Monday, November 24, 2008

At The Well~Having A Thankful Heart

Welcome to "At The Well" where Laurie is discussing having a Thankful Heart. Please stop by Laurie's page to read her story and the other ladies' thankful hearts.

PHILIPPIANS 4:6 "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God."

This is my first time...At The Well but I was so inspired and my heart full of thankfulness that I decided to join in today.

Giving Thanks During The Difficult Times...There have been several times that immediately come to mind and I want to share two of those times with you. Each time, we learned something different in our lives, our family and grew because of adversity. I have to admit that we (hubby and I) would not be where we are now spiritually if it had not been for these difficult times.

The most recent one was two years ago when my husband had the feeling that something was about to happen at his job. There had been some strange things happen and certain things said that we felt like his job might be in jeopardy. It wasn't immediate but it was something that happened over a couple of weeks.

Roger is not one who sits around and waits for things to happen but he takes action and prepares for what might lie ahead. He began to start searching for other possible jobs and located one with a company that he had worked along side for several years. They told him that he had a job waiting for him if and when the termination came.

The termination was really ugly and their ex-boss was acting down right mean when he terminated several employees at once...including my husbands. There was lies being told and threats being made...it was so ugly. The harrassment lingered for about 8 months with this guy but God was faithful. It was the only time that I saw my husband nearly break but this was just after the other story below had been resolved...so we were still emotionally spent.

He has always been the strong one and I fly all over the place but when he went down...I came up fighting...it was spiritual warfare and I was angry. I got on my knees, got out all my scripture books including "The Power of a Praying Wife" and got busy. My husband felt so encouraged throughout those ugly months and God provided and showed His greatness onced again. My husband grew so much more in his faith as he watched once again God provide.

The other time was July 4th, 2003 at straight up noon...we were served with a lawsuit. Happy 4th of July, huh? We were being sued by friends...or we thought they were our friends...we sold them a house in 1999, ended up moving back next door to our old house and became good friends.

This lawsuit lasted 3 years and 5 days and lots of money later. During the trial, the judge was against us and the realtors from the beginning. She did everything she could to gift wrap the case and award them everything they were asking. We felt like it was because we had 3 male attorneys at our table against one female attorney at their table...plus, one female judge.

There were so many ups and downs and numerous delays...with each delay...we couldn't understand what was going on and how it would turn out. We remained faithful and believing that God would come through it this situation. It took 3 years and 5 days, but the verdict came in the mail...we weren't liable for any damages and the case was dismissed.

The amazing thing to me was that if it wasn't for each of the delays...the end result wouldn't have been the same because each one was just another piece of the puzzle...not guilty!

We grew so much in our faith and in the Word of God during these difficult times. I wouldn't wish this on anyone but at the same time, I am thankful for this adversity because without it...my faith wouldn't be where it is today. Roger and I grew together during this time and relied on each other to get through. It was an emotional roller coaster....but we continued to thank God daily for His faithfulness regardless of the outcome.

13 comments:

  1. Just passing by your blog for the first time. The Lord has a way when it seems no way through every storm of life. If we could just learn to lean on Him and let Him work. It is really bad when you feel forsaken by a friend. But with each trial we can draw closer to Him. Thanks for reminding me.
    I particulary need it for this day.

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  2. It is so true about adversity growing our faith. We can look back and see God's faithfulness to us in difficult times. Thanks for sharing today!

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  3. Thanks so much for sharing, Jennifer. It is SO true that the times of trial are when our faith grows the best. I know we would all love to avoid the difficult times, but without them, we don't learn the beautiful lessons we would otherwise learn. We don't see God's faithfulness and provision in the good times as we do in the down times.

    I know where it not for Gary's 25 months of being without work, we wouldn't have experienced God providing for us. We had always been financially well off, not really needing God. But when the paycheck isn't coming in, but the bills are, we needed God to provide. And he did. We got money anonymously in the mail. We got groceries given to us. We had invitations to dinner. And on and on.

    Also, I was thinking, July 4, 2003. A difficult day for you, a difficult day for us as well. We were less than a month into those trying times. And God has brought us both forward. Praise His name.

    Love,
    Patti

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  4. Jenn,
    So glad that you joined us over AT THE WELL today. Thank you for sharing your grateful heart even during trying times. God is so faithful and all we have to do is look around us and see just what blessings He has bestowed upon us. -Blessings, Laurie

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  5. Thank you for the sweet comment! There have been many times when I had to really work at finding the things to be thankful for but God always points them out for me!

    Thank you for sharing your heart with us!

    I will be stopping by to visit you often!

    Many Blessings!
    Naomi

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  6. Welcome to At the Well! I'm so glad to see you here! I was really encouraged by your post. You kept your trust in God and I loved how you went to bat for your husband in prayer! Awesome read, my friend!

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  7. Thanks for sharing how adversity has strengthened you. I've been in some of those spots myself--some when I was far from God. I look back now and can see the hand of God at work in my life--even though I was far from Him. Things that I thought of as coincidence, I now know were God at work in my life.

    Oh, and you've been tagged at "The Power of Your Love"

    http://wwwthepowerofyourlove.blogspot.com

    Beth

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  8. Welcome to At the Well, we are so glad that you shared today. You have certainly been through some hard times which resulted in growth in faith and God's Word. What a great place to be when you can be thankful for the adversity because of the growth ti brought. What a blessing your post was.

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  9. Thank you and I will keep you posted! She had fallen asleep but woke up and her fever is back and almost 103! I gave her some medicine and she is now asleep in my bed. I called my hubby, he is a firefighter/EMT to ask him what he thought I should do because her peds office is closed. He said that if I can't get her fever back down then to take her to the emergency room. I pray that we don't have to do that but we will do whatever we have to! We have decided to hold off on birthday dinner and desert until tomorrow. Hopefully she will be able to enjoy it then!

    Thank you for your prayers! We really appreciate them!

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  10. Thanks for sharing your dear heart.

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  11. It's good to be thankful during difficult moments because it is also an opportunity of attracting God's blessings in our lives. God Bless You!

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  12. Great post! We are walking through difficult times right now and it helps to hear from others who are on the other side of the journey. Thanks for sharing!

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  13. What a wonderful testimony of God's faithfulness! Learning through the hard times is so important, and something to be thankful for!

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Thank you for stopping by today and sharing your heart felt thoughts with me. As we ride "Through the Storms of Life" together, chances are...your situation is different than mine. However, we serve the same awesome God, King of Kings who is in complete control and it all belongs to Him anyway...He wants to give you the very best. Be encouraged my friend, God loves you!

Thank you again for taking the time to visit me at "Through the Storms of Life".

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