Lately God has really been talking to me about my thank you’s. Looking back there is so many of them, both good and bad ones, I think we think thank you’s are only for good things. But God has shown me the thank you’s for the not so great things are sometimes the most important! To say thank you is expressing gratitude, well I do want to express gratitude for the not so great times, because I can look back and see that they are what God used to make me who I am, and who I am becoming in God! For instance I cannot imagine my life without writing, it helps me express myself, and it was birthed out of a very bad situation that occurred in my family, but I am so thankful, because without it I wouldn’t know how much I love to write! Trials give us the ability to relate to people, if you have experienced the loss of a loved one or been mistreated we can feel what they are feeling, you can reach out and minister when you have felt that pain. I am starting to see that these thank you’s are the most important. I have often wondered why my brother was taken at such a young age, and why my parents divorced, but now I see, these things caused me to feel very lonely, and it was that loneliness that helped me see my need for God in my life! Until a person sees their need for God they won’t feel that hunger in life for Him. There are many things we face t in this life, because God wants us to grow. The fruits of the spirit cannot grow in us until we face hardship. Love becomes strong in us when we see how much He loves us, when we feel Him holding us in His arms during the tough times. Peace comes when He calms our storms, and although we are facing the mighty winds we know all will be well, because we know Him. Joy comes when the fiercest of trials are smacking us left and right, that joy resides deep within us, and gives us His strength when we are weak. Patience comes when we learn to wait on God for the answer whether it takes two weeks or twenty years, it is in just knowing He will answer, in His time! Goodness is knowing there is no good in us, but in Him we have goodness, doing your best, and He will do the rest. Faithfulness, no one is faithful like God, it comes when we just keep doing what He has called us to even when no one notices, but Him! I could go on and on, but my point is God places these thanks you’s in us to show us to be thankful in all things. The seeds of these fruits are placed in us at the time we are filled with the Holy Ghost, but these good and bad thank you’s cause them to grow until we are what God wants us to be I have gotten to the point in my life where I am so happy, and grateful for every single thank you, the good, the bad and the ugly! The love, the teaching and even the loss has made me, who I am and who God wants me to be. Thank you God and thank you to those who have given me my thank you’s!