“And let the peace of God rule in your
hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.” Colossians 3:15
Some people say I have an
attitude. I do. I have an attitude of gratitude. I am thankful. I have a blessed life, I walk in favor. I know that the blessings and favor are not because
of who I am, but they are because of whose I am. I serve a great God, who loves me and makes
certain that I know it.
I want to tell you some of the
things I’m grateful for. Warning, some
of you may not be ready for the things I’m about to share and some may not
believe them. That’s ok. Those of you who aren’t ready, can tune back in
next week for another topic. Those of
you who don’t believe are welcome to try God for yourself. I rely on Him, so He takes care of me. He is willing to do the exact same thing for
you.
·
One night in the 1960’s, I was riding in a car
with my Mom and my Dad’s brother, Uncle Ray.
Mom was driving. We were all in
the front seat, and I was in the middle.
I was small and it was before seatbelt requirements. As we rode, Uncle Ray says, “Where is the
train?” Mom says, “What train?” At that moment, the car was hit by a moving
train that for some reason had been traveling without head lights. The car lifted up in the air, spun like a
top, then came to rest some distance from the tracks. When police and ambulance arrived to attend
to passengers of the car that had been in the head-on collision with the train,
they couldn’t believe it was us. The car
sustained damage, but there was not a scratch on any of us. I AM GRATEFUL!
·
When I was a teenager (right at that age when I
started to look like an adult, trying to act like an adult, and made the
mistake of thinking I was adult), in two separate incidents, high school
acquaintances were kidnapped, then found dead.
One was a dear friend. Several
months later, I was taken. I was terrorized
for a time. Then the abductor said to
me, “You’ve seen my face. If I let you
go, are you going to tell anyone?” Of
course I said, ‘NO!” He looked at me
really strangely then told me he believed me and actually let me go. I AM GRATEFUL!
·
In 1986, I had surgery to remove a fibroid tumor
in my abdomen. When I went back for a
check-up, my doctor said to me, “There’s my miracle girl!” I inquired what in the world he was talking
about. He shared with me what happened
when I was on the operating table. As
the surgeon was working on me, there was a major drop in my blood
pressure. The team realized that I was hemorrhaging. I was losing blood at such a rate that they
didn’t expect I would live if I didn’t have an immediate blood transfusion. The surgeon sent for blood. It arrived, but just before they started the
transfusion, one of the techs noticed that my blood pressure was rising. It was rising at a rate faster than I had
previously lost blood. My doctor told me
that none of them had ever seen anything like that happen before, so they just
stood back and watched as my blood levels and pressure normalized, then stabilized
with no help from them. He told me that
it was apparent to him that God had His hand on my life! If you recall, 1986 was during the time when
there was a rash of people contracting the HIV virus from tainted blood. God only knows what all I was saved from by
not having that transfusion. I AM
GRATEFUL!
You might be thinking, these are old stories so what
has God done for you lately? If you are
so inclined, ask me. You know how to
find me. I am more than willing to share
my testimony and my attitude of gratitude with you.
I AM GRATEFUL!
