replacing lights on Christmas trees =)...

I hadn't anticipated spending yet another Thanksgiving away from my family (I had really looked forward to all being together this year...), but even though we were many miles from each other, the Lord graciously gave both my family and myself a wonderfully refreshing, delightful Thanksgiving Day with friends and family. The Lord has surely given me so much to be grateful for... But He's been challenging me to not look upon this day simply as a day set apart to give thanks for His unmerited goodness, because He wants me to be doing this every day--rather, to look on this day as a day of remembrance for His unmerited goodness in my life, the lives of others, and His wonderful works in times past.

"O give thanks unto the Lord; call upon his name: make known his deeds among the people. Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him: talk ye of all his wondrous works. Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord. Seek the Lord, and his strength: seek his face forevermore. Remember his marvelous works that he hath done; his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth..." [Psalm 105:1-5]