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Thank the Lord, Anyway!

“Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

My work is done mostly through the internet and when I can’t establish a connection, I have trouble being thankful.

We were in Toronto, Canada and because my husband had meetings most of the time, I was working from our hotel room. But this hotel did not have a reliable internet connection. So I had to look for other places where I could connect my laptop. We travel all the time and this was the first time I had this problem.

The hotel’s business center had only one connection for guests and that one didn’t work either. I spent much of one day talking to technicians from my internet server, thinking it was a technical problem. After hours on the phone, I found that it wasn’t the configuration on my computer or a faulty password, but it was a fault in the hotel’s system.  I was constantly talking to God about what to do next because I didn’t want to lose a whole week of working time. There were deadlines I had to meet.

Finding no solutions, I went for a walk and found a library about a block from the hotel. That was good – I heard that libraries have computers for public use. It was closed, but I determined to go back the next day.

That evening I called the hotel again and this time a woman came up to help me. She was nice. Not a proud young technician, but very patient, suggesting different ways to try to get online. After trying several different settings, I was able to get and answer my e-mail. I was so thankful, I could have hugged her. However, the connection still didn’t allow me to get on my website to enter new content. The next day, I walked to the library and got a lot of work done.

The week didn’t turn out as I planned, but there were many things to be thankful for.  Here are a few:

• I am thankful for the Lord who gives me ideas and tenacity to persevere.
  
  
• I am thankful that the Lord sent a kind, gracious person to help me get connected.
  
  
• I am thankful that there was a library close to the hotel where I could do my work.
  
  
• I am thankful for the people I met during this week.
  
  
• I am thankful for the women who cleaned my room - I was able to share Jesus with three different women.
  
  
• I am thankful that the weather was not hot and humid, so I could go for long walks.

There are so many things to be thankful for. No matter what the circumstances are.

Father, thank You for all the blessings You shower down upon us. Help us to stop, look and listen – and be thankful. Amen.

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~ Katherine has been a staff member with  Power to Change Canada for 30 years. She has launched and developed many successful ministries, including  Canadian Prayer Alert, Women In Leadership, Women Today, Women Today Magazine and Women Today Online. Katherine has written and published a book, When Dreams Come True:  Women Today Online. She serves as the director for www.secretsofsuccess.com.