We give thanks to thee, O God; we give thanks;
we call on thy name and recount thy wondrous deeds.

Psalms 75:1

As my last couple of devotions have revealed, I've been having a tough time spiritually and emotionally lately. Troubles remain, however, I'd like to let everyone know that things are getting better. When I finally stopped running around madly looking for something, anything, to calm me down, and rested instead in the knowledge that God is still at work in my life, even in the dark times, I began to feel much better. Circumstances have not changed much, but my attitude and disposition are much improved. I feel as though I'm emerging from a dark cave into the sunlight. My eyes have yet to become accustomed to the surroundings, but the warmth of the sun on my face is enough for now.

As Thanksgiving approaches here in the US, we're reminded to stop and give thanks for the blessings in our lives. When we're faced with tough times, and we're feeling like God has abandoned us the last thing we feel like doing is giving thanks to God. However, it has helped me a great deal in these tough times to stop and start counting my blessings.

I'll share just a few with you:

--I'm thankful for good friends who got me out of my house and out of myself and took care of me on days I didn't think I could keep going;

--I'm thankful for readers who took the time to drop me a line, share their thoughts, words of comfort and prayers for me. Many of them brought tears of joy to my eyes;

--I'm thankful for my health, my job, my home and my family;

--I'm thankful for my three wonderful cats who have given me some 10 odd [and sometimes they have been odd] years of joy and love;

--I'm thankful for good Christian people like Rev. Mel White, Rev. Jimmy Creech, Rev. Greg Dell and the hundreds of other clergy and lay people who live their convictions everyday no matter the consequence;

--I'm thankful for any day I can get out of bed and work to make the world a better, nicer, and more just place for anyone who feels oppressed or marginalized or unnoticed;

--I'm thankful God has given me a calling, a vocation, to minister to my GLBT brothers and sisters. Some days it's the hardest thing I can think of to do ... but the rewards are more than I ever could have imagined.