Drawn on a door in our Christian Cultural Center is our thankfulness tree. It started bare and a little sad, but every Sunday church morning and Wednesday English club night we’ve seen new leaves of thanks added to its foliage in reds, yellows, and oranges.
On Sunday our church plant women’s group met together for tea and talk and crafts. As we shared things we were thankful for, we realized together that our thanksgiving came out of areas of hardship and pain. We were thankful for family who we got to see because of a funeral, we were thankful for husbands who were understanding and helpful when life was hard, we were thankful for a home in heaven while we frantically moved into new apartments.
Right now we are feeling kind of “hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair,” and it is encouraging to see that we can give thanks in the middle of it, because He is good!
So, thank you. Thank you for your prayers and support and messages and in-person talks. In the middle of this perplexity, we can look at you, and be thankful for holding us up. In the midst of this glorious mess, we can see how the Father is using you all.