Good night!--its been almost a month (and quite the busy one), but I'm thankful to be back. The last time I was here, Halloween was still a few weeks away...now we're staring Thanksgiving in the face. It sounds so terribly trite, but oh my how time flies!
And whew, thank goodness for Thanksgiving, surely the best time of the year, and how badly we need it right now. There's our horribly polarized and divided culture, the relentless mud-slinging political ads (providing another good reason not to watch too much TV), and the general negativity and incivility in public discourse...I could go on, but why? Do we really need reminding of mankind's all too evident sinful, selfish nature? And that includes me...and you. I always think of G.K.Chesterton's famously response to a newspaper's request to write an answer to the question "What is wrong with the world." He simply wrote back, "Dear Sirs, I am. Sincerely yours, G.K. Chesterton." Yep, that pretty much sums it up.
But all the more reason that we all need to hit the pause button, take a step back, look around with new eyes to see how much good God has showered upon us (in spite of ourselves), and then look up with gratitude.
It's all grace. All, all, all, God's amazing grace.
Just this morning--walking Bingley on the quiet greenway in the early morning stillness...the cold, bracing air...the sun beginning to filter through the changing, brightly colored leaves...the scattering of fallen leaves making a gentle carpet beneath our feet...the sweet face of our happy dog as we walked...the deer sauntering up ahead across our path.
What did I do to create any of that? What did I do to earn it? Nothing. Nada. All grace. All by the gracious Creator.
How about lunch the other day with two dear friends...or dinner last night with folks we love...or text messages from priceless buddies on a trip in Israel...or Bible study with amazing women...or planning Christmas with my wonderful sisters and family...or having any of our children home (JOY!)...all the wondrous gift of the people we love--all grace, grace, grace.
Watching our beloved Tar Heels lose again in football...but on a spectacular fall day...cheering our hearts out while those boys--bless them!--played just as hard as they could...seeing that lovely campus bathed in autumn colors...hugging our son who gets to go to school there...simply being alive and breathing and seeing and laughing and eating. So many simple but oh so wonderful joys, gifts of grace and more grace.
None of it earned or deserved, but all grace. All gifts from our gracious, glorious God.
So a very simple message that I'll be coming back to again and again over the coming weeks: have we thanked Him? Have we thanked the Author and Finisher--not just of our faith but also of all the stuff of our daily existence? Surely fall is an a time when His handiwork explodes all around us in riotous color, smells, gifts and more gifts.
Today, take time to pause and open your eyes to see--really see all that's around you. There's so much, but we allow the familiar to blind us to the extraordinary. Look around at His extraordinary work, and then look up and thank Him for His gifts and for His amazing grace.
“Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!” Ps.107:1
Aren't you thankful you have Someone to thank?! Yes, He is the One! He is the Giver! He is the God of all grace! Open your eyes, look around, and then thank Him!
To God--the relentlessly good and gracious Giver--be all the glory.
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