Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
 His love endures forever. 1 Chronicles 16:34

I am so grateful for you! One of the greatest blessings in my life is all of you! I’m so grateful the Lord has brought you here, and for all the prayers, love, and support. We are still here because of you, and I’m forever grateful. ❤️

It’s now been ten years of us together here without Jack, and that alone is a testament to God’s faithfulness. I am so grateful you’re here and a part of our GTF family! 

As you know, I love Thanksgiving. I love the focus on family and friends, and making and eating nostalgic food together. I love that it hasn’t been co-opted by materialism, and that there’s no pressure to do any of it perfectly. 

And I especially love that it is a whole holiday focused on gratitude. I say it every year because it’s true: Gratitude is transformational. Having a practice of naming and reflecting on the things we are grateful for changes our brains, our hearts, and our lives. And as believers, we don’t end the practice there, with the things we deem are good. We expect the Lord to bring us beauty from the ashes, and not only does He transform the bad for us, but He is also transforming us from the bad things that happen as well. This is why Paul tells us to be thankful in all circumstances. Because for the believer, it all transforms into good. And so our challenge is to be grateful in it, even before that transformation. 

This kind of gratitude is like generosity. It grows and multiplies as we practice it, and we end up with more than we started with. The more we express gratitude, the more we will find that we have to be grateful for. Just as we can’t out-give God, when we begin noticing His gifts, we’ll see them multiplying. 

And one of the things I’m incredibly grateful for this year is the land for our Prayer House village! Every year about this time, I get messages asking if we’re any closer to having a safe place for our Prayer House village to stay. And every year we reaffirm our commitment to pray until we do. And this year, I am so incredibly grateful that we are so close to having this fervent prayer answered! Praise God! 

I am so grateful for all your prayers and even fasting for them. Thank you for praying even (especially) when it was discouraging, through all these years that their huts have flooded, and we were still no closer to a solution. For us it is impossible. And so we’ve trusted the Lord to bring about His perfect solution for them. And I am so grateful that they are so close to having the final authorization to take possession of the land they’ve been promised. After all these years with no evidence, only trust, it’s so wonderful to see the beginning fruit of all of our prayers, from all over the world, over all these years. Thank you for praying with us so faithfully all this time. 

I pray your day is filled with love and joy! I pray that a Spirit of peace and unity will be in the hearts of all the gatherings today.

And I pray that throughout all this holiday season, your heart will well up with thanksgiving as you reflect on what you are grateful for. I pray that the Lord will continually bring these things to mind for you and multiply the things you have to be thankful for in your life. 

Grace and peace to you all. 

With much love and gratitude,

❤️ Samantha 

I’ve written these messages since we added the blog to the site! You can read the previous Thanksgiving messages for 2017, 2018, 2019,  2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024