By Linda Cox


Give thanks to the Lord, call on His name; make known among the nations what He has done. Sing to Him, sing praise to Him; tell of all His wonderful acts.


1 Chronicles 16:8-9





Is it just me, or has Thanksgiving become somewhat of the forgotten holiday? People still travel home, gather for large family meals, watch lots of football, brave Black Friday shopping. But do they really pause from their busy routines and activities to count their blessings and thank the Lord for giving them to us?


In an attempt to recall the blessings of this past year, I decided to try something different. And I’m challenging each of you to do this as well. Try writing down at least one blessing that starts with each letter of our alphabet! Below are mine.



A . . . Abundant harvest, answered prayers, air conditioning


B . . . Bible, beautiful skies, books to read


C . . . Creator God, Christ His Son, cookies, chocolate


D . . . Dogs, devotions, Daddy, dog toys, doctors who care


E . . . Eternal life, Easter, e-mails, ears that hear


F . . . Faith, friends, family, freedom, food, fall leaves


G . . . GOD, goodness of our God, good health


H . . . Home, heaven, husband, hymns


I . . . Immortality, icicles, ice cream


J . . . JESUS, joy


K . . . Kathy my BFF and mentor, kittens


L . . . Love, light, laughter


M . . . Mercy of God, Mom, music, military, mountain majesty


N . . . New life in Christ, neighbors


O . . . Omnipotence and Omniscience of God, oceans


P . . . Prayers, patience, pastors, pumpkins


Q . . . Quiet time with the Lord, quilts


R . . . Resurrection, roses, rain


S . . . SAVIOR, sunrises, sunsets, stars, shelter, snow


T . . . Truth of God’s Word, trust, trees


U . . . U.S.A., unity


V . . . Voices raised in praise, victory in Jesus


W . . . Word of God, wind, water, wisdom of the aged, walks


X . . . CHRISTmas, x-rays that were “clear”


Y . . . You who are reading this


Z . . . Zebras and all God’s animal kingdom


Doing this certainly made me pause and think about God’s goodness. I pray it does the same for all of you! And, if you feel like it, why don’t you pick one or two of the blessings on your list and share them in the comment section below!


May God’s blessings surround you and your loved ones this Thanksgiving. And may the peace of God nourish our spirits as we remember His blessings.


Happy Thanksgiving!