An Attitude of Gratitude

This morning was the first morning I woke up in my own bed.  And I have to say, that after sleeping on my Mother in Law's couch for the last five days, it felt pretty good (not that I don't TRULY appreciate my Mother in Law's willingness to allow me to spend my five-day isolation period in her house, after taking a radioactive pill for my thyroid cancer treatment...I would never know how to repay her kindness).  But even so, it felt good, indeed, to wake up in my own home, surrounded by my beloved boys and with a sense of normalcy at last.

I was overwhelmed by the events of the past week, and I really didn't know what to think.  Then, I opened up my devotional, and there it was...these are the words that greeted me from the tiny pages of my book straight to my soul:

"I give thanks to You, Lord, for You are good.  Your love endures forever.

I give thanks to You, the God of gods.  I give thanks to You, the Lord of lords, to You who alone does great wonders, who by Your understanding made the heavens, who spread out the earth upon the waters, who made the great lights and the sun to govern the day.

Your love endures forever.

I give thanks to You, Lord, the One who remembered me in my low estate and freed me from my enemies.

I give thanks to the God of heaven, for Your love endures forever. Indeed, Your love endures forever!"

When I didn't know what to say, He gave me His very own Word, in the form of Psalm 136, to offer it back to Him as my thank-offering after His Hand had delivered me from a trial back to the comfort of my home, that He has provided.  He sure does provide!  The Holy Spirit is there to give us the exact prayer for the exact time, even if it is in the form of groaning too deep for words. (Romans 8:26) And through Him, our prayer becomes acceptable to The Father in Heaven.

The Holy Spirit, Himself, kept me from becoming one of the nine today.  You know, the nine?  The 10 men with leprosy whom Jesus healed, from which only one returned to Him to say thank you. (Luke 17:11-19) Today, by His Grace, I was not one of the nine that didn't return.  He kept me from becoming so caught up in the day that I didn't "return" to Him to say thank you.  Instead, in the first light of the day, He led me to embracing an attitude of gratitude, for He is Good and He is the Only One worthy of our praise, worship and thanks...and for that, for His gracious Hand on every detail of my current ordeal, I pray to keep my attitude of thanksgiving so every time I look back on these days, I can smile and say thank you once again.