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A THANKSGIVING SONG

Psalm 18 is a Psalm that David wrote when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul, he said: I will love thee, O Lord, my strength.  The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from my enemies. The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid.  The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me.  In my distress I called upon my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.  It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect.  He maketh my feet like hinds' feet, and setteth me upon high places.  He teacheth my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by my arms.






Thou has also given me the shield of salvation: and thy right hand hath holden me up, and thy gentleness hath made me great. Thou has enlarged my steps under me, that my feet did not slip.  I have pursued mine enemies, and overtaken them: neither did I turn again till they were consumed.  I have wounded them that they were not able to rise: they are fallen under my feet.  For thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle: thou hast subdued under me those that rose up against me. The Lord liveth: and blessed be my rock; and let the God of my salvation be exalted.  It is God that avengeth me, and subdueth the people under me.  He delivereth me from mine enemies: yea, thou liftest me up above those that rise up against me.  Thou hast delivered me from the violent man.  Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O Lord, among the eathen, and sing praises unto thy name.  Great deliverance giveth he to his king; and sheweth mercy to his anointed, to David, and to his seed for evermore. 

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for loving me, in my flawed condition!  Thank you for teaching me how to receive and to share your love with my fellowman.  Thank you for saving me!  Thank you for delivering me out of all of my distresses!  I dedicate this newsletter to you because it's not about me, it's about you and the work that I am doing for you!  All of this is your work and I am nothing more than your humble servant! 

Matthew 5:16 says that I am to " Let my light so shine before men, that they may see  your good works, and glorify  you, Father, which art in heaven.  Titus 2: 13, Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ; Titus 2: 14, Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

John 3:16, For God so loved the world, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.  John 16:7, Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.  John 15:26, But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: 

Thank You Jesus for dying on the cross for me!  Thank you for sending the Comforter, which is the Holy Spirit!  Thank you Holy Spirit for bringing the life, death and the crucifixion of Jesus Christ into my life!   Thank you for letting me decrease so that you may increase!  Thank you for keeping me, for leading me, for guiding me, for teaching me, for correcting me!  Thank you for pruning me, making me and molding me into what you want me to be. 

Thank you Father, for the past 2 years that you have used to break up the fallow grounds around me! Thank you for the storms!  Thank you for the sunshine! Thank you for the rain!  Thank you for the accident!  Thank you for the denial of Worker's Compensation on January 11, 1999.  Thank you that my boss fired me the same day!  Thank you that I was later reinstated and fired again on March 30, 2000.  Thank you that I have been with out an income since August of 99.  Thank you for supplying all of my needs! 

Thank you for the breakup of my relationship with my daughter's father in January of 99!  Thank you for the trials that I have endured because of my association with him.  I thank you for using our relationship to break me, to cultivate me, to fertilize, to discipline, to correct and to educate me, so that I could receive the nutrients that you wanted me to receive because like a withering flower so close to death, because of the strangulation of the weeds, I was dying spiritually.  The good thing (I'm smiling brightly because I understand better now) is that it had to be that way!  I had to go through and I am still going through but Praise God, I am not stuck and I am not alone.  The lies, the hurt, the disappointment, my being alone when our daughter was born.  His denial of our daughter, his blatant disregard of her well being but mostly, MY DISOBEDIENCE, are all of the various tools that You have used to reconstruct me.  With every cut of the scapel, You performed open heart surgery on me.  I am in Your Intensive Care Unit. 

With every hammer to the chisel, an old chip falls away.  With every dead branch that has been cut away, new life is springing forth.  With every brick that is being pointed,  I am able to withstand the strong winds that are blowing in my face.  Like the meaning of my daughter's name, Tamar which means palm tree, one with  strength, I am still standing, in spite of the strong winds and waves that are desperately seeking to destroy me. 

Faith is her middle name and day by day, Faith grows bigger and stronger.  Day by day, my faith grows bigger and stronger, as I watch Tamar Faith grow.  As I watch You supply all of her needs,  my faith grows.  As I reflect on the many miracles that You have already performed in her life, my faith continues to grow.  Tamar was admitted into the hospital when she was 21 days old.  The following is an excerpt from my journal during Tamar's three day hospital stay.  Please click on the book to go to the next page


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