Thankful for...

I once heard a Chinese fable that went something like this: 

Many years ago, a wise peasant lived in China. He had a son who was the apple of his eye and a fine white stallion, which everyone admired. One day his horse escaped from his grounds and disappeared. The villagers came to him one by one and said: "You are such an unlucky man. It is such bad luck that your horse escaped." The peasant responded: "Who knows. Maybe it's bad, maybe it's good." The next day the stallion returned followed by 12 wild horses. The neighbours visited him again and congratulated him for his luck. Again, he just said: "Who knows. Maybe it's good, maybe it's bad."
The next day his son attempted to break in one of the wild horses when he fell down and broke his leg. Once more, everyone came with their condolences: "It's terrible." Again, he replied: "Who knows. Maybe it's bad, maybe it's good."
A few days passed and his poor son was limping around the village with his broken leg, when the emperor's army entered the village announcing that a war was starting and they required all the young men of the village to join the army. However, they left behind the peasant's son since he had a broken leg. Everyone was extremely jealous of the peasant. They talked about his sheer good luck, while the old man just muttered: "Who knows. Maybe it's good, maybe it's bad."       --This particular version I found on this site.

The moral of the story, or the application, is apparently the idea that you can never fully know whether things that happen are for good or bad.

Today, I am thankful that we do not have to live this way!  We know that everything that happens is for our good because we have a God who gives good things to His children all the time.  As Ann Voskamp often says and Shaun Groves sings, "All is grace."   I've heard people say sometimes that they may give their child "grace" instead of a punishmen they deserve.  That is grace.... but the discipline or consequence is also grace.  If we had a God who did not discipline or give consequences in a consistent way, this would be a hopeless, chaotic world.  Even the hard things that happen is grace.... and worthy of thanks-giving.

So I can be thankful for

....the plans that do not go my way,

...for my failures,

...for the broken things around me,

....for the conflicts and hard times. 

These, too, are good gifts from my Father in Heaven.  Sometimes I may not see why they are good... but I can trust the Hand which gave them.

It is good to live.... "so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God."  (2 Cor. 4:15)

This Thanksgiving I thank Him for the big and the small, the fun and the uncomfortable... 

the gathering of a big family, the beauty of a lake-side camp, the lack of sleep, the failed zucchini-blueberry bread, the soccer game with the kids, chopping sweet potatoes, the bumps and bruises on my boys' heads, the warm sunshine, the trees losing their leaves, a busy kitchen with too many pies, canoes on the lake, and an unknown future.

"Oh give thanks to the Lord for He is good;  for His steadfast love endures forever!" - 1 Chron. 16:34