Simply grateful

     Tonight, I am thankful for Young Life.  We just had the annual Christmas party for all the Raleigh Young Life leaders, and what an amazing group of college students.  If you want to have your faith restored in the youth of America, get together with some Young Life leaders.  Not perfect, to be sure, since they are human just like we are, but still they are seeking to walk with Jesus and to love as He loves. They simply love the Lord and relish sharing His love and their lives with high school kids.
      I'm so tired right now I can barely keep my eyes straight, but it's the last day of November, so I have to take one more opportunity before Advent begins tomorrow to say--
             THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU LORD!!!
Might this be the song of our hearts, not just this month but daily.  Help us Father to seek, to savor, and to say out loud thank You for the blessings, big and small.
     "Cultivate a thankful spirit!  It will be a perpetual feast.  There is, or ought to be, with us no such thing as small mercies; all are great, because the least are undeserved.  Indeed a really thankful heart will extract motive for gratitude from everything, making the most even of scanty blessings."  (J.R.MacDuff)
     That just about says it all.  A thankful spirit can be cultivated.  Thanksgiving may not come naturally, but through the power of the Holy Spirit, even the biggest of curmudgeons can become conduits of overflowing gratitude!  We choose to praise... and that begins by choosing to see.  Seeing the blessings He sends disguised in all types of shapes and sizes and situations.  Then after seeing, we savor and say thank you.  And then doing this all day long; keep reminding ourselves of the relentless onslaught of God's grace in our lives--another sunset, another cool fall day, another hug, another hot shower, another  gift of God's forgiveness, another fresh start, another piece of chocolate cake, another day to love.
     That's how we enjoy the perpetual feast.  The gratitude feast of renewed joy, peace, hope, contentment no matter what life might throw at us.
      So today, a simple thank You to the Father for Your Spirit which enables us to be thankful and for Your Son who is the source of our gratitude.
     And, by the way, a thank You that Advent starts tomorrow! Christmas is coming!  Yay!  To God be glory.
   

Thankful for friends

     Thankful for friends!  I'm out of town for one night with four dear girlfriends, and life is good, good, good.  Amazing what a few hours away from the daily grind can do for your perspective.  I left the Mt. Everest of laundry loads to be folded, but somehow, I don't think anyone will go to school naked tomorrow.  Will someone walk and feed Moses?  Will they remember to make lunches for tomorrow?  What on earth is happening with homework?
     Guess what?  I'm not worried about it one whit.  Food will still be consumed, clothes will be worn, and dogs will be cared for whether I'm there or not.  So rather than worry, I'm just grateful for friendship and for moments of rest and relaxation.
     I just recently read of a story Erma Bombeck wrote about thankfulness years ago when she was dealing with cancer.  "When she forgot to be thankful among cancer survivors, she would hear the voice of a particular eight-year old named Christina, who had cancer of the nervous system.  When Christina was asked what she wanted for her birthday, she thought for a moment and then responded by saying, 'I don't know.  I have two sticker books and a Cabbage Patch doll.  I have everything!'"
     We truly do have "everything" if we have someone to love, a roof over our head, and the God of the universe in us and with us.  Sometimes we (or at least, I) forget and think we need more of something or less of something else or maybe something different before we can truly be happy.  Wrong!  And when we have that discontented attitude, we will never fully experience the peace or the joy or the abundant life that Christ died to give us.
     It is our love for the Lord and for the people He has sovereignly placed in our lives that provide us with never ending grounds for gratitude.  There is always always always something for which to be thankful.  Wherever we are, whoever we are with, God has placed us there, and because He is a perfectly, completely good God, then there will something for which to be grateful in every situation. Sometimes we may have to really look, but it is there.
     "The optimist says, the cup is half full.  The pessimist says, the cup is half empty.  The child of God says, my cup runneth over."  (David Jeremiah)   In Christ, our cup runneth over.  And the only response should be "Thank You!"
      So thank You Lord for friends and for family... and for a moment to reflect!  Today, name out loud 5 people for whom you want to thank the Lord.  Then tell Him... and them.  To God be the glory.

Thankful after failure

     It was one of those nights--a cool, rainy evening.  After a full, busy day, I rushed in from the grocery store, with two hungry boys in tow having just picked them up from the golf course.  Nothing yet started for dinner.  Our daughter, bless her heart, was clearly coming down with some kind of virus and felt terrible.  I had a million things I needed to get done.  And there's nothing so disquieting and frustrating that those little rankling chores and projects you just can't ever seem to tackle or complete.
     The house, to put it kindly, was a wreck, with Christmas decorations strewn all over the place, half empty boxes and strings of lights and nativity sets, all waiting to be put up or put away.  I asked my son where he wanted to put the newly repaired nutcracker (like all our nutcrackers--showing his age and old war wounds from our boys' "Nutcracker Wars").  My husband immediately quipped, "In the large green trash bag."  Yeah, well, I'm saving him for my stint on the reality show "Hoarders."
     Time to go get the tree.... Deck the halls with boughs of holly, Fa la la la... only by now it's pouring outside.  Everyone's grumpy (especially yours truly, I regret to admit); what about homework?;  that dinner seems to regrettably feature only "white" items (as in "white" pasta and sauce, a decidedly white, bland looking salad, white rolls) so no one's too excited... and so it goes.
     And so, in the words of John Bunyan, I fell into the "slough of despond"-- a pit of discouragement featuring a solo pity party.  Not a fun party, I must say, and sadly, a party that can infect those around you.
     Sometimes we fall off the thanksgiving wagon, don't we?  And you know why?  Well, for me, it's almost always because I'm focused on me, myself, and I.  My problems.  My frustrations.  My limitations.
      O forgive me, Father!  Our Lord has given us so much--yes, blessings of family and friends and home and health and nation and creation, but so infinitely much more.  He has given us salvation, grace, forgiveness, love, mercy, kindness, strength, peace and on and on.  He has given us His Word, daily manna to teach encourage and equip and empower.  He has given us Himself.  He didn't just tell us He loves us.  He came.  He demonstrated that forever love in coming and living and dying and rising again.  For us.
     What exactly was I complaining about?  Why wasn't I counting His myriad gifts rather than counting my meager complaints?  
     But here's the thing about our Savior--He forgives.  He renews.  He gives us fresh new opportunities to get it right, by His enabling power.  It's called grace.  And boy, there's nothing like it in this world!
     "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (I John 1:9)  And His mercies are new every morning--"The Lord is righteous in her midst. He will do no unrighteousness.  Every morning He brings His justice to light.  He never fails..." (Zeph.3:5)  We may fail Him... but He'll never ever fail us.
     "Morning by morning, new mercies I see. Thou changest not, Thy compassions they fail not.  Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me."
     So today, let's thank God for fresh starts after failure.  For His brand new mercies with each brand new day.  For forgiveness.  For grace.
     O, for amazing grace that covers all our sins and clothes us in His righteousness.   Grace that enables us to dance even in the midst of our sometimes messy, imperfect lives.
     Time to get back on the wagon again.  And start remembering and recounting His gifts, His goodness in our lives.  And be thankful.
     To the God of all grace, be all the glory.
   
   

Thankful... a new boot

     Well, we have a new boot in the family.
      In a smaller, more compact size.  Just right for, say, an 11 year old.
      Yes, our son broke a bone in his foot yesterday afternoon at school, and his city league basketball team plays their first game this week.  He's pretty disappointed but has been a good sport about it all.
      This means we have been without a boot in our house for exactly 6 days.  But I guess that is cause for rejoicing--that's still 6 six days with no boot.  And we have only one person wearing one boot.  And no casts.  No slings on arms.  No plagues.
      No head injuries.  No ICU's.
      So, actually, I guess we're okay.  We're more than okay... we're thankful.  Thank You Lord for a great doctor, for a great school nurse, for a home where our son can prop his foot up, for his kind friends who helped him, and for an 11 year old son (can't forget that one!).  And thank You, Father, that You are a mighty God who cares even about little boys with fractured bones... but Who still has time and love and grace and power to run and hold together the universe.
     I'm reminded of the great old Presbyterian clergyman from the late 17th century, Matthew Henry.  After being robbed one night, he declared, "I thank Thee first because I was never robbed before; second, because although they took my purse, they did not take my life; third, although they took my all, it was not much; and fourth, because it was I who was robbed, and not I who robbed."
     "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." (I Thess.5:16-18)
     Good stuff!  And not many exceptions in there that I can see.  So thank You Lord for this fresh new start this morning: to rejoice always, to pray continually, and to give You thanks in everything.  Because we know You've got it all, and You've got us and those that we love.  And in Your hands we are secure. And thankful.
     To God be the glory.
   
 

10,000 and counting...

     Woke up this morning with a song we sang yesterday in church dancing in my ears.  It's a song by Matt Redman called "10,000 Reasons." Might we find reason as this sun comes up this morning to sing a new song of thanks to the Lord:

Bless the Lord oh my soulOh my soulWorship his holy nameSing like never beforeOh my soulI worship your holy name
The sun comes upIt's a new day dawningIt's time to sing your song againWhat ever may pass and whatever lies before meLet me be singing when the evening comes
Bless the Lord oh my soulOh my soulWorship his holy nameSing like never beforeOh my soulI worship your holy name
You're rich in love and you're slow to angerYour name is great and your heart is kindFor all your goodness i will keep on singing10,000 reasons for my heart to find
Bless the Lord oh my soulOh my soulWorship his holy nameSing like never beforeOh my soulI worship your holy name
And on that day when my strength is failingThe end draws near and my time has comeStill my soul will sing your praise unending10,000 years and then forever more
Bless the Lord oh my soulOh my soulWorship his holy nameSing like never beforeOh my soulI worship your holy name
     From dawn to dusk, might we continue to "Keep calm and count on!" as Ann Voscamp says.  Surely there are more than "10,000 reasons for my heart to find to bless the Lord O my soul." All the common, daily blessings--a warm bed on a cold morning, the sweet stillness of the predawn darkness,  the fact that we have awakened for another day for a fresh start, clean water in which to brush our teeth, the Word--God's love letter to us--resting in our lap, the sun has indeed come up, the peaceful beauty of transient fall leaves, the crunch of cereal, the car that will take us where we need to go, the work or school God has given us to fill our days with purpose... and that's just a few to start our day!      Keep purposefully seeing... and then praising throughout this new day the Lord has given us.  And even if we struggle being thankful in our circumstances, we can always always always worship and thank the Lord above all circumstances.  And that Almighty God is with us and for us in our circumstances--redeeming, renewing, resurrecting.     To our infinite, Almighty God be all the glory. 

For granted or with gratitude?

     Blessed peace and quiet.  Ahh.  After five wonderful, but hectic, days of having everyone home, I suddenly and shockingly find myself alone for a few minutes.  Moses sits at my feet and looks slightly stunned.  He's even a bit restless as if to ask, "Exactly what happened here?  Where is everybody?"  But then he happily settles back into his semi-permanent position of resting and relaxing--he's not troubled for too long about much of anything.  Why does my dog have to keep teaching me lessons on how to live?
     So sure, the house is a wreck, and there's lots of laundry and cleaning and chores I could, and probably should, be doing right now.  But instead, I think I'll just sit down for a moment, reflect, and choose wonder and gratitude over busyness and getting things done.  I'm learning that worship and thankfulness to God trumps accomplishments any day... and always enables us to get everything done anyway--only now with a joyful heart.  It's just so true: "Reverence for God adds hours to each day." (Prov.10:27)  
     Thank You Lord for having all our children home for Thanksgiving.  We take nothing for granted anymore, so what a gift to have them here. G.K.Chesterton (one of my very favorite writers) declared: "When it comes to life, the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude."  How much we take for granted when all, and I mean all, should be taken with gratitude as gifts from the hand of our extravagant God.   So thank You, Lord, for the mess and the noise and the missing sweaters (they seem to float off with our girls) and the dishes and the runs to the grocery store and even for the failures and mishaps.  Thank You for the blessings and the challenges.
      Sometimes I look at my parenting and all I can think of are all the ways I have fallen so far short as a mom... but then I look at my children and all I can see is grace. His grace that covers my myriad shortcomings and washes us all with His love and forgiveness. I'll never be a great mom... but He will forever be a great God.  And for that we say "Thank You our Faithful Father. Teach us to love like You.  May our homes be places filled with gratitude and grace."
     More grace, more gratitude.  And more G.K.Chesterton: "You say grace before meals.  All right.  But I say grace before the concert and the opera, and grace before the play and pantomime, and grace before I open a book and grace before sketching, painting, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing, and grace before I dip the pen in the ink."  
     That's the ticket: continually thanking God for all and in all.  His grace.  His grace in children.  His grace in chores.  His grace in the little and His grace in the big.  His grace in the successes and in the failures... trusting He can bring good out of anything and everything.
     So today, will you thank Him for that which you too often take for granted?  Will you thank Him in the busyness and the noise, but also in the silence and the rest?  What have you taken for granted this week, this day?  Well, then, food for gratitude!  Say grace before all, since His grace trumps all.  Might we take nothing for granted but take all with gratitude.  To the God of all grace and all good, be all the glory.
     

Singing Praises, Part II

     Since we've all been focused on food, here's a bit more thanksgiving food for thought on singing our praises.
     One of the hymns we sang on Thanksgiving is the great old one, "Now Thank We All Our God."  A Lutheran pastor in the tiny village of Eilenberg,  Saxony, by the name of of Martin Rinkart (1586-1649) wrote it.  His father was a poor coppersmith, but Rinkart knew God was calling him to the ministry.  After his theological training, he began his work as a pastor--right in the midst of the fierce and devastating Thirty Years in Germany.  Here's the story behind the hymn, as told by Robert Morgan:
     "Floods of refugees steamed into the walled city of Eilenberg.  It was the most desperate of times.  The Swedish army encompassed the city gates, and inside the walls there was nothing but plague, famine, and fear.  Eight hundred homes were destroyed, and people began dying in increasing numbers.  There was a tremendous strain on the pastors, who expended all their strength in preaching the gospel, caring for the sick and dying and burying the dead.  One after another, the pastors themselves took ill and perished until at last only Martin Rinkart was left.  Some days he conducted as many as fifty funerals.
     Finally the Swedes demanded a huge ransom.  It was Martin Rinkart who left the safety of the city walls to negotiate with the enemy, and he did it with such courage and faith that there was soon a conclusion of hostilities and the period of suffering ended.
     Rinkart, knowing there was no healing without thanksgiving, composed this hymn for the survivors of Eilenberg.  It has been sung around the world ever since."
   
     Pretty good stuff, huh?  If they could sing praises to God in the midst of such horror and devastation, then surely can't we?
     By the way, do you know when our nation first established an official annual celebration of Thanksgiving Day?  1863--right in the midst of the horrific sorrow and suffering of the Civil War.  Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in November "a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father."  
     Such is our great heritage; such is our great, Beneficent, and forever worthy Father.  Might we today add our praises to the chorus throughout the ages.  To God be the glory.

Singing praises!

     Happy day after Thanksgiving!  If you are anything like me, you may be suffering from a bit of a food hangover--all that squash casserole (truly heaven in pyrex), spinach casserole (ditto), sweet potatoes (geez--same thing),  glorious stuffing (seriously, the only point to the turkey is to have something to place under the stuffing), God's most perfect food: cake, and... O, for pete's sake, I'm getting hungry so better stop now.
     But my point?  I have no idea except it's just fun remembering all that great food and the wonderful hands that worked so hard to prepare it.  Cause for Thanksgiving right there!  Thank You Lord for terrific cooks and for their willingness to bless us with their gifts.  And by the way, Lord, could you please help me in that department so that I might not just be blessed but be a blessing?!  But until then, I'll just keep eating, enjoying and extending thanks.
     Now, of course, the fun of the fellowship far exceeded the enjoyment of the food...  okay, they were at least tied.  But seriously, is there anything better than sitting around with people you adore, laughing, talking, and eating?  Win-win-win.
     Exceeded only at Thanksgiving by one of my very favorite traditions: singing together after the grand repast.  Let me go back to explain that our fabulous Cousin Vicky (as all my children call her) and Cousin Bob host our extended family for Thanksgiving.  We have officially nominated her (and Bob, but the woman gets all the credit for Thanksgiving, if you ask me) for sainthood for doing this for so many years, as we are officially a mob scene and eat like one as well.  And Vicky and Bob and their wonderful 3 girls and their husbands and children do not only provide the loveliest setting with the most delicious food, but, well, they are just so much fun.  And they put up with all of us... so they are long-suffering... or crazy.
     But every year, after stuffing ourselves silly, we all gather around, and our niece, Emily, plays the violin while we sing lots of terrific Thanksgiving hymns.  Every time I sing "We Gather Together," it just takes me back to memories of making pilgrim hats in elementary school or singing in school choruses wearing Indian headdresses made out of grocery store bags.  I LOVE Thanksgiving.  And with children, we got to relive the joy of it all over again.  Thank You Lord for this gift--like memories of helping with the kindergarden Thanksgiving feast with the children all dressed up as pilgrims or indians, or watching a 2nd grade Thanksgiving play after helping a child memorize Squanto's lines.  ("Welcome pilgrims."  He was fabulous.)
     Good grief, I have wandered far afield.  Anyway, we all sit around and sing hymns.  The picture above is of sainted Vicky and Bob and my sister-in-law, Alice looking good and sounding ever better.  They will kill me for putting that in here.  And I had to include one of our incredible, and I mean incredible, violin player, Emily, with our two daughters, Janie and Mary Norris.

   O, and that face in the background?  That would be my hilarious brother, Britt.  Lookin' good, Brittie.
But there was Janie, eating, talking, laughing, and singing.... and fussing and rolling her eyes at her mom for taking so many pictures.  We are talking about a teenager here.  Thanks be to God for His mighty deliverance and healing... and even for rolling eyes.
     Might we never tire of proclaiming His praise--in hard places like hospitals and in happy places like homes.  He is always and forever worthy and faithful.  I love and know so many folks are in those hard, dark places right now.  We have been there.  And we will all be there again, for this is a broken, fallen world.  None of us gets a pass on suffering.
     But as Ann Voscamp has written: "Giving thanks is only this: making the canyon of pain into a megaphone to proclaim the ultimate goodness of God... [for] Thanksgiving in all things accepts the deep mystery of God through everything."
     Singing God's praises to me does just that.  Yes, we proclaim, when we sing, this world can be lonely and lost, yes, we can feel desperate, and at times, even despairing... BUT God is still forever faithful and changeless and omnipotent and all-loving.  And He is still and always with us right in the midst of pleasure and pain, our joys and sorrows.
     And there's just something about singing those praises that raises a fist to the suffering and declares, "He is still worthy and great and glorious and will redeem all this, even this, and transform it into a platform for His glory and our good."  For He will--He is the One who resurrects and redeems, not just some things, but all things.
     So today, might we--
"Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord, O my soul!
I will praise the Lord as long as I live.
I will sing praises to my God while I have my being."  Psalm 146:1-2
     To God be the glory!

Thankful for the Redeemed life

     Happy Thanksgiving!
          "Fill Thou my life, O Lord, my God,
           In every part with praise."   Horatius Bonar
     Woke up this morning thinking of pilgrims.  Pilgrim families peering over the deck of the Mayflower at the cold, inhospitable shores of New England.  Was it a gloomy day?  Rain, snow?  Or perhaps a  cold, thin sun shone--bright but no warmth?  Don't you wonder what they thought?  Tired and sick and cold and dirty and hungry as they all were.
     And what about the children?  Did they cry and complain?   Did they play and run around the decks in excitement while their weary and worn parents sighed with happy resignation?  Who knows.  But somehow, knowing our Pilgrim ancestors, I tend to doubt there was much complaining or discouragement or frustration.
     Because we do know that when they spotted land,  the first thing the pilgrims chose to do was rejoice.  They fell to their knees, we are told, and celebrated by reading Psalm 100.
     So much hardship behind them; so much suffering and death ahead of them.  Yet they rejoiced in God's goodness, knowing by faith that He was at work.  In all of it--good and bad.
     God has not promised any of us a perfect life.  He has promised us a redeemed life.
     Not the pilgrims, not anyone on this planet, and certainly not a single one of us will go through this life unscarred by sorrow and suffering.  We will all endure times of long, hard waiting.  We will all know what it is to be desperately disappointed or defeated.
     We will have experience sudden, mystifying tragedies--where we  wonder, "God where were You?  Lord what are You doing?"  I love what Vance Havner said about this: "God marks some of our days, 'Will explain later.'"
     When Havner lost his young wife to disease, he was disconsolate.  But he later wrote:
   "When before the throne we stand in Him complete, all the riddles that puzzle us here will fall into place and we shall know in fulfillment what we now believe in faith--that all things work together for good in His eternal purpose.  No longer will we cry 'My God, why?'  Instead, 'alas' will become 'Alleluia,' all question marks will be straightened into exclamation points, sorrow will change to singing, and pain will be lost in praise."
     Amen, Lord.  And so we can praise Him today, as we look back in gratitude and look ahead in trust--believing, knowing,  He will work out all things finally and ultimately for good... for great and glorious good.
     No, none of us will live the perfect life... but we can experience something infinitely better in the end: the resurrected, redeemed life.  For our Savior declared, "I am the resurrection and the life.  Whoever believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in Me, shall never die.  Do you believe this?"
    Yes, Lord.  We believe, You are the Resurrection and the Life... the One who redeems hearts and resurrects broken lives.
     So today, might we praise the One who is the Resurrection and the Life and who is even now, even in the hardest or darkest or the most mystifying and unexplainable circumstances in our lives, or the lives of those we love, working to bring resurrection and redemption.  And one day, every single "'alas' will change to 'Alleluia.'"
     Until them, we choose, like the pilgrims, to praise and thank by faith in the forever faithful One.
     To God--the Resurrection and the Life--be the glory.

Enriching gratitude

     "It is only with gratitude that life becomes rich."   Dietrich Bonhoeffer

     Thank You for that reminder, Lord.  Because we so often think that possessions or power will fill that bottomless hole and enrich our lives.  Or maybe accomplishments or accumulating just a "little more" wealth or applause from the world or accolades... or even just a little appreciation for what we are doing.  So many alternate sources of what we often seek to satisfy and enrich our lives.
     And ultimately, they all prove to empty rather than fill.  To diminish our joy rather than enhance it.  Rather than being a source of help and hope, all that stuff just adds to our burdens... not to our blessings.
     But I've found that gratitude truly does provide an unquenchable spring of joy and lasting fulfillment.  Even in the darkness... especially in the darkness.  "When I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me." (Mic.7:8)  And He was... and He is, always.  Our Light.  The Light of the world.
     "In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.  The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." (John 1:4-5)
     So today, on this day before Thanksgiving, might we all take time to pause and reflect on the blessings.  And reflect on The Blesser.   Remembering that no darkness is so deep that He is not deeper and stronger and greater still.  And He will always always always bring His Light out of darkness.
      His Light and His Love enrich every moment--might we have eyes to see and lips to thank. In Him we are truly rich beyond all measure.
     To God--the Blesser, the Light that will never be extinguished, our true Treasure--be all the glory.
   

Thankfulness--past and future

     Woke up still hearing the chorus of "O how He loves us.  O how He loves us. O how He loves."   Simply the greatest Truth.  If only we could live each day knowing, understanding, accepting, and sharing that love.
     "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)  He didn't just love the world... He so loved the world.  
     A banner day today at our house.  They picked up Janie's wheelchair, because she no longer needs it.   Praise God from Whom all blessings flow.
     And then this--

     Janie got her boot off yesterday!  Just loved the sight of this.  ThankYou Lord.
     Reminded me that we are all just passing through, for this world is not our home.  We tend to forget this, don't we?  We invest so much time and energy and money and thought and effort into all this passing, temporary stuff.  But one day we will just be packing it all up, like an old tent, and heading on to our eternal, perfect glorious home.  When we get to where we're going...
     Where there will be no more wheelchairs... or cancer... or tears... or boots... or failure... or disappointment... or loneliness...  or sorrow... or separation...  or car accidents... or hurricanes... or floods... or death.
    The sting of death has already been conquered, but one day death itself will be destroyed--dead and gone, forever and ever.  "O death, where is your victory?  O death, where is your sting?  The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.  But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." (I Cor.15:55-57)
     O when we get to where we're going, what a glorious, eternal home awaits us!   So until then,  there may still be wheelchairs and broken bones and cancer and sorrow and suffering... but this is not our home.  Might we always be ready to pack up those tents in our hearts and remember...
     We're just passing through, but when we get to where we're going...  O Lord Jesus, what a day that will be.
      Today, might we remember God's faithfulness to us in the past in this often broken world...  and look ahead with joyful expectation to His glorious future.  And be thankful.   To God be the glory.
 

His love

     It's been a busy, challenging day, and I just figured I wasn't going to be able to write anything today.    I just felt worn out by all I had to do, and the day just seemed to fly by.  And then tonight, we hosted Young Life Campaigners at our house for the first time this year.  All those high school kids piling into the house, all that energy.  All those dedicated Young Life leaders sharing their lives and telling high schoolers about the incredible love of the Savior who came to die for their sin... and rose again to give them resurrection life.
     As I listened to their singing and laughing and talking, my exhausted heart began to thaw.  And I began to count the blessings... all those blessings I had seemed to busy to notice earlier in the day.   Forgive your forgetful child, Father.  Thank You, Father.  
     As I sat upstairs reading with Peter, most of the high schoolers had now headed home, but about ten of them were singing songs in the living room.  One of the leaders played the piano, and to Peter and me, the music sounded almost heavenly.  It was the sound of love and faith and hope and joy... and thanksgiving.
     Their last song was "O how He loves us."  It's a beautiful song, but I just love the simple chorus--O how He loves us, O how He loves us, O how He loves us so.
     That's the bottom line, isn't it?  His love.  So simple.  So profound.  But if we can ever truly grasp the height and depth and length of His love, well, it changes lives, moves mountains, and redeems hearts.
     So might we thank the Lord today for the greatest gift this world has ever known--the gift of His love.  His love that created the world.  His love that sent the Son.  His love that wrapped itself in a helpless infant's flesh.  His love that taught and healed and blessed and suffered.  His love that willingly accepted the nails and the thorns and the cross... for us.  All for us.  His love that was buried in the tomb.  And His love, risen from the dead so that we, too might live forever with Him.  His love that is grace incarnate.
     O how He loves us.  
     Thank You, Lord Jesus.  To God be the glory.

Remember His mercies

      Just a little food for thankful thought on this Lord's day:
     William Gurnall,  an English pastor in the 17th century, wrote:
      "Resolve to spend time everyday thinking about what has passed between God and you.  Think... about the mercies you have received from the Lord.  Do not be like Pilate, who asked a question but did not wait for a reply. (John 18:38)  Stay until you have received a full report of God's gracious dealings with you, and you will find memories of mercies, both new and old, flooding your soul. Meditating often on the magnitude of God's goodness teaches us to rejoice even in times of trouble, for the little evil that is our portion is drowned in the sea of His abundant mercies on our behalf."
     Might we this day set aside our agendas and all we have to do and pause for a few minutes to remember.  Remember His "mercies, both new and old."  Remember the moments of laughter.  Remember the unexpected strength in adversity.  Remember those seemingly small moments of joy: reading to a child a night, watching a soccer game on a crisp fall day, taking a hot shower after a walk on a cold day, basking in the sun on the beach with a good book, walking your dog on a spring day, tasting ripe, homegrown tomatoes, smelling the gardenias by your walkway, hugging tightly a dear friend or family member, the sound of your child's voice, sitting down together for thanksgiving lunch.
     And remember God's grace in your life.  His amazing, undeserved grace poured out upon you... over and over and over again.  Remember His mercy, His forgiveness, His sacrifice, His infinite love... for you.  Yes, "Meditating often on the magnitude of God's goodness teaches us to rejoice even in times of trouble, for the little evil that is our portion is drowned in the sea of His abundant mercies on our behalf."
      Today, remember.  And be thankful.  To God be the glory.

Thankful in the unfathomable

     From today's Daily Light: "Many, O Lord my God, are Your wonderful works which You have done; and Your thoughts toward us cannot be recounted to You in order; if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered." (Ps.40:5)
     And--"Oh, the depths of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!  How unsearchable are His judgements and His ways past finding out! (Rom11:33)
     Aren't you thankful God's ways and thoughts are so much deeper and greater and mysteriously past fully understanding than ours?  Seriously if our puny minds could completely plumb the unfathomable depths of God's ways and thoughts, well, then how big could God be?  No!  I'm thankful there is such a vast expanse of all I do not comprehend.  Such a infinitely deep reservoir of the inscrutable and profound... but always ultimately good, pleasing and perfect will and ways of God. (Rom.12:2)
     Sometimes we grow frustrated or even furious when we cannot figure out what on earth God is doing. Why is He allowing this?  When will He end this?  What does He mean by this in His Word?
     But at those times, it helps to remember that we cannot see the full, broad picture... only God can.  We cannot understand all the infinite number of patterns that God is weaving at the same time that will ultimately result in an astoundingly magnificent tapestry.  We just glimpse the disorganized and disheveled back of the tapestry... only God sees the front.  Only He knows and perfectly plans the glorious end result--the masterpiece that He is weaving.
     We are finite and frail and prone to fluctuating feelings... only God is infinite and almighty and forever changeless in His righteousness and love and grace.
       So in that gap between what we know and what we struggle to understand, there is Almighty God who is so much bigger and greater and wiser and stronger and higher and holier than anything we could ever begin to comprehend.  And in that gap, rather than frustration, there should be thanksgiving.  Thanksgiving in the unutterable, unfathomable greatness and glory of our Lord.
     And thanksgiving because this reminds us that we are just passing through.  This is not our home.  But one day we will fully understand.  One day we will fully see.  One day we will fully rejoice.  And one day we will fully Live. 
     Until then, might we be thankful in the God who is so massive, so awesome, so gloriously great and huge that we will never exhaust Him, never come to the limits of His infinite resources, and never completely comprehend Him.
      To the Great and Glorious God, who was and is and is to come, be all the glory.

Thanks for multiplication

     We just studied John 6 in Bible study last week, a terrific chapter in which Jesus feeds thousands of people with a little lad's lunch of five barley loaves and two fish.  And He walks on water to His exhausted disciples who have been rowing on night in a gale.  And He tells the crowds, and us, that "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to Me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in Me shall never thirst." (John 6:35)   He is always enough, always fully satisfies, always meets those deepest longings of our hearts.  Now that's cause for thanksgiving right there!
     But one of the things that really struck me was right as Jesus was preparing to feed the multitudes with those few little rolls and fish.  Jesus tells the people to sit down, and then we're told: "Jesus then took the loaves, and when He had given thanks, He distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted." (v.11)  And we all know the story: everyone ate "their fill," and there were still 12 baskets full of leftovers.
     Thanking the Father in prayer initiated the miraculous multiplication.
     Later, when the crowds were discussing this miraculous feeding, they actually referred to the location of the miracle as "the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks." (v.23)
      Even the often clueless crowd noticed that praise somehow unleashed the power of God to meet their impossible need with His infinite abundance.  He took their hunger and their lack and their teensy bit of food and magnified and multiplied it to fully satisfy them.
     Thanksgiving has a way of doing that, doesn't it?  We come to God with our exhaustion, our discouragement, our lacks and teensy bits of strength or faith or hope or love, and hand them to Him.  And when we simply place them all in His hands, with thanksgiving and trust, He somehow, someway always proliferates that which was completely inadequate into that which meets our needs. I don't how.  I just know I have seen it happen over and over and over again in my life.
      I saw it in our daughter's hospital room in the ICU, as she lay unconscious and unresponsive day after day after day.  When the walls would begin to close in and despair threatened, we would hand our tiny bit of hope, our tiny bit of strength, our tiny bit of peace to the Lord Jesus, and thank Him for even the tiniest blessings we could muster... and He would start to multiply.  Right there in the room.  Still in that hard place, but the Light would begin to pierce the darkness. Begin to overcome it, as faith and joy and peace and strength would return and begin flooding our hearts.  Again and again and again.
     But I've also seen it over and over in everyday life.  "Lord, I'm done.  Out of energy.  Out of patience.  Out of love. Out of ideas."  But in handing it all to Him and thanking Him that He is there, that He is enabling, that He is working, that He is worthy... well, what can I say?  He just begins multiplying my almost nothings with His everything and fills and fortifies me anew.
     He is the God of miraculous multiplication.  And one of the ways His power is unleashed is through praise.  Thanksgiving opens our hearts to His presence.  And our awareness of His presence, and dependence upon His Person, changes everything.  Changes us.  And multiples our little bits of nothing into His magnificent much.  Our little bits of hope, of strength, of perspective, of love into the ocean of His infinite abundance for all that we need for that day's challenges.
     That's grace.  And He's promised, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." (2 Cor.12:9)  Enough grace for every need.  Enough grace for every weakness.  Enough grace to cover all our lacks and little bits.  That's why Paul said, "Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me... for when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Cor.12:9-10)
     So today, might we hand the Lord our lacks, our little bits, our frailties, and thank Him that He has the power to multiply and magnify and fully meet our needs.  And thank Him that it is those very areas of struggle and weakness and failure that He uses to display His almighty power and grace in our lives.
     Post tenebras lux... "out of darkness... light."
     To the gracious God of multiplication be all the glory.

Waiting and worshipping

     Moses... waiting at the foot of the stairs for the children to wake up and come downstairs.
     This is what he does every single morning.  Moses gets us early with me, but then he eagerly anticipates the next thing on the agenda: the children slowly straggling downstairs.
     And he will be ready to greet every single one of them.
     It's hard to be grumpy when you have such a sweet boy there to welcome you.  Always enthusiastic.  Always acting as if he hasn't seen you for months, rather than hours.  You can sure learn an awful lot from a dog.  Help me to love like that, Lord.  Extravagantly, enthusiastically, unconditionally... and patiently.
     So Moses is ready to love them--
     And in the meantime, he patiently waits and waits...
     Might you be encouraged today in your waiting...  Because waiting is something we all have to do a lot of, isn't it?  And it's also one of the hardest things we ever have to do.  In fact, I know I've talked about it many a time... because it's just so relentlessly common to life.
     Waiting fills the Scripture.  Noah and his family waiting in the ark. Moses and the Israelites wandering and waiting in the desert for 40 longs years, desperate to enter the promised land.  Abraham and Sarah, Jacob and Rachel, Hannah, Elizabeth and Zechariah.... so many folks, Old Testament and New, waiting for a baby.  David hiding from Saul and waiting for years for his promised throne.
     And once again, I've learned, there's no antidote better for waiting than worshipping.  Making the hard choice in the midst of long, hard waiting to worship and place your hope in God.
     "I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in His Word I hope,  my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning. O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with Him is plentiful redemption." (Ps.130:5-7)
     When we hope in the Lord, we choose, by faith, to worship Him and thank Him for who He is, what He has done, and what He is and will do.  Like our good old dog Moses expectantly, but patiently, waiting at the foot of the stairs, we choose to wait on and worship God, anticipating and knowing He is working and He is worthy.  Even when we can't see evidence of that working.  Because He is always working, even in the dark, even in the waiting... especially in the waiting.
      Keep thanking and praising even as you wait.   And when the anxiety and frustration creep back it, go back to the cross and do it again.  And then do it again.  And again.  By faith.  It's that "long obedience in the same direction."
     So today, might we thank Him even in the waiting.  Trusting, knowing, He is working and He is worthy.  Because He always always is.  To God be the glory.

Washing in praise

     COLD SHOWER TODAY!!
     Okay, that's an exaggeration... it was a just barely lukewarm shower.  But, good grief, when you're chilly and jump into the shower expecting clouds of steam and hot water to greet you and warm you up in an instant, well, let's just say it felt ice cold.
     My first thought, I'm embarrassed to say, was of grumpiness and not gratitude. Which child, I was just starting to ponder (with annoyance), was the one who obviously took an exceedingly long shower this morning and used up all the hot water?
     But here's the thing about this purposefully choosing thankfulness everyday: it was only just for a second!  Now that's progress!
     Because only a moment after my initial irritation, the Lord immediately reminded me of what a blessing it is to be able to take a shower.  To have at least sort of, almost, luke-warm water.  To have water. To have soap and shampoo.  To have clean towels.  To have clothes to put on.  To have a home in which to go grab a hot mug of tea.
      I'm sure any of those dear folks without power in NY or NJ would trade places with us in an instant, no matter the temperature of our water.   So shame on me for even thinking of complaining.
    "Thou that hast given so much to me; give me one thing more: a grateful heart."  George Herbert.
    Even as I showered, I couldn't help but think of the words of Charles Spurgeon: "Wash your face every morning in a bath of praise."
    So... Thank You thank You thank You thank You, Lord!  Cold shower or hot, You are worthy of all our worship, and You enable us daily to wash in a bath of Your praise and thanksgiving.
    And thank You that through the Lord Jesus, we are truly cleansed of all our sins and all our shame.  Remind us as we wash today to praise You for outward and inward cleansing.... and for hot water, if we have it.
    To God be the glory.
     p.s. Thank You, Lord, for the gift of our son, Preyer, who turns 16 today!  If he used up all the hot water, that is absolutely fine.  He is so totally worth it.
     p.p.s. Please clear the roads when he gets his license.

Heightened by the dreary

     This picture doesn't even begin to do it justice!  But it's a rainy, chilly fall day... and I'm remembering anew that dark, damp days always seem to heighten the beauty of fall leaves.  Why is that, I wonder?  No idea, but it's true.  The reds and oranges and yellows of the trees pop when they have a grey, monotonous, dreary background.  Sure, they still look breath-taking on beautiful, sunny days... but somehow, their beauty is magnified on depressing, dark days.
     Maybe it's just a living word picture from God reminding us that in the darkness His light shines brightest.
     And we would not truly know what gratitude is if we didn't experience heartache and disappointments in life.  Everything in life becomes infinitely more precious when sorrow shuffles our lives around and takes away many of those things we took for granted.  And then our sight is cleared and we understand the beauty and joy of the simple.
     If we truly realized the wonder behind the stars dancing across the inky black sky at night, we'd be overcome with gratitude.  Or the bright warmth of the sun.  Or the sound of a loved one's laughter.  But they are just so everyday, so readily available, so a part of our lives that they become almost like wallpaper.  We fail to see them.  Fail to truly see them and appreciate the astounding wonder of each given by the hand of an extraordinarily generous, creative, loving Creator.
     I will never again see a wash of pink splashed across the sky in the early morning in quite the same way again.  Or the vivid oranges of the fall trees.  Or the sound of birds serenading me in the wee hours.  Or the blessed stillness of holding my Bible on my lap while curled up on the sofa in the pre-dawn hours with our sweet old dog, Moses, snoring at my feet.
     No, hours and days and weeks waiting in a hospital room have heightened my joy and wonder at the beauty all around me... and of the simplest blessings in life that I never even realized I possessed.
     How on earth could I have missed them before?  How could I have failed to repeat "Thank You!" over and over again for such an extravagance, such a surfeit of blessings?
     But I do now.
     Thank You for hugs.  Thank You for sisters and brothers.  Thank You for hot baths. Thank You for cozy fall days.  Thank You for hot tea.  Thank You for friends.  Thank You for Bible study.  Thank You for freedom to run errands.  Thank You for the mess of children.  Thank You for the voices of those I love.  Thank You for music.
     And thank You for the beauty of fall leaves on a chilly, dark day reminding us again that You bring perspective out of pain, worship out of waiting, and glory out of gloom.
      For "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." (John 1:5)  In fact, the darkness only succeeds in making the light shine brighter.
      So today, we thank You, Lord, that when You allow sorrow, You will bring surprising joy and beauty out of it.... "a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair." (Is.61:3)
     And in the meantime, give us eyes to truly see and hearts that thank... especially in the dreary.  To God be the glory.
   

     "

Thanks in hardship

     From today's Daily Light:
          "We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed--always carrying around in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.  Therefore, we do not lose heart.  Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.  For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen."  2 Cor. 4:8-10,16-18

     Paul just says it all, doesn't he?  Might we all meditate on these words today and consider that God is moving and active and using all affliction, all pain, all hardship, all difficulty that we--or those that we love--for a "far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory."  What a cause for rejoicing even in the midst of suffering and sorrow.  The pain is temporary; the glory eternal.
     The cross always precedes the crown.
     I have heard it said so many times: "Never doubt in the dark what you learned in the light."  Might we trust in God's eternal Word and in the unseen this day, and choose to give thanks even in hardship.  For He is worthy.
     And this is not our home.  But heaven is coming!  And until then, He is with us and for us, everyday, every way--renewing, redeeming, restoring... resurrecting.  
     To God be the glory.

   

Oxygen for the soul

     Just thought I would include today an excerpt I just heard from an interview on Revive our Hearts with a woman, Kate McCord, who has written a book entitled, The Land of the Blue Burkas, about her time as a foreign aid worker in Afghanistan.  Fascinating and beautiful to hear about these women and their incredible challenges and their courage.  But one of the things she talked about was teaching, largely just by example, about the practice of thanksgiving.  Here's what she said:

...she [one of her Afghan friends] learned from me the practice of thanksgiving. What I mean by that is to just step back and say, “Okay, I’m in a bad mood right now. Let me look around and thank God for everything He’s given me.” Maybe you start with the tree and the wind and the roof over your head. Then I thank God for my family, and I thank God for my healthy son and my healthy daughter. And she began doing this.

I didn’t know she was doing it, but I knew that she and her husband weren’t fighting as much. Over several months, I found out that every day she was practicing this thanksgiving. And what she said to a group of Afghan women—not to me; I just happened to be there—“This is a great thing to do. I used to be angry with my husband all the time, and we used to fight all the time, and I would stay mad at him, and I was never patient with my children. And then I started giving thanks every day, and now I’m calmer. I’m happier. My husband and I laugh together. Our children are happier.”  I just wept. I thought, “Yes. That’s discipleship. That’s people coming to know God and His ways, and it changing their lives.”

     I (this is me again!) should add, this is in light of the unbelievable difficulties women face in this nation.  As Kate had shared earlier: "In America this manifests itself in, “Well, God doesn’t love me, clearly, because He didn’t give me an excellent, American life." In Afghanistan it manifests itself by, “Well, clearly God doesn’t love me or see me because I’m a woman. Because I’m in this horrible situation, God is far from me. God doesn’t care about me.”

     Kate closed by saying that "gratitude or thankfulness became the means for keeping my heart and mind sane in a very difficult place."  And that's true wherever we live, whatever we face. "The oppression that's around us, or the frustrations, the things  that we can't accomplish weigh on us, and they wear us down. [Amen to that!]  Our problems wear us down, and often with very, very good reason.  But when we step back and we practice thanksgiving, or we practice praise, we're reminded of the blessings we have, and we're able to breathe again.  I don't know any other way to say it.  We're just able to breathe again."  

     "It's oxygen for the soul."  

      Isn't that so true?  I have found that to be the case in my life over and over again--thanksgiving and praise are the bridge from our troubles and sorrows and frustrations to the other side where we can breathe deeply the air of God's grace and goodness.  It frees us of ourselves and our constricting fears and provides "oxygen for the soul."  

     I've quoted her many times, but I love Amy Carmichael's statement: "I sing the doxology and the devil flees."  For me, it's blast some great Christian music and sing at the top of my lungs. And start counting the blessings.  Start thanking, even when I don't feel like it... especially when I don't feel like it.  And what can I say?... it's exactly as Kate McCord put it, "I can breathe again."  The fresh breath of His grace and strength and love infuses and frees my heart.  

     So today, choose to thank and praise Him, whether you feel like it or not.  Just begin--even if it's just thanking God for that hot coffee or that hot shower or that hot bagel.  And before you know it, you'll be breathing deep into the God of all provision and power.  To God be the glory. 

Today... and thankful

    Late yesterday afternoon, I was running a few errands and suddenly thought to look at my car's clock--it was about 5 p.m.  Exactly 11 weeks ago at that very time, four precious girls were lying by the side of the road after the accident, and life had changed forever.
    The funny thing is, most of those changes have been for infinite good--we can already see that.  Even this soon after the accident, it is clear God allowed it for greater good and His greater glory.  Sure, there has been a lot of pain and uncertainty and heartache and fear.  The girls are still dealing with a lot.  But, boy, there has just been so much good for so many people--folks coming to know Jesus, witnessing the power of miraculously answered prayer, strengthening of the faith of many, appreciating what is truly important--gaining a proper perspective about life, realizing the priceless gift of family and friends, and being thankful.
     O the transformational power of gratitude!  All I can say is, thank You, Jesus!  "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose." (Rom.8:28)  Amen, Paul!  Even the hardest things in our lives can be the means to greater, deeper joy, for as Warren Wiersbe writes, "the bumps are what we climb on."
      But isn't it wonderful that we don't know the future?  Seriously, we tend to think we'd be better off if we knew what was coming, but I think that would be nothing but a huge burden.  We would fret and worry and dread and would break under the load of all that fear.  If we had known ahead of time about this accident and it's aftermath, we would have said, "No way.  No way can we get through that.  That will be horrific."
      But that's not what happened. God just carried us all the way, day by day, hour by hour, step by step.  Friends and family just stepped in and picked us up and helped bear the burden every single day.  It was truly remarkable.  Humbling.  It was as if each day, when it all became too hard, too heavy to bear, there the Lord would be, undergirding and strengthening and encouraging.  And there our beloved friends and family would be, calling and texting and cooking and driving and cleaning and loving... and praying.  And praying.  And praying.   And all I can say is thank you thank you thank you.
     But today, I just want to share one thing for which to be thankful: that we don't need to bear tomorrow's burden today.  Stop worrying about what will happen if....  Stop fretting and wringing your hands over how on earth you will handle this if...  
     Trust God to give you what you need tomorrow, when you need it.  Like that manna in the wilderness.  Day by day.  Day by day.  "Give us this day our daily bread."
     "No man ever sank under the burden of the day.  It is when tomorrow's burden is added to the burden of today, that the weight is more than a man can bear. Never load yourselves so.  If you find yourselves loaded,  at least remember this: is is your doing, and not God's.  He begs you to leave the future to Him and mind the present."  (George Macdonald).
     Trust Him with tomorrow, but thank Him for today.  And keep thanking and thanking... and watch that worry recede as the worship overwhelms.
      By the way, that errand I was running?  It was to drop off some water for a senior breakfast that all four of those precious girls will be going to next week.   They will all graduate on time.  Who would have thought?  Well, God.  He knew all along.... and smiled.  Because only He knows the future and holds every single day in His perfect, powerful hands.  So we can rest in that.  In Him.  And be thankful.
     To God be the glory.

Thankful for dogs

          Moses, very early one morning, in a place he is NOT supposed to be:

     Yesterday I was up early typing away and having some time with the Lord, when I realized Moses was not resting at my feet as usual.  So I went looking for him... and found him resting comfortably on the sofa in the living room.  hmm.  Do you notice the sheepish look on his face?
      He knows sitting on the furniture is most definitely not allowed, but in his advanced old age, he has discovered the living room as an out of the way place to take advantage of a nice soft bed to cradle his achy bones.  Had my husband discovered him, he would have jumped down immediately and run to his bed under our kitchen table.  When I discovered him, well, you can see the results.  He just looked at me as if to say, "Well, what can you do? I'm old and tired and this pillow feels mighty fine."
     How could I get mad at him?  No way.  I just cut off the lights again after snapping his photo and let him rest comfortably for a few more minutes.  He is, after all, 12--which is ancient for a lab--and I don't know how much longer we will have the joy of his presence in our lives. Bad dog training... but great love.
     Today, such a simple reminder: thank the Lord for the gift of His sweet consolations in our lives--especially pets.  Well, especially dogs.  I really do love cats, too, but seriously, we all know dogs adore us... cats tolerate us.  I love the old saying: "Dogs believe they are human; cats believe they are God."  Now that being said, I do love cats, and we still really miss wonderful next door neighbor's equally wonderful cats, Cody and Digger.  So, thank You Lord for cats!
     And for birds, gerbils, fish (we've gone through a few of those around here), lizards and snakes (okay, that's a stretch but obviously some people love them), rabbits, and guinea pigs.
      And pet sea monkeys.  Yes, that was our very first pet.  When our children were begging for a dog, and we felt we were just too busy to properly love and care for a dog then, we got them some pet sea monkeys.  Our son even wrote about those microscopic sea monkeys when everyone at his class had to write about their favorite pet.  Truly pathetic. That was when we realized it was time to get a real pet.  So we got a fish: Jesse was his name.  They found that equally disappointing.  But Jesse hung in there for years, and in our book, he counted as a pet.
       Until the glorious Christmas we surprised the children with Moses. And can I just say, he has been nothing but love and joy and pleasure from the first moment the Lord brought him into our lives.  Boy, there is simply nothing like a dog.  Unconditional love, continual companionship. Work, sure, but worth every moment of it.  Gilda Radner once said: "I think dogs are the most amazing creatures; they give unconditional love.  For me they are the role models for being alive."  It's true--you can learn a lot from a dog.  But that's for another day.
     Today, thank You Lord for Moses and for all he has meant for our family... and thank You for all dogs.  Truly a gift from the hand of our loving Father who cares even about such things as dogs... and cats... and birds... and the mute companions who love His children.  That's just the kind of good and great God we serve.  To God be the glory.
 

Nutcrackers... and the Warrior Baby

Anybody ready for Christmas?  Our youngest child certainly is!  On November 1st, I walked into his room and this is what I saw:

     He had no sooner finished organizing his Halloween candy than he apparently realized it was time to go into the attic and start getting ready for Christmas.  He loves nutcrackers, and this is the lovely display of his organizational skills on the shelf in his bedroom.  So Target is not the only place that starts decorating for Christmas at Halloween.
     In fact, when I commented on his getting ready for Christmas a wee bit early, he looked at me in amazement and exclaimed, "Well, Mom, it is already November!"  Well, duh, everybody knows you are waaaaay behind if you haven't done your Christmas shopping by july and your menu, cards, and decorations ready by september.  Silly me.
      If you could see our nutcrackers up close, you would assume by their "well-used" appearance that they had cracked a whale of a lot of nuts.  Of course, none of them has ever even seen a nut. But all of our nutcrackers are banged up, dented, missing arms or swords or various appendages. This is because our boys loved to have "nutcracker wars."  Yes, in the true spirit of Christmas, they would line up  various nutcrackers in the living room and have them fire away or swing away or, I guess, chomp away.  Later, I'd walk by the empty living room and nutcrackers would be strewn all over the floor, some lying face down in an apparent advent blood bath.
     This did not contribute to an orderly home... and no one has ever called us to grace the pages of the Southern Living Christmas edition.  And we now have one sorry looking collection of battered nutcrackers.
      But some day, when our house is finally orderly and clean and peaceful,  I know that I will look at those mutilated, but well-loved, nutcrackers and cry.
     And remember... and be thankful for the privilege and the joy of raising these 5 priceless, irreplaceable souls.  And of celebrating year after year the joyous coming of the Lord Jesus into the world as a baby.  Almighty God as man wrapped in an infant's flesh. O may we never get over the wonder of that.  As our dear friend David Dwight called Him: "The Warrior Baby."  An infant come to battle satan and our sins.
     Maybe nutcracker wars are not such a bad idea after all.
     So today, let's choose to be thankful for messes and imperfections and the silly, offbeat joys of life.  For banged up nutcrackers or banged up houses or banged up expectations. And for the people that make the messes... and make the music that will sing in our memories.
     But most of all, rejoice in our Warrior Baby who came to redeem His own... and is coming again.  "For all that has been, thanks.  For all that will be, yes!" Dag Hammerskjold   Yes, Lord Jesus, come.  To God be the glory.

Thanks for the Word

     Woke up feeling sort of thread bare and tired.  Some days are just like that, aren't they?  An achy back or a grumpy child or a too long to-do list... sometimes life can just wear us down a bit.  And the last thing we feel like doing is being thankful.  Maybe I'll just wallow a bit down here in the mud of messy discouragement and irritable self-preoccupation, we think.
      But does that ever help us?  Does that encourage others around us?  Does that glorify God?
      When we are all wrapped up in ourselves and our perceived problems, we make a very small package.
      I just reread Jesus' words in John 6 when there was a whole lot of grumbling going on.  The crowds "grumbled about Him" (v.41), they "disputed among themselves" (v.52), and even His disciples "were grumbling" about His words.  At one point, Jesus just flat out tells the crowd, "Do not grumble among yourselves!" (v.43)
     What a reminder that grumbling and complaining among myself, much less among others, just leads to nothing good.
     Rather, Jesus tells them in John 6:63 "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all.  The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life."
      How had I missed that before?  Right after questioning His disciples for their grumbling, Jesus teaches them--and us--it's the Spirit.  It's His Words that give life, that bring wholeness, that bring restoration and healing to frayed and worn out hearts.
     Boy, Jesus' words are Truth, aren't they?  The flesh is no help at all!  Amen to that!  Our aching joints or pounding heads or exhausted bodies are not a lot of help in the battle for joy and thanksgiving. And our fluctuating feelings can often lead us down the wrong road towards selfishness and discouragement.
     Nope, there is one sure foundation for joy, and that is the Spirit and the Word that brings life.  LIFE, the abundant, full, John 10:10 Life with a capital "L" that Jesus came to give us.  His Word.  His Holy Spirit.
     It means choosing to put down the remote control or the computer or the to do list or the catalogue or whatever distractions chase away your hunger for the Word.  And then, by faith,  pick up the Word and start eating His words... and find renewed strength and joy.  I love how James Montgomery Boyce put it: "You are to feed on Christ's words, digest Christ's words, live Christ's words, exude Christ's words."
     When we do that, we suddenly find our problems and preoccupation with ourselves have shrunk down to their proper diminutive size... compared to Almighty God.  He is big!  He is huge!  He has infinite power and provision for anything that faces us!   And He is good... so good.  "Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!" (Ps.107:8)
     So today, let's give thanks for the Word.  For His words that give us life.  And hope.  And joy.  And peace.  And power.  And strength.  And heaven.  To God be the glory.
   

Perspective and Prayer

     Well, we finally pieced together what happened to my battered, but trusty old cell phone.  It is not a happy story... though it has a good ending.
     So here's what happened:  Janie and I rushed from her physical therapy appointment yesterday morning in order for her grab a quick bite to eat at home before zipping her to school.  In our haste, I left the car keys back at the therapist's office, so yours truly sprinted back to the office to retrieve the keys.  (This is the same office where a few weeks back I actually managed to briefly lose a wheelchair, so we don't have a great track record there.)
     Sprinting back to the car, we leapt in and hurried towards home.  A funny thing happened on the way, however.  (My husband might not agree with the use of the word "funny," but that's another story.)  While driving about 60 mph on the belt line--and for the record, I was not speeding--we suddenly heard a funny (there's that word again--maybe "strange" would be a better choice... or "foreboding") thumping sound.  I was a bit shocked and feared something had hit our car, but, thank the Lord, we seemed to be fine and continued on our merry way.
     Back at the ranch, I suddenly determined I could not locate my cell phone.  I spent the next two hours searching high and low, all the while growing increasingly uneasy.  When I dialed my number, instead of ringing 4 times as it usually did, it just rang once--not a good omen.
     And then it all began to slowly come back to me.  When I had raced back into the therapist's office, I had just thrown my phone down on the hood of my car--that's the kind of dumb thing you do when you're rushing. And that's also the last time I gave the phone a passing thought... until I was passing another car on the Raleigh beltline.  The phone apparently hung in there and clung desperately to the hood of the car through several twists and turns and even several minutes on the beltline, until we passed another car.  And then, wham, it must have flown off, hit our windshield, and smashed into smithereens on the shoulder of the highway.  Janie then recalled that the thing she had seen hit our windshield was white (I have a white phone).  I recalled that her daddy would be not find this funny in the least.
     But, still, it is a little funny...
     That is until I thought about all my lost contacts, all the phone numbers and information I have stored on that phone, all the pain and hassle and money of having to get a new phone, all the important phone calls from my children and friends I was missing.  Well, it didn't take me long to lose my sense of humor.
     And my sense of gratitude.  Gone with the wind, like my annihilated cell phone.
     Until I took Janie to her appointment late yesterday afternoon for occupational therapy.  As we drove up, all I was thinking about was what I would do for a cell phone, and how could I be so foolish and careless, and what if my children were trying to reach me... O mercy, what a mess.  But as we pulled into the driveway of the medical center, there were two large ambulances parked right in front.
     I suddenly was taken back exactly two months ago to the day, when Janie was loaded onto a special ambulance transport from the ECU hospital to the Chapel Hill hospital.  Still in critical condition.  Still unconscious. Still unresponsive.  Still with an infection and high fever.
     Look how infinitely, beautifully, incredibly far God had brought her... in His mercy, by His grace, for His glory.
     What exactly was I worried about now?  Would something this minor really steal my joy?   A lost cell phone?!  How on earth could I allow worry over something so trivial  replace worship of the Almighty One?  Surely I would not forfeit gratitude for grumbling when God has been so extravagantly and undeservedly good?
     Forgive me, Father.
     And thank You.  Thank You that I may have lost my cell phone, but we need never use a cell phone to speak to the God of the universe.  I keep thinking about that--we all use cell phones and feel lost without them.  But the Lord who made us, who knows us, who loves us so much that He died and rose again for us--well, we can talk to Him anytime, anywhere, about anything.  No need for phone or prerequisites or perfection.  Nope, the Maker of heaven and earth, the One with all power and wisdom and strength, we can come into His presence with singing or with sorrow, with praise or with pain... whenever, wherever, however.   24-7!
     What an unimaginable privilege!  What a cause for thanksgiving!  No phone required.  No need for contacts.  No nothing but the cross of Christ that gives us instant and continual access to the throne of grace and glory.  "Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." (Heb.4:16)  What a privilege... what a throne.

     From here:

   (that's Janie being loaded into the back of the transport 2 months ago yesterday)


     To here:

     (Halloween night with Huntley Davis!  He's the precious little giraffe!)

     The power of perspective.
     And the perpetual privilege of prayer.
     Thanks be to God.  To God be the glory.