Things I am Grateful For in 2006

By Michael L. Ford

As we get into the Thanksgiving season that usually ends for many as soon as the Turkey is consumed, I have made a resolution for myself. That is, I want to become more mindful of my many blessings and not treat them some ephemeral thing and say, “Thank you Lord for your blessings on me.” I want to be like the old song that says: “Count your blessings name them one by one.” I want to share this first list in the hope it will help me to go further in this endeavor, and perhaps encourage others. Since we are told to enter into the Great King’s Gates with Thanks giving and into His Courts with praise I hope this will also serve to enhance my prayer life.

1. I want to thank the Lord for His great Salvation given to me some 54 years ago.

2. I want to thank My Savior for His faithfulness, for in my imperfect walk He has never left me nor forsaken me in all these years.

3. I want to thank God for sending me my wife, who has been my faithful helpmate and joy in living for 38 years.

4. I want to thank the Lord for the children He gave me, a boy and then a girl, in the very sequence that I asked them to come in.

5. I want to thank the Lord in particular for my son who has shown a noble spirit during the years he has been on this earth.

6. I want to thank the Lord for putting my son into a ministry to children during the time his own son is developing.

7. I want to thank the Lord that my daughter is playing and singing for her church. I know it is the gift of God that she is able to do those things.

8. I want to thank the Lord for my daughter in law because she is a sweet woman and makes my son happy.

9. I want to thank the Lord for my son in law because he sired my granddaughter, and has shown me the many weaknesses in my Christian walk I need to improve on.

10. I want to thank the Lord for my grandson, for in him I have hope of the family line continuing.

11. I am grateful to the Lord for my granddaughter, who at nine months already knows how to melt grandpa’s heart.
12. I am thankful for my parents who gave me a Christian upbringing, and that the Lord has allowed them to remain with me till this present day.
13. God was so good to me in my grandparents, and in particular my mom’s parents, who took me to meetings in Primitive Baptist churches and to Sacred Harp singings when I stayed summers with them as a boy.

14. I am grateful to God that He has allowed me to live long enough to return back to my hometown and develop relationships with long ignored cousins at this stage of life.

15. I am humbly grateful that the Lord had mercy on me putting me into His ministry in spite of my many faults and failings.

16. I am awed, amazed, and overwhelmed with gratitude for what He has deigned to teach me along the way, as well as the fact He has also made me aware of the fact that my ignorance is so great I cannot comprehend how little I do know.

17. I am thankful that though my body has failed me, God has still had something I could do. Few have been so fortunate.

18. I am thankful for my church. Most churches with a preacher on staff who has had the medical problems I have had these last three years would have gotten rid of them.

19. There are so many people in my church I should give thanks for individually because they have been uniquely special in my life.

20. One person in the ministry I have to be particularly thankful for is Joan Aaron. Were it not for her there would be no website, for she designed it, and has kept it updated, day after day, month after month. The people who say the site has helped them should be grateful for her as well.

21. I am grateful the Lord has stirred some hearts to contribute to paying the cost of keeping things going. The interesting thing is I have never asked anyone to give. I told the Lord the need and a “little bird” whispers in an ear.

22. My partners in the work, like C.W. and Paul have made things possible that would not have happened without them. I must praise God for sending them into my life.

23. I am grateful for the car I drive and the brother inspired to provide it. God has kept and maintained this vehicle so it has continued when others said it was on its last legs.

24. I am thankful for my pastor. He has a patience with people greater than mine by far.

25. I am thankful for the people I have pastured and counseled over the years. I am so blessed that they are still glad to see me as the years pass by.

26. I am thankful for those students I have had. Some have gone on as pastors and in other Christian work. Every time I hear a good report of one my spirits lift.

27. I am thankful for Linda Dennis, the church secretary. Words cannot express all the ways she has helped me over the years.

28. I am thankful for my brother, the joy I have had when we got to work together, me preaching, him singing, and all the times he fixed my computers.

29. I am thankful for my friends, for their company and care, and for the fact neither time or distance changes the care we have for one another.

30. I am thankful for those so influential in shaping me, like George Rowland, Mel Griffin, and Bill Ramey. I look forward to seeing them again in glory.

31. I am thankful for my enemies. The caliber of one’s enemies can say a lot about the ideals of the man. Thank you Lord for having enemies worth noticing.

32. Finally thank you Lord for showing me how superficial this list is and how I need to get down to specifics and back to the basics like food and shelter that I tend to take for granted.