Women's day of refreshing/being thankful

Today @ church was our Women's day of refreshing.
Though we looked at several verses in the Bible, our main one was Psalms 100:4

"Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, And into his courts with praise: Give thanks unto him, and bless his name."

We talked about being thankful, and how it shouldn't be just a cliche.
The speaker read an email she had received, which touched me.
I don't remember all of it, though I could probably search the web for it.
It talked about being thankful for things you wouldn't normally be thankful for.
For instance, being thankful for your huge electricity bill, because it means your family is cool in the Summer, and warm in the Winter...being thankful for a messy house to pick up, and laundry to do, and endless dishes to wash, because it means you have a loving home filled with family...etc...
Even if we have nothing, or no one on this Earth, just the fact that we can breathe is enough to be thankful for.
We talked about how there is nothing we can do to earn God's love, that he just loves us in spite of ourselves. That is amazing. It makes sense though...it's the way I feel about my own children...there is nothing they have had to do to earn my love. I loved them from the moment they were formed in my womb, at least from the moment I knew they were there. And, no matter how many things they mess up or break, or how many times they forget to use their manners...or how many times I have to ask them to do something they should just do on their own...I love them in spite of it all. I think about how much I love them, how nothing could ever change it, and then just try to imagine how much deeper the Father's love is for us...and then I realize that it is so awesome that I can't even begin to comprehend it, and I must just accept (and am happy to do!) it.

I want to be thankful to GOD, just for giving me breath.
I want to be thankful to GOD, that I have to cook dinner and make my husband a plate, and then clean it up...because it means I have a husband who works hard all day to provide for his family.
I want to be thankful when my car is a mess and I don't have time to wash it or clean it out, it means we have transportation, and get to go places and see people and do things together as a family.
I want to be thankful when my child has a messy room, because it means I have a healthy child that can play...and we have been able to afford toys and clothes.
I want to be thankful when my friends call and gripe and complain and I have a headache and am really not in the mood to listen, because it means I have friends that trust me enough to talk to me...and that will also listen to me when I need to vent.
I will be thankful when I am sick, because it means if I need to I can go to the doctor and get medicine if need be.
I will be thankful that the sun rises and sets on yet another day, because GOD has given me blessing after blessing to fill it up.

There is an endless amount of things to be thankful for.
I want to challenge you...I want you to take something "not good" going on in your life, something that has been bothering you, eating at you, trying your patience, driving you crazy, even something that has you scared or worried...
I want you to take that something, and find a reason to be thankful for it.

I once read a story...
I don't remember it exactly, but there was something of a concentration or refugee camp. People were housed in shabby tents and barely feed or cared for, it was filthy disgusting living. It was harsh, at best. There were two sisters who were housed together in a tent. There tent was infested with lice, mosquito's, and bugs. One sister complained daily (this would be me! I mean Hello, who would be thankful for bugs) and the other gave thanks in their prayers for the bugs, and rough conditions...and told the other sister she needed to do the same, and though she didn't quite understand it, she did it anyway.
Once they were released from the camp, they learned that the guards had been going into all the tents and abusing the women at night, but stayed clear of the one tent with the sisters because it was so infested with bugs...WOW...how miserable it must have been to have bugs constantly everywhere, how awful, yet they were better than what would have happened had the bugs not been there.

Choose something that is hard to be thankful for, and be thankful for it anyway.
God has a plan for you and he knows your heart.
Trust in Him and be thankful, for everything give praise to Him!