A Thanksgiving reflection from Rob

Every year on Thanksgiving Sunday our church opens up the floor for people to thank God publicly for what he has been doing in their lives. It is a time to offer up our praise to God in a public yet personal way. Every year I have felt challenged to go up, but I've always had an excuse. So this Sunday, Karen and I shared in front of the congregation, in obedience to God's Word to be thankful. In Philippians 4:6 it is written: "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."


Thanks be to God for his unfailing love! This year I have experienced God's love in ways that I would not have understood a year ago.


I thank God for my Saviour, Jesus Christ, who suffered and died for me on the cross, and gives me hope and strength.


I thank God for my wife, Karen, who has been so faithful and supportive.


I thank God for my son, Isaac, who gives me such joy and motivation to fight this disease.


I thank God for my family that has supported me through all of this.


I thank God for his church, this community of believers that bind up the broken and surround us with care and compassion. They have been such an outpouring of God's love.


I thank God for the medical advancements in our country and especially the health professionals that have dedicated their lives to healing and caring for those in need.


I thank God for showing me there is purpose in pain, that he is molding and shaping me more into the image of his Son, Jesus Christ. God provides grace in our suffering as Christians, to point others to Christ, the one who suffered on the cross to provide our saving grace. You see, in our suffering, God makes a way for us to become like Christ, and uses that to bring others into a relationship with him.


So again, Thanks be to God for his unfailing love!
Rob