today

last week was emotionally draining. not much has changed (as far as the people i'm praying for...they still really need our prayers- and God's miracles!)

....except that i am choosing to look up. up to my Lord, my Savior, Healer, and Comforter. i am choosing to be thankful for how the Lord has blessed me....today (and everyday prior to today)!

i can't help but be totally and completely thankful. God is so good and so faithful. while i don't know what tomorrow holds, i do have today. i have today...to live this life to the fullest. i have today to be thankful for.

one of my "life verses" is matthew 6:34, which says..."therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. sufficient for the day is its own trouble."

right about now, you're probably thinking- 'seriously?? that's the verse you pick? out of a hundred million verses.....you pick that?!'

but, i say to you- fear, worry, and doubt have taken up way too much of my time. fear and its nasty cohorts have tried to reside in me for as long as i can remember. about a year and a half ago, i attended our church's women's retreat. i nailed "fear" to the cross (yes...i nailed a tiny piece of paper with the word "fear" on it- to a wooden cross). there are times the enemy tries to come at me (since he knows- all too well- how to 'get' me)....and i am tempted to go back to that place of uncertainty and fright.

but, then....i remember...

"for God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind."

(2 timothy 1:7)

and i recall philippians 4:8, which says....

"finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy- meditate on these things."

it's when i recall Scripture that i can turn those fears into faith. turn the doubt into belief. turn the worry into trust. it's then that i can look to the Maker of heaven and earth....

and be thankful for today.