'I thank my God for you'

I thank my God for all of you

Say it with the Apostle Paul:

Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God. Whenever I pray, I make requests for all of you with joy, for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now (Philippians 1:3-5).

Say it with me: every time I think of you I give thanks to my God. Say it again: every time I think of you I give thanks to my God.

As I repeated those words to myself the name Marilyn Hanson came to my mind. I had not thought of her for a period of time. I had not seen her for a couple of years. But as I repeated the words ?Every time I think of you, ?? I thank my God for saying to me, call Marilyn and Arlo Hanson. Why, I am not sure. But I did. And I discovered that she had cancer, and I discovered that Arlo was also suffering.

I was saddened, because they are good friends, because we had worked together in the church side by side for a number of years, because they once were not a part of the church, but they are now.

On the one hand I was thankful that I called them. I was thankful that I could share life with them in their closing days on earth. And at the same time I was glad that I had the opportunity to tell them ? tell them ? how much they had touched my life, that I cared about them as persons, that they had been an inspiration to me.

I said this as loud as I could ? I thank my God for you, and that you will always be in my prayers. As I said that to them, the words of the Apostle Paul struck a chord within me, they touched my nerve ending, they heightened my awareness of the moment, they sharpened the importance of the moment for me.

And at the same time, they made me aware of the fact that if I had not taken the time to thank them the moment would have passed me by, and I might find myself saying ? I wished I would have thanked them, told them that I loved them and that watching them grow in their faith meant a lot to me. Instead of saying ? why didn?t I thank them when I was thinking of doing it?

Having had this experience, my prayer for each of you as Thanksgiving comes is that you will take the time to thank the special persons in your life, how much they mean to you. My prayer is that you will be moved to call them, write to them, go to them, and tell them that you are thankful for them. I am thankful that I made that call to Marilyn and Arlo Hanson.

Happy Thanksgiving.