and in ALL THINGS give THANKS!!

Well, I don't know what that last post was, but I'll leave it there to remember, my computer(s) suck, none of them work right, but I am thankful I have a computer that works, access to the internet (albeit from the neighbour) and the ability to research and study things that I've been meaning to do for years. And A husband that is out working right now so I can stay home in my pajamas and do the things that are important to us for me to be able to do.

I am also thankful for my husband! :)

I am thankful for our dog Noah and that Arturo agreed to get another dog just like him as a companion to him. That will be fun, and just think of all the little Noahs that might be running around here soon. Another thing to research!!

Oh, so Arturo has a job, started yesterday, that will bring consistent income, more than minimum wage and will be working steady for quite awhile! Finally! That is really something to be thankful for.

Thankful for our friends and family that have been so so faithful and supportive to us in this long drawn out season of lack! We are coming out of it!!!

Thankful for the things we had to go (grow) through because it matured us in ways we didn't even know we neeeded to mature in!
Our priorities are totally different. Especially with time and finances. We thought we were cutting back before, we didn't realize what we could really live without, stuff most people think of as needs, not just wants, but needs, we've lived without, and have survived! :)

God is good. He is faithful and just. He will bring us to the place we need to be to accomplish His will in our lives.

But, it wasn't always easy to give thanks in all things. Not gonna lie, there were times when I was so miserable, I just did not care who would benefit in the long run from what we were going through, it was just that bad. If this is it, take me out! I have to admit, I said that more than a few times. Didn't want to die, but couldn't fathom continuing on as things were.

yet, all the times I could have died, and doctors said I should have, but didn't, well, there MUST be a reason, and just endure, as Paul endured the stones. I can't imagine how he did that.

Then again, I think mental and emotional anguish is worse than physical torture. Not that I've gone thru it, or care to, but I've been thru my share of physical pain.

Maybe tho, if I didn't have such a high tolerance for pain I'd feel differently. But with as many accidents I've been in, including taking out a windshield with my forehead, pushing it right into the car, and my (awesome) chiropractor pleading with me to go off my pain meds after only a few days, life was interesting for awhile. :) I needed help just to sit up in bed each morning, crazy!

James 1 (The Message)

James 1

¹I, James, am a slave of God and the Master Jesus, writing to the twelve tribes scattered to Kingdom Come: Hello! Faith Under Pressure
^2-4Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.
^5-8If you don't know what you're doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You'll get his help, and won't be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who "worry their prayers" are like wind-whipped waves. Don't think you're going to get anything from the Master that way, adrift at sea, keeping all your options open.
^9-11When down-and-outers get a break, cheer! And when the arrogant rich are brought down to size, cheer! Prosperity is as short-lived as a wildflower, so don't ever count on it. You know that as soon as the sun rises, pouring down its scorching heat, the flower withers. Its petals wilt and, before you know it, that beautiful face is a barren stem. Well, that's a picture of the "prosperous life." At the very moment everyone is looking on in admiration, it fades away to nothing.
¹²Anyone who meets a testing challenge head-on and manages to stick it out is mighty fortunate. For such persons loyally in love with God, the reward is life and more life.
^13-15Don't let anyone under pressure to give in to evil say, "God is trying to trip me up." God is impervious to evil, and puts evil in no one's way. The temptation to give in to evil comes from us and only us. We have no one to blame but the leering, seducing flare-up of our own lust. Lust gets pregnant, and has a baby: sin! Sin grows up to adulthood, and becomes a real killer.
^16-18So, my very dear friends, don't get thrown off course. Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light. There is nothing deceitful in God, nothing two-faced, nothing fickle. He brought us to life using the true Word, showing us off as the crown of all his creatures.
Be blessed and encouraged, He has GREAT things in store for you!!!!