Thankfulness for Present Blessings

     The Lord's goodness hasn't failed us in the past. We were wonderfully blessed during our year in Washington, and we thanked God for many things. Nonetheless, in the months since Lee's heart event, we have felt a special blessing in a multitude of little ways that I simply do not know how to put into words.

   I say these things in a desire to express my sincere thankfulness for a myriad of things that might sound silly if I listed them ~ but I won't ~ not so much out of a fear of wearying my readers as from the fact that I don't necessarily know what to call them. And for fear of leaving out the things that are actually more important. By way of example, however, the thing that often comes to mind is my front door.

   A front door isn't very useful without a house.  We have a lovely farmhouse that is just the right size for us and is situated in a beautiful, quiet place.  The front door isn't the best thing about the house.  But it is the thing that stands out in my mind as evidence of the Lord's goodness to us.  It is just such a door as I have long wanted, and when I walked into the house and saw it, I knew it was a gift from him to me.  It is something I would have never thought to ask for and could not have missed if it hadn't been here.  But it is here, and I thank God for it.

   More amazing is that Lee has a Greek pupil. It isn't something he sought or expected to find, but here in a little town in central North Dakota, in a small church of about twenty people, there is one young man who is sincerely motivated to learn Greek.  Lee gave him a copy of Machen's grammar. He is reading it and asking questions.

   The saints have blessed us in numerous ways, fixing up the house, clearing the driveway, burning the ditches, and helping us to settle in to North Dakota life.  It doesn't seem right to mention Dan and his interest in Greek and leave so many bigger things unsaid.  But the saints in other places have been good to us, too.  I mention one of the things that stands out as an emblem of the Lord's blessing in a way that differs from the lifelong goodness we have known.