Giving Thanks

Had a good time today with Shirley, my future Mom-in-law Ladia, Mom and Dad, and Trish. We were at Trisha's, and her boyfriend and his son and daughter were there and we enjoyed eating and hanging together.

What a feast! A turducken and a turkey, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, corn, dressing, 2 kinds of rolls, sweet potatoes w/marshmallows on top (mmmm!), and pies -- 2 pumpkin, a pecan, and a sugar-free apple (for me, of course!).

Better that that, of course, was the time to be with family and thank our God for all His many blessings to us.

I used to be a pretty hardcore Calvinist. Meaning, I believed that God only chooses to save some of us--the offer of salvation is only to a chosen few. He only loves those chosen few. And His blessings are only for those few elect. I now believe (and have now for a few years) that, based on Scripture and the Church Fathers (the apostolic tradition--our first and best commentary on Scripture), He loves us all. And He extends His offer of salvation to all, to each one of us, and wants each of us to come to Him in repentance in faith. He wants to fill each of our lives up with Himself. And all good things really do come from Him--even good things that people who don't know Him enjoy. It's just that, as believers, we are blessed more--we enjoy life more, and all things that He gives us, because we're rightly related to Him. When I came to this realization, all my questions about God's goodness and the unbeliever were answered.

Thankfully, He manifests Himself to all, many, many times in this life, and perhaps in the life to come. We pray that each person will respond to Him in faith.

Have a blessed Thanksgiving weekend.



under the mercy,
Br. Francis