Group Writing Project..I'm Thankful to be A Christian Because...

On the Horizon

The Next Step

and A Proverbs 31 Woman Wanna Be

proudly present their first-ever Group Writing Project:

“I am thankful to be a Christian because . . . “

We invite you to read and be inspired by all of the wonderful submissions included in this Group Writing Project! Please take a moment to leave a comment letting the authors know how much you appreciate their efforts. Share some of the reasons why you are feeling grateful this Thanksgiving.

Here are the posts included in this Group Writing Project:

• e-Mom at Chrysallis is thankful that “Jesus has promised me a rich, abundant life in the present, and an unending eternal life in the future.” She shares the “Top 13 Christian Books Every Thinking Christian Should Own.” Check out her list and note how many of them are on your bookshelf.
  
• My delightful co-sponsor, Shalene, at A Proverbs 31 Woman Wanna Be literally uses her fingers to tick off five reasons she is thankful. “Being a Christian has taken my focus off of myself, and put it on those around me,” she writes.
  
• Donetta at A Life Uncommon explains why she is “thankful for a relationship that is a friendship with God.”
  
• Sandy Carlson of Writing in Faith also submitted a post. Click here to read her article in which she describes her faith and challenges us to look at our own: “Imagine it. With a glad and grateful heart, imagine it.”
  
• Denise of Shorty Bear’s Place is well-known among Christian bloggers. She is a dear spirit, wonderful friend to us all, and needs our prayers this Thanksgiving as she is not feeling well. Nonetheless, she submitted a post for this Project that will bring you to tears. Make sure that you stop by and read Denise’s testimony.
  
• JHS of Colloquium explains that she is thankful she is a Christian because she does “not know how to be anything else.” Click here to read her entry about growing up in a Christian home and maintaining her faith over the years.
  
• Lori at All You Have to Give describes in an eloquent and heart-felt manner how Christians are able to endure the challenges of living in a world that can be “incredibly bad.” Click here to read her devotional.


• Dan King of BibleDude tells us how thankful he is to be a Christian because of the "family" and extended "community" he now belongs to.


• Tami of The Next Step tells us why being a Christian means that she is never alone.
  
  Feel free to copy the above list and publish it on your own site. I’m sure that all of the participants will appreciate your sharing their work with a wider audience!
  
  Still working on your entry? We will continue to accept, read, and link to additional submissions through Sunday, November 25, 2007. Just send the link to your post to hopefulspirit at comcast dot net!

I'm Thankful to be A Christian Because...

This holiday finds me for the first time, in I don't know how long, with nowhere to go for the holiday; and I am thankful for that. In a blended family with parents that come from blended families, that is surely a rarity. Don't get me wrong, I love visiting my various family members, but sometimes it just gets so tiring. Anyway, that's not what I want to write about today. Today I want to write about why I am thankful to be a Christian. This is part of a Group Writing Project hosted by On the Horizon, The Next Step and Myself.

There are so many reasons to be thanful to be a Christian, that I am at a loss as to where to start, so I'll start the same way I've learned to pray at times. Using my hand, I'll use each of the digits to pray for and be thanful for something today.

Starting with my thumb, the digit closest to me, I am thankful that being a Christian means that I am blessed with a wonderful husband and four beautiful children. You may wonder, how does that relate to being thankful to be a Christian, so I'll tell you. Without God in my life and at the center of my life, I would not have the family that I have today. Most all of you have read my testimony, so you know a portion of who I was before the Lord entered my life. You also know then, that I did not have the blessed family that I have now. So I am thankful to be a Christian because without this designation, I would still be an unhealthy, unhappy broken soul, that belonged to a broken family.

Next, with my pointing finger, I'm praying for and thankful to be a Christian because of the teachers in my life. This includes my pastors, and the other bloggers that teach me more of what it means to be a Christian. Reading His Holy Word, has taught me so much about how to be a Christian and how to have a life full of blessings. I could never express in words adequate enough, how many changes my life has gone through having this Instruction Manual for living my life for God. Learning how to live selflessly, even when I don't do it perfectly all the time, has improved my life so much!!!

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 NKJV

Next with my middle finger, the tallest of my fingers, I will pray for and be thankful that I am a Christian in a country that allows for Christian leadership. And even for those that are not Christian, I am still thankful to be a Christian in this country, where persecution is still relatively mild. Being a Christian in this country, I can be thankful that I can minister to others, and worship my God, without fear of repercussions. Knowing God, I live for the moments when I can witness to others, His Good News.

But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. 2 Timothy 4:5 NKJV

Next, with my ring finger, the weakest of all, I am praying for and thankful that being a Christian means that I can help those that are weaker than I. Whether that be with prayers, ministry, or monetary help, being a Christian means that I have the opportunity and the blessed responsibility to help those less fortunate than I. Before I was a Christian, I did not have the heart that I now have for these down trodden, and for the children that I now have. I am thankful for the exhortation that the Word gives to us for these.

"Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?" Jesus said to him, 'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets." Matthew 22:36-40 NKJV

Lastly, I pray for and am thankful to be a Christian for the way it has affected me. Being a Christian has shown me that I have so few needs. I pray that I will always remember to store up my treasures in Heaven. Being a Christian has taken my focus off of myself, and put it on those around me. I am thankful to be a Christian, maybe for this reason the most. I can show love to those around me, without shame, and without worry about whether they deserve it or not. Because it doesn't matter. God loves them, and so do I. God loves me, regardless of what I do to earn His Divine Love. For all these reasons, I am thankful to be a Christian. Blessings to all of you, this holiday season.

Please click here to read other entries in this Writing Project.

There is no "MORE" to this post.

Group Writing Project

Announcing the first-ever group writing project sponsored by On the Horizon, The Next Step, and Proverbs 31 Woman WannaBe:

“I am thankful to be a Christian because..."

Write a post with that title and submit it using this form no later than Tuesday, November 20, 2007, at midnight (Pacific time) by clicking here.

All entries will be collected and the link to each published at On the Horizon, The Next Step, and Proverbs 31 Woman Wanna Be on Wednesday, November 21, 2007, just in time for Thanksgiving.

One post per blog, please, but you may submit a post that you write specifically for this group project or one that you have previously published on your site. There is no minimum or maximum number of words required and, in fact, you may feel free to submit a post containing a video presentation, artwork, or other media so long as it is consistent with the theme, i.e., conveys to the reader the basis and rationale for your belief that Jesus Christ is the One true son of God and died for your sins in order that you might have eternal life. This project is open to members of any and all or no specific church or denomination. (No vulgarity, profanity or hate speech, please. The owners of the individual host sites will have discretion and the final authority regarding the appropriateness of posts to which they will link from their blogs.)

Questions? Concerns? Drop an e-mail to admin at hopefulspirit dot com!

Blessings to you, and most of all Have Fun!

November 16, 2007 Update: If you have submitted a post, we apologize but must ask you to resubmit via email to hopefulspirit at comcast dot net. It appears that there is a problem with the submission form and notifications are not being received. We apologize for any inconvenience and thank you for your understanding.