“For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required” (Luke 12:48b).

I am so thankful for my Bibles. They are precious to me, and, with all the notes in them, are just like a journal chronicling my struggles, triumphs, and thoughts. Last week my Sunday School teacher told us when her son went off to military training, he wanted one of his mother’s well-marked Bibles to carry with him. He carried it proudly in front of the other men. I hope that my girls will always treasure the Bibles I leave behind.

I am also grateful for all the devotionals, spiritual books, CDs, radio, Internet websites, and other resources that we are able to freely access here in America. We are truly blessed and have no excuse not to be growing in our Christian lives daily.

Would you like to join me for A Month of Thanksgiving?

“The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.” (Psalm 18:2).

I am so grateful for God’s protection in my life. There are some things that God did not spare me from, but there are some really big things God has protected me from.

He has protected me physically many times, but the most frightening time was when I was a teenage girl. My friend and I were playing on the front porch, and proceeded to leave the porch to go to the yard. Right next to the brick that we used as a step was a very tall metal TV antenna fastened to the house and buried in the ground. My brother and I were accustomed to using it as our handrail, since there was not one for the brick step; many times we’d swing off the porch holding onto it. That particular day as I leapt off the porch holding onto the antenna, it began to fall. I was terrified of being in trouble with my dad, so I tried to hold the antenna up. It was too heavy and was falling fast. My mom, who has what we call “the gift”, felt she needed to immediately go check on me. She burst out of the front door and screamed for me to run. I did, and, seconds later, the antenna hit the electricity wire leading to the house. It literally fried several things in our house—the TV and Atari game my brother was playing at the time was one of them. My dad’s CB radio (he was a trucker) was actually melted onto his desk. There were several other appliances ruined, too. I was just a few feet of being electrocuted when God sent my mom out of the house to warn me. Praise God for what He did that day! Not only was I not hurt, neither was anyone else, especially my brother.

In another instance from my teenage years, my mother and I were in town alone for my monthly dental visit to have my braces adjusted. Mama didn’t (and still doesn’t) drive, so we’d have to wait on my grandpa to come get us. We were downtown, and Mama wanted to go to the street corner to see if she could spot her dad, but she needed me to stay where I was in case I saw him. Mama was just going 1/2 block up the street, and I was a teenage girl, so it seemed fine. After Mama left, a shopkeeper came out of the store and was watching me in a way that made me feel uncomfortable. I believe he asked me something, too, but I can’t remember for sure. He then made his way up the street, in what appeared to me that he was looking to see where my mother had gone. I noticed him coming back toward me, and I felt for sure I needed to get out of there. I left my post, walked quickly past this man, and found my mom. I had no tangible reason to distrust this man, but it was a gut feeling, a feeling I believe God put there. A week later, I read in the newspaper that this man was arrested for murder! He killed a “friend” in a fit of anger. If that was the type man he was, he could very well have had evil intentions for me. I still don’t know it, but I believe God protected me from this man.

Has God ever done something like this in your life—saved you mere “inches” from death or serious harm?

Would you like to join me for A Month of Thanksgiving?