“Discern God’s work in your daily life and share the story” is NPAC’s theme for this year. We are grateful that one of our counselors has taken the initiative to design a Thanksgiving Book in hard copy format while another sister has helped us design an e-version so that our fellowship members can record things they are grateful for.

       When we first encouraged brothers and sisters to use the Thanksgiving Book, some frankly shared that thanksgiving items to be put down in the Book must be something special. One member wrote: “I always thought that only some special events are worth giving thanks. If a day passes just like any other day, I would not know what to write down to give thanks for. But I am very grateful today. Our Heavenly Father helped me discover suddenly that it is a blessing to write down matters of gratitude in the Thanksgiving Book. I have no idea why I changed, but I am really grateful for this.”

       From that day onwards, this sister became a frequent writer in our Thanksgiving eBook. And thanks be to God, their sharing inspired others to do the same. Indeed, we can give thanks for everything, big or small. Below is the sharing of some brothers and sisters:

     “Thank the Lord for watching over us. On Saturday afternoon, usually the podium on 6/F of Fortress Metro Tower is quite busy with various vehicles. But yesterday was miraculous. Not a single car was there, and so two or three of our rehab buses could enter at the same time. We were able to pick up members quickly so that they could go home earlier.”

     “Last night I played table tennis. While collapsing the table, the entire table closed up on my two wrists. I immediately went to the emergency room at hospital for x-ray. I am thankful that none of my bones were hurt. There were only some bruises on both hands and some external wounds on my skin. I really do not understand why the table, which weighs more than 100 pounds, collapsing on my hands did not cause any major injury. My wrists are really only skin and bones with no muscles to protect the wrist bones. Thank God for protecting me in secret!”

      “The other day after eating out with my two children, they insisted on going home by bus. We waited for a long time, but no bus was in sight. My two sons ran out of patience. The younger son yelled, and the elder bumped his head on whatever surface he could reach…I tried to calm them down and suggested that we pray together. The younger son prayed aloud, ‘Lord, I wanna take Route 85 bus home. We have waited for so long and still there is no bus. I am very unhappy. I pray You will help me. In Jesus’ name. Amen.’ I am so thankful that a bus soon came as if it fell from the sky. It saved me.”

      “On April 30, my son’s breathing machine suddenly stopped working at noon. His face immediately turned pale. Thank God he could still breathe. We immediately switched to a backup machine. My son’s condition became stable and finally resumed normal breathing. Thank the Lord!”

       I can tell from the above sharing that our God is mighty and He can bring about change. He is also the Lord who watches over us, protects us, listens to our prayers and saves us. Recording and sharing what we are thankful for turns out to be a fountain of joy. “Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!” (2 Corinthians 9:15)