Hi everyone!!!

Can you believe it?  I am finally blogging again!!!  Please know that I have intended to get back to this for a long time and am excited to be doing it once again!  I feel like it's a way for me to connect with my Weight Watchers' members between our meeting days!  A special thank you to Debbie,  Muskogee member, Brandi, Tulsa member, and Karen, Tulsa member, for encouraging me to blog again!!!  Thanks, girls! 

It is hard for me to believe that Thanksgiving is next week!  This year has flown by!  In our meetings this past week we discussed I.P.F. (Item, Portion, Frequency).  I hope you'll use this strategy and the tips we shared to help you have a happy & healthy Thanksgiving celebration with your family. 

I am so thankful for each and everyone of you.  I praise God for allowing our paths to cross in this life.  I have met so many wonderful people through our Weight Watchers' meetings and I am so blessed. 

We should be thankful for our blessings all year long but this time of the year we tend to reflect on them even more.  Here are some of my favorite scriptures on thankfulness and thanksgiving:

Psalm 100:4

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.

Psalm 118:29

Give thanks to the Lord, for his is good; his love endures forever.

1 Corinthians 15:57

But thanks be to God!  He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 9:15

Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift.

Philippians 4:6

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Colossians 3:15

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace.  And be thankful.

1 Thessalonians 5:18

Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

Hebrews 12:28

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe.

Philippians 1:3

I thank my God every time I remember you.

In that last verse Paul was writing to the the saints at Philippi.  He was wanting to thank them for helping him when he was in need.  In this letter he also wanted to tell them why he could be full of joy despite his imprisonment and upcoming trial.  Paul is writing from prison but joy is a dominant theme in this letter to the saints at Philippi.  Paul wants them to know that the secret of his joy is found in his relationship with Christ Jesus. 

We all want to be happy but are affected by daily successes, failures, and inconveniences.  As Christians we are to be joyful in every circumstance, even when everything seems to be going wrong, even when we feel like complaining, even when no one else is joyful, even when the scale shows we've gained when we know we deserve to see a loss!  If you know Christ, you can rejoice at all times.  As Christians, we must not rely on what we have or what we experience to give us joy.  True joy comes from Christ who lives within us.

I know Paul was speaking to the Philippians when he wrote verse 3 of chapter 1, "I thank my God every time I remember you", but those words convey my thoughts about you as well.  I do thank my God every time I remember you.  I think of you daily.  I pray for you.  You are blessings in my life.  I am so thankful for each one of you.

I will be thinking about you on Thanksgiving Day.  I will pray that God will fill you with His strength and joy.  Enjoy the day and remember the strategies we talked about in our meetings this past week.  At the end of the day when you are counting your POINTS, remember to count your blessings too.  I will and you will be among my special blessings.  I am thankful for you.  I love you.

God Bless!

Dana