Thankful For A Surprise Blessing When Teaching Sunday School

For years I have taught Sunday school at my church.  Sometimes I have taught the kindergarten class, the youth, or another age group- wherever there is a need. Currently, I am teaching a class of three-year-old children.  The class averages eight kids who are full of energy but are generally well behaved.

The lessons our church gives us to teach is pretty basic stuff, but somehow I can't resist going a little deeper than the Bible stories of Noah, Daniel, David, and Jesus: I just have to give foundation truths that I hope will be seeds of lifelong blessings to the kids.

 I always have a helper and occasionally two if there are more kids.  My helper these days is a mom of one of the kids.  She is a nice woman and has an advanced degree in computer engineering.  I always felt a little intimidated by her education and sophistication since I have never been to college, but we are there for the kids so I put thoughts of status away and focus on the work of the Lord.

In class this last Sunday as we were gathering the kids to the table for our Bible lesson she beamed a bright smile and said, "I am thankful to be in this class with you since I always learn something when you teach the kids."  I was astounded that she was learning when I taught the kids.  It shows that you never know who you may influence and impact.

I was surprised and humbled. It felt like God was using her to endorse my efforts to teach His word.  I am grateful to be able to serve the Lord in little things and thankful that He blesses in unexpected ways.

 (c)Adron Dozat 2/9/15

Why It Is A Responsibility To Be Thankful For Good Health.

I have been riding my bicycle to work for the past few weeks since my son is using the car for college. I enjoy riding my bicycle; it keeps my waistline slim, heart beating, and helps me in many ways.

I know many people my age are not able to ride a bicycle twelve miles a day because many are struggling with various health issues.  It is not just about age since people young and old can suffer affliction in their health.

Because I have good health (I do have a few minor problems), I feel it is a responsibility to take care of myself. Many people wish they were in good shape, and it is insulting to them if I let myself go. It would be a statement that I do not value what they long for when I have it and neglect it.

Good health is a gift. God could take that gift away. If I do not cherish the gifts he has given me, I can't expect The Lord to just give me another gift after I have squandered His earlier gifts.

By God's grace, I enjoy good health; I could have a stroke tomorrow or come down with a chronic condition like some of my friends. I am grateful that God in His mercy has spared me that test. If I come to that ordeal, I pray that I may face it with the nobility that respects those who have gone through such trials with grace and confidence in their Maker.

I am thankful for my good health, and I pray for my friends to enjoy the same blessing.

(c) Adron  9/18/14

Thankful For A Small Bonus Paycheck

The company I work for has a program where they share a percentage of the profits with the employees as a bonus check. These checks come out twice a year and amounts to about an extra paycheck.

Yesterday there was a sign next to the time clock that advised the bonus checks were available to pick up at the manager's office.  You could feel the excitement in the air. There was a stream of personal coming and going through the office door all day. Just before the end of my shift I was told to go and receive my check- which I gladly did.

NOT SURPRISE
I didn't open the envelope with the check in it until I got home. My family has bills so I held onto it knowing I was going to deposit it. Finally in my kitchen I opened it and found it less than what I hoped for.

I said, "It is not fantastic, it is just like a regular paycheck, and I would have liked to get more."  For a moment I felt disappointed.

I KNOW
I know I should be thankful. It may not have been a huge check but it was a little extra just the same. Many people do not get a bonus check and the company I work for does not have to give them but they do because they have good reasons to.

DECISION
It took about a day but I made a decision. I decided the right thing to do was to be thankful. I offered a prayer of thanks since then and whenever any thought of disappointment came back I resolved to be thankful instead. Being thankful is the right thing to do no matter the size of the blessing, big or small, we should still be thankful for it.

Thank God For Coupons

I don't do coupons very well. I clip them or print them from the web and use maybe 10% of the ones I get, and when I use them it looks like little savings. Today God put it all together for me.

I went to the store for a gallon on milk and some trash bags and while I was wandering the store aisles I saw a buy one get one free price on some microwave popcorn. I do not personally like popcorn, to me it is flavored paper and an excuse to consume unhealthy amounts of salt and processed oils, but my dear wife loves to have a bowlful to relax after work. I remembered seeing two coupons on line that I could print and use to bring the cost down to about 50 cents a box.

I had other errands to do so I stowed the bargain in the back of my spongy brain and hoped to be able to get to it sometime. Later I had a few minutes between dropping off my son and picking up my daughter, so I walked back to the store clasping the coupons in my hand like the fabled treasure of the Sierra Madre. Being a man I went straight to the target, picked up the goods, and dashed for a place in line.

The cashier rung up the purchase and swiped the first coupon across the scanner for a satisfying "Beep," the second coupon caused the computer to cough and groan. It seems when you buy one and get one free the computer does not recognize the sale of the second product and was refusing to accept the coupon. Without a pause the cashier gave it another wave across the malevolent laser, punched some punitive buttons on the keyboard and we got a happy "Beep" of acceptance.

A penny spit out of the automated coin dispenser. I looked at it with my credit card in hand ready to pay the remaining dollar that I owed but the store had a rewards program I did not know about and I had a dollar credit. So not only was it free but I got a penny back.

I almost skipped home with plans to frame the receipt and put it on the wall.

To some people it is crazy to be thankful for a free package of popcorn but every little blessing is from the hand of the Father in Heaven and is worthy of gratitude.

(c) Adron11/5/13

Why I Am Thankful For Good Health

While visiting with a friend from a faith community we once attended I was told about her husband's cancer surgery and follow up radiation treatments. The poor man, who is a minister and is much younger than I am, has had some complications. He is dedicated to the Lord's service and continues to minister from home where he is confined because of the current complications.

I have some health issues too, but nothing which compares to what my friend is going through. I know the Lord has His purposes for allowing the hardships we face. I know the Almighty is both loving and wise.

I do not know if I have what it takes to go through the test my friend is going through. I am grateful that God has blessed me with good health; I am able to go to work, do chores, spend time with my family and enjoy much of the blessings He has given.

I feel inspired by my friend, though he is going through a life threatening experience that could tip one way or the other yet he still loves Jesus his Savor without reproach and is committed to serve him. I feel honored and blessed to know him.

Without diminishing or belittling what he and others like him are going through I am thankful that I have not faced this test. I pray when my time comes I can endure it with the same nobility and grace that my friend has.

Thankful for the Rugby Game

I am not into sports since I was always small in school and was never picked for the teams during recess. I am more of the thoughtful contemplative type.

I have a friend who I see at work that is a referee for a local rugby league. He is a great guy and fun to talk to, and he can always talk about rugby. He invited me to come see a game he was refereeing on Saturday. I got off work just before the game and it was on my way home so I stopped by. I thought I would pay a polite nod to my friend and after a few minutes leave.

I had a great time! It is a wild game, very fast and fun to watch. The local boys were getting slaughtered by the out of town team but it was very entertaining. I sat on the grass on a little knoll and enjoyed the sunshine and the cloud filled blue sky. Just watching the game I felt energized. If I wasn't twice as old as the kids playing and so out of shape I would try out for the league.

My friend came over during the quarter breaks and filled me in on the rules and strategies of the game. We had fun talking together.

It was a break. I work hard on my two jobs, volunteer at church, and come home to more work, so it was nice to have fun. I thought about it later on and realized God who knows all things was trying to get me to slow down and enjoy some of the blessing he has given us called life.

I will make it a point to attend other games.

Thankful for Strawberries

A couple of years ago we bought a box of six strawberry plants which we planted in a container. They struggled to mature and produced little sour berries the first year. We tried to encourage them to produce better by transplanting them into what we hoped would be a happier place in the ground behind the deck. The next year they gave little berries but not so sour.

ALMOST GAVE UP
I kind of gave up on the strawberries and let them go a little wild this year and almost forgot about them. Then the other day my wife brought in a bowl of big delicious strawberries. She said that there had been more but she tasted one and it was so good that she just couldn't stop eating them.

HARVEST SEASON
Every day since I have gone into the yard with my bowl and harvested a little crop of strawberries. They taste so much better than the ones in the store! They are so sweet and juicy.  The plants have set out runners and there is a second generation of berries that are of the small tart kind but they will mature next year and we will have even more berries.

PATIENCE

• I am glad that we didn't do anything rash like pull them all up when they were sour. 
• I am thankful that we have the fun of going out and discovering delicious little red treasures under the leaves. 
• I am thankful that picking and enjoying them are a little something we as a family can do.
• And I am thankful that God made strawberries. 

Why I am Thankful For Our Crazy Cat

I am not a cat person, but for some reason, which I do not understand, God created cats so I tolerate the one who sleeps in our house and eats the food we buy for him. He is a neurotic and timid creature that is afraid of his own shadow.

Today was a beautiful day and Fearful Cat mustered the courage to venture outside. His standard approach to the outside is to find some hiding place under a chair or bush and observe it in seclusion. Today Fearful Cat walked about actually ventured into the wild open space of mowed lawn and fenced yard.

A white moth fluttered by in its quick jerky manner. Fearful Cat actually chased it. The butterfly dodged to the left and Fearful spun around with it. The butterfly darted again sending Fearful into a tumble. The cat spun after the butterfly who having had enough sought safety and fluttered up into the trees. Fearful Cat sprung after it did a floppy back flip and landed on his head.

It was a better show than a traveling circus! I confess I got a big laugh out of Fearful Cat.

I am thankful that God allows humor in our world. I am thankful that he sends things along that make us smile and laugh. I am grateful that God is a God of joy and that the fruit of knowing God is Joy. (Galatians 5:22-23).

What a Stranger Taught Me About Thankfulness

I do not remember the man's name, or if I ever knew it; he was a customer at the grocery store where I work. He stood on the other side of the cash register and adjusted one of the hearing aids behind each ear that attached to a plastic pad at the back of his head, a hearing implant. He leaned forward a little to hear me better and his grey hair fell across his wrinkled brow.

HIS STORY
"I woke up one morning, when I was forty two." He said, "And I had no hearing in my left ear. It was gone! The doctors still don't know why; I had no injury, or tumor, or stork. Nothing could explain it; I was just deaf in that ear and have been ever since."

He saw my questioning look for he had an implant behind the other ear.

"Two years later" he continued, "I woke up and realized I had lost the hearing in my other ear. Just like the first- no explanation, I did not have a stroke or tumor or trauma. I just went deft. The implants will help, but my brain will have to learn to hear all over again. The doctors say I may recover about 60% of my hearing with the implants."

He paid his bill with a smile and went on his way.

REMINISCES
I have not seen him since but I have thought about his experience often. I don't know if the mystery of why he lost his hearing was solved; I do know he was grateful for the implants that have given him some recovery of hearing.

A LESSON LEARNED
When I wake up I look at the room and listen to the sounds, I sit up and put my feet on the floor, and I stand up and get dressed. Many people can't do those things. I am healthy today but I don't know about tomorrow. Will I be able to see, hear, and stand or will something happen and I lose my vision, ability to stand, or to hear?

Every day I enjoy those blessings things I am grateful for them.

"I came naked from the womb and naked I will depart, the Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord." Job 1:21

Why I am Thankful For Volunteering

It is May and the school year is ending. Awana, the club where I volunteer, also ends its school year program since it is an outreach to school aged children. I am thankful for the opportunity to serve God and community by helping at this club.

HARD WORK
It is hard work. Each week we have to teach a Bible lesson, and that is not as easy as it sounds, since God's Word must be handled with reverence. The kids are a handful since I am helping with the younger ones. Our club meets on Friday nights and it is often after a hard week and we are tired. Every week we need to think of crafts for the kids. The club is about two hours long and that makes Fridays a long day.

CONVINCED
I believe it is essential to give to community- be it Church, a club, or civic organization. When we have gifts from God we are really stewards of those gifts. The gifts God gives us are not for our consumption but for using to serve.

BLESSED
I feel blessed to be able to help in the Awana Club.

• It has forced me to learn many new skills especially communication skills, if you can get an abstract truth, like heaven, across to the mind of a six year old you can teach anybody anything.  
• I see that I have grown in character every year I do this. 
• I feel that I have received more that I give.
• I am amazed and humbled when parents tell me the kids learn stuff and the parents thank me.
• I have made friends with wonderful people who also volunteer. 
• I have learned to be more of a servant and less self-absorbed.
• Volunteering gives me a bigger perspective on life.
• I have received friendship and affection from kids and respect and admiration from adult parents.
• I see God work through many circumstances involving the club.

THANKFUL

I am thankful for this opportunity and all the blessings it has given me. I look forward to autumn when the club begins again.

Thankful For My Son's High School Graduation.

I am very thankful for my son who graduated form high school today.
I am thankful for his success in school.
I am thankful for the accomplishments he has achieved.
I am thankful for the opportunities that are before him.
I am thankful for the quality of education he received.
I am thankful that the Good Lord has brought him into my life. I could not imagine life without him.
I am thankful that he has overcome many obstacles.
I am thankful that he is turning into a fine young man.
I am thankful for the blessing he is to our family.
I am thankful for the wonderful personality he has.
I am thankful for the exceptional wisdom he already has in life at an early age.
I am thankful for the wonderful commencement ceremony I was able to witness today.
I am thankful to have a seat that gave a good view of him coming down the isle in the procession.
I am thankful for the great education he has received in school.
I am thankful to be able to sit next to my wonderful wife at such a special occasion.

I could make a longer list but it will never be long enough to completely express my gratitude to God Almighty for his blessing this day.

As a father I always feel that I have let one or the other of my four children down at different times. I feel regret that I have not done more for and with each one of them. I pray for them constantly and daily. I believe the Lord has blessings in store for each one of them.

I am looking forward to what great things God has planned for my kids.

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