what's He to you?

i know it's not officially fall yet, but i am already fully embracing it. with fall comes brisk, blustery days (my favorites, especially if it rains) that require sweaters and scarves and mugs of coffee and cocoa. fall means i get to sit at ballgames wrapped in a quilt without people looking at me like i'm crazy. i am allowed to place gourds and pumpkins and sunflowers and scarecrows all over my house. i love fall. fall also means that thanksgiving is right around the corner. and thanksgiving means that i get to sing one of my favorite childhood songs from the musical "Fat, Fat Jehoshaphat":

"God's been beneficent, benevolent, tender, and benign, gracious, meritorious, merciful, and kind. He is lenient, and laudable, commendable and just. But these words only start to say how good He's been to us!"

That's actually all i remember, but i always think of it at this time of year. this year in particular, i have a lot to be grateful for, so i have been thinking a little bit more about what all of these words mean.

beneficent: causing good to be done
benevolent: expressing goodwill or kindly feelings
tender: affectionate, loving
benign: showing gentleness or kindness
gracious: pleasantly kind, compassionate
meritorious: deserving praise, reward, or esteem
merciful: full of mercy, which is compassion shown to an enemy or offender
kind: of a good or benevolent nature, mild, gentle
lenient: agreeably tolerant, permissive, indulgent
laudable: deserving praise
commendable: to praise as worthy of confidence, notice, and kindness
just: guided by truth, reason, and fairness

these aren't words we use very often in everyday language...but maybe we should. maybe we should work on being the kind of people that others want to use these words about...maybe i should. in any case, start reminding yourself of who God is to you, of how He has shown you his benevolence, his tenderness, his lenience, and his mercy. oh...and get out your pumpkins!