Count your blessings name them one by one. I’m sure you’ve heard that familiar hymn from the late 1800’s:
When upon life’s billows you are tempest-tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.
Refrain:
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your blessings, see what God has done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your many blessings, see what God has done.
Are you ever burdened with a load of care?
Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?
Count your many blessings, every doubt will fly,
And you will keep singing as the days go by.
We are taking those words to heart this Thanksgiving season, and we invite you to join us.
2 Conservative justices who have records for upholding the rule of law are now sitting on the Supreme Court! We are thankful for all you did in encouraging your Senators to confirm Justice Gorsuch and Justice Kavanaugh, and we thank God for His mercy in placing them on our highest Court.
2 more prolife, conservative Senators in the U.S. Senate! After the November 6 election, the Senate had a net gain of two seats to make it a more prolife, conservative body. Thank you for how you voted, and we especially thank you for giving to make the work to reach prolife, pro-family voters in North Dakota possible! Your support reached key North Dakota voters over 200,000 times to defeat Heidi Heitkamp, a supporter of late-term abortions, and elect Kevin Cramer—the new pro-family, prolife Senator!
2 new major religious freedom laws. This year, both Kansas and Oklahoma passed laws protecting religious freedom for faith-based adoption agencies. These laws ensure that the faith-based agencies can continue to serve the children and birthmoms in their states according to their faith—without fear that their state governments could force them to close down. The nation’s leading LGBTQ activist group called these laws their “biggest defeat of the year.”
1 big California miracle. As we know, what happens in California doesn’t stay in California. This year, lawmakers in the liberal state were working to pass an ominous bill that would classify many communications of Biblical sexuality as a form of illegal “consumer fraud.” But, stunningly, on the last day of legislative session, the bill was pulled from consideration. God’s great mercy, the leadership of our ally California Family Council, and the outpouring of opposition from California believers – many of whom had never gotten involved in public policy issues before – was overwhelming and made the victory possible. Californians sent 40,000 messages to lawmakers opposing the bill through Family Policy Alliance’s action center alone!
52 Christian Statesmen have been trained through our sister Foundation’s Statesmen Academy and will be serving in Congress or state legislatures across the country in January 2019! These Christian men and women have been trained in the legislative art of patience and persistence, unwavering principles, and passionate, respectful advocacy. In other words, they are lawmakers who will stand on principle and advocate effectively for your values—and you helped get them the training to make this possible! Family Policy Foundation is gearing up to train another 30 more of these Christian leaders called to serve in public office in our highly selective program in 2019!
5 Administrations under President Trump’s leadership have worked to end Obama-era rules that define “sex” in federal law to include “gender identity”—leading to harmful policies especially for women and children, confusion in the law, and even threats to religious freedom. President Trump’s Departments of Education and Justice ended the “transgender mandate” on schools. The Department of Defense concluded that the military transgender mandate threatened military readiness and was too costly. The Federal Bureau of Prisons wisely returned to first considering a prisoner’s biological sex—not gender identity—when housing a prisoner. And the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has been working to protect religious freedom and conscience rights for healthcare professionals since President Trump took office. Now HHS is also encouraging every federal Administrative department to be clear that “sex” in federal law and regulations means “biological sex” and not “gender identity” so that there is consistency in the law. This is a lot to be thankful for!
All of YOU! We are so grateful for each one of you—for how you’ve given generously to support our ministry, taken time to contact lawmakers, spread the word about important issues and elections, prayed for your country and state, showed up to vote, and at times even helped your church be more involved.
We pray God’s hand of blessing on you and your family. And please know that my team and I pray and give thanks for you each week.
We know you join us in feeling the burden for our country—and at times it can indeed feel like too much to bear. There are certainly many problems in our country today—many lawmakers who do not fear or even acknowledge God, many ungodly laws, real pain and tragedy—especially in the family, and millions of lives lost to abortion.
But we hope that you will join us this week as we thank God for these blessings we count for our country—and the impact they will have on families for years to come.
With Thanksgiving,
Paul Weber,
President & CEO
