Thanksgiving Day Thoughts From a Prostate Cancer Survivor

Thanksgiving thoughts -I find it very easy to be thankful when great things happen, when the blessings flow, and things are going my way. In fact on most Thanksgiving meals we go around the table and share something positive that happened during the year that we're thankful for. 

For me the most amazing verses the in Bible about thanksgiving are from: Hab 3:17-18

Though the fig tree may not blossom,
Nor fruit be on the vines;
Though the labor of the olive may fail,
And the fields yield no food;
Though the flock may be cut off from the fold,
And there be no herd in the stalls--
Yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
I will joy in the God of my salvation. 

All those events taken together spell nothing less than a disaster of immense proportions. Even though Habakkuk lived through these events, his reaction was to rejoice in the Lord. That doesn't mean he was glad or happy about the awful things that happened. It means he re-focused his attention from his circumstances to a God who loved him. 

I certainly didn't feel like rejoicing in the Lord, nor did I feel the joy of my salvation when I received the news I had prostate cancer. It took many many months and sleepless nights before my faith began making a difference in how I experienced the reality of living life without my prostate. Almost 3 years post surgery there are issues that I experience every day that remind me that I left my prostate in San Francisco. 

After reading this verse this year,  I decided to re-focus my attention away from the things I'm  thankful for. This Thanksgiving I'm challenging myself  to take the worst things that have happened this year and find ways to rejoice in the Lord and find joy in the God of my salvation. Anyone else willing to do this?

 (I'll spend other days thanking God for the amazing blessings I've received this year.)