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A few hours after their turkey dinner on Canada's Thanksgiving Day, Phil's wife, Ramona, fell unconscious from a seizure. That night Phil lay awake wondering why God allows so many valleys—and how he could give thanks when the mountaintop was clouded over. At half-past midnight, four-year-old Jeffrey stood in his doorway. "I can't sleep, Daddy," he said.

Phil took him back down the hall. "Jeffrey," he said, tucking him in, "think of 100 things you're glad about." It's a game they've played before.

"I'm thankful for my bear," he said. "Now it's your turn."

Q. How do you come up with a list of "Stuff I'm Thankful For" when you're worried about tomorrow?

A. It's not easy tonight. Some things I tell him:

1. I'm thankful for Thanksgiving Day, Jeffrey.
   
   
2. I'm thankful that we don't eat that much turkey every day. We'd all look like big blimps by Christmas.
   
   
3. I'm thankful for an afternoon of touch football at the Callaway Annual Thanksgiving Day Oldtimer's Game (CATDOG), although none of us can run so fast as we used to.
   
   
4. I'm thankful that my hope is not fixed on the stuff of this earth—that I've got more than tomorrow to look forward to, that I've got eternity.
   
   
5. I'm thankful for Someone to thank—God who is always in control.
   
   
6. And I'm thankful for three wonderful children—God's gifts to Ramona and me. They surround us with laughter, energy, mischief, and love. … I'm thankful that all of them have finally gone to sleep. I think I will too.
   
   

Phil Callaway is the editor of Prairie Bible Institute's Servant magazine.

Adapted from Decision (Billy Graham Evangelistic Assoc., 10/01) by permission.

Copyright © 2002 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.
Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity.

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Prayer for the Week

Grant me a heart, O Lord, that honors You because it is grateful.

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