November 19, 2007 by Matt.

Last night a 10 year old girl from my church lost her fight with cystic fibrosis. The question that quickly comes to the mind of those of the world is, “why?” Why did this little girl have to suffer? Why did she have to die so young? Why would God let something like this happen? To the world these seem like perfectly sensible questions. However, I am reminded of a certain scripture, Romans 8:28; “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him. (NIV)” As humans we find this scripture hard to grasp. How can any good come from the suffering and death of a little girl? To this I answer, “I don’t know.” However, while I don’t know, God does know. I may never be able to see what good God works from this situation, but I have faith that he will. Why? Because he said he would.

Each week as I select songs for the worship service I pray that God will guide my choices and help me to choose the songs that will speak to people where they are and speak to what is going on at that moment. As I prepared for this week, I was thinking only of Thanksgiving and songs that would be appropriate for the coming holiday. For this reason I chose “Give Thanks”. The chorus of this song says, “And now let the WEAK say I AM STRONG, Let the poor say I am rich, BECAUSE OF WHAT THE LORD HAS DONE FOR US. Give thanks.” As we sang these words I thought of that little girl, that for the first time since her birth can truly say, “I AM STRONG”. As we continued to sing, I couldn’t help but agree with the words. It truly is because of what the Lord has done for us, and this little girl, that we can give thanks. We can be thankful that this little girl is no longer suffering. We can be thankful that she had received salvation. We can be thankful that she is now with our Lord and Savior.

As we enter this holiday season, let’s try very hard not to forget what it is really about. Thanksgiving is just that; a season for giving thanks. So, whether you are a follower of Christ or not, be thankful for the blessings that you have received. I don’t mean the THINGS you own. I’m talking about your health, your friends and family. For that matter, learn a lesson from the little girl I mentioned above. She made the best of every single day. She spent every day grateful just to be alive. This thanksgiving holiday is the perfect opportunity to take a step back and remember what is important. This young girl struggled for each breath while many of us take such a simple thing as breathing for granted. Be thankful and remember what the holidays are really about, and what is really important.

Matt N.

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November 19, 2007 by Matt.

Hello, my name is Matt Norman. I am new to this whole blog thing. In fact this is my very first blog entry. So, I don’t know exactly what is going to happen on this blog, but I hope that you are entertained and maybe even elightened by my entries.

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