This month, we’ll be celebrating Thanksgiving, that wonderful time each year of family gatherings, turkey, stuffing, and all the fixin’s… and in my case, cheering on some ol’ high school "Turkey Day" football!

Even though he may have missed out on cranberry sauce or sweet potatoes a few thousand years ago, the apostle Paul did write, "Give THANKS in all circumstances" (1 Thess. 5:18). Honestly, that was hard for me to understand, when I considered that he had been lashed 39 times, beaten with rods 3 times, stoned once, shipwrecked 3 times, adrift at sea before, and in countless other dangerous situations (2 Cor. 11:24-26).

But I suddenly had a wonderful realization, given my car wreck experience: I am not thankful for the accident itself, of course, but I am thankful that God used those resulting difficulties in awesome ways to transform my thinking, my faith, and me!

The prepositions "in" and "for" in our language (and in the original Greek) make all the difference.

I am sincerely grateful for all that the LORD has taught me and done inside of me to change me because of what I had to endure… and little Abby, going mom-less for 4½ years? Well... she turned out just fine!