The music of thanksgiving

    "...singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." (Eph.5:19-20)
     On this cold, clear Monday morning, Father, help us to give thanks to You "always and for everything."  Help us to sing Your praises--O might our lives resound with the melodies of thanksgiving that live in our hearts but that also pour from our lips. You tell us to not only think gratitude, but to speak it, to sing it, to proclaim it, to share it. 
     And Lord, please give us thankful hearts even when the gratitude comes hard and begrudgingly.  When the road behind has been brutally difficult and sorrowful.  Or when the road ahead looks dark and uncertain...give us, even then, hearts that see and trust You in the midst of it all, and so still to find room for thanksgiving.
      For You have promised that You inhabit the praises of Your people.  Might the sound of our personal thanksgiving choruses be reflected not just in the happy blessings of our lives, but also in our hard and perplexing challenges.  For You are in them all and will use them all--somehow, someway--in Your divine sovereignty for our good and Your glory.  O Lord, give us thankful hearts!

     And so this day, I thank You, Lord for a bridal shower last night in Charlotte for our oldest daughter.  Thank You for the hands that worked so hard to prepare it.  Thank You for her dear and wonderful friends who were there to celebrate.  Thank You even for Charlotte, NC--though I wish our daughter lived here in Raleigh!--and for the good life You are giving all those young folks there.  (Okay, but just in case, Lord, I'm still praying for an eventual return to Raleigh.  I'm just saying...but I'm thankful!)  Thank You for safe travel for everyone.  Thank You that our younger daughter could go with me even though she has a lot of work for school.  Thank You for my husband manning the fort back home.  Thank You for Matt (the wonderful man she's marrying!). Thank You that we didn't get lost driving to Charlotte--a complete miracle with my total lack of any directional skills whatsoever.  Seriously.  Thank You for GPS on cell phones.  Thank You for the yummy food--O my, thank You for that food..especially, of course, the CHOCOLATE CAKE!!!  Life is so good when there is chocolate cake to be shared with the people you love.
     Well, I could go on and on, but you get the point--God tells us to be thankful in everything, and I'm trying to practice that in my life.  To reflect, to remember, to recount all the big and little gifts He gives us everyday.  When I started this morning, I was feeling a bit overwhelmed with everything on my plate...but now I'm just feeling grateful and joyful.  For gratitude always always always leads to joy.
     So today, if you're feeling a bit anxious or grumpy or discouraged, start recalling and recounting--right this minute--God's goodness in your life, big and small.  And watch His joy start flowing.  And the music resounding.  To God be the glory.

This year--Delighting...not dazzling!

     "385 WAYS TO DAZZLE FAMILY & FRIENDS"
     That's what it said right there on the cover of Southern Living.   And with a picture to boot of a spectacularly beautiful and luscious looking cake perched beside the headline.  And there are "155  HOLIDAY RECIPES!" and "114 GRACIOUS GIFT IDEAS" inside the magazine's covers as well.  O mercy, we better get working, working, working right this minute!  Not to mention the back cover features a gorgeous young blond in a slinky gold dress and bedecked in jewels.  Yeah, I look like that a lot over the holidays.
     Okay, not to sound like the Grinch, but these editors are clearly living in Martha Stewart la-la land.  Yeah, sure, maybe some of you out there are Super-Duper-Fabulous-Incredible-Organized cooks and moms and spouses and decorators...all rolled into one.  If so, stop reading this immediately and run pick up a copy of Southern Living or Martha Stewart Living and go all out over these next few weeks.  More power to you...though I don't think I want to invite you over to our house.
     Because here's the thing--I'm not good at "dazzling" my loved ones--especially when it comes to cooking, cleaning, and decorating.  My family would probably read that and laugh, "Ya think?  Duh!"  Dazzling clearly isn't the word that comes to mind when it comes to my very limited repertoire, limited time, and even more limited skill set.
      Oh my, how I wish I could dazzle, decorate, cook, and look like Giada whatever-her-name is  on the Food Network.  Who wouldn't love to create that "magical" Christmas about which the magazine cover boasts?
      But here's what I know--none of us (and certainly not yours truly) can ever live up to the impossible standards of perfectionism and dazzling magic that our culture promotes and that we often place upon ourselves during the holidays.  And when we try--and fail yet again--we exhaust ourselves and grow discouraged and even bitter in the whole ugly process.
     Dazzling, I've found, does not produce the godly characteristics God longs to see in us.  And even worse, our often futile but zealous attempts at dazzling cause us to forget the very reason and purpose that originally lurks deep behind our dazzling goals--to LOVE our families and friends!
     Why do we want to have lovely homes of refuge and rest that reflect the joy of the holidays?  Why do we want to cook good food to nourish and strengthen our loved ones?  Because we LOVE those people, that's why!  Because we want to REJOICE together with them for all the manifold ways God has blessed us.  Because we want to experience a truly thankful Thanksgiving!
     And because we want to CELEBRATE and REVEL in the wonder of God--the Almighty, Sovereign, Omnipotent, Omniscient, All-glorious Lord of the universe--coming down to earth as a helpless, dependent, fragile infant...for us!  Can you believe that?  For you, for me...even with our sorry and selfish attitudes and our prideful self-sufficiency.  Because "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."  (John 3:16)  That's far beyond dazzling love, isn't it?
     How can we not rejoice in the astounding, eternity-altering wonder of that...and celebrate it with JOY with those that we love?
     But you know what--for many of us, that means forgetting about dazzling and focusing instead upon delighting.  Delighting first in our Savior who is both the Greatest Giver and also the Greatest Gift.  And gifts call for rejoicing and thanking, do they not?
     And secondly delighting in those that Christ has so generously loaned to us for our brief sojourn on this planet.  Delighting in our children (instead of always finding fault or looking for ways they can "improve").  Delighting in our spouses (maybe we need to do a little dying to ourselves and our selfishness and pride in this category, no?).  Delighting in parents, in our brothers and sisters, and in our friends.  Delighting in these eternal souls lovingly hand-crafted by their Creator--souls for whom His love was so infinitely great that He came to live and love and serve and die for them.
     Jesus didn't seek to dazzle them, did He?  No, the Savior simply delighted in those He had made...and then He steadfastly went to the cross to die for them.
     So this Thanksgiving and Christmas, I'm laying aside my goal of dazzling in favor of a much humbler--but far harder and greater--hope.  To die to myself.  And to delight in God and those He's placed in my life.  I may not bake any show-stopping cakes or purchase perfect gifts for everyone or live in a magically decorated Christmas palace.  But if I can love and serve unselfishly, if I can share a thankful, contented heart, if I can rejoice in God's goodness and greatness...well, then, I think we'll be good around here.  Even without the dazzling.
     Because nothing's more dazzling than the love of Christ and the joy He gives.
     To God be the glory.

   

How to shine

  There is something so comforting about wading through a gentle carpet of leaves.  Does that sound odd?  Well, maybe so, but what can I say?  I love God's carpet!  That quiet rustling sound as you slide through...the softness on the foot...the perfume of fall's earthy scent.  The leaves form a pathway for autumn's goodbye kiss.  

 I'm sure some folks see the leaves and think "Ugh--raking."  That's what I should be envisioning, I'm sure...but I don't!  Instead, I'm choosing to rejoice in God's blanketing of leaves on our driveway.  Maybe tomorrow we can blow them or rake them...or maybe not.  But for now, let's indulge in the last beautiful vestiges of one of God's finest seasons.  Let's jut walk on those leaves and choose gratitude for their beauty rather than grumbling for their messiness. 

     And while we're on the subject of thanking versus complaining...I wanted to add the "why" Paul gives us behind God's admonition not to grumble and complain.  If I don't remember today, I'll likely forget all about it, so here goes-- 

  After telling us to "Do all things without grumbling or questioning"(Phil.2:14), Paul goes on in verses 15-16 to explain the reason--“that you may become blameless and innocent children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the Word of life...”  What a promise!  If believers would stop complaining, we’d start shining!  The world is filled to overflowing with grumbling people who are never satisfied and are quick to complain, dispute, and fuss.  If we would simply choose to cease griping, of course we’d stand out like sparkling stars in inky black sky!  We don’t need more bumper stickers or buttons or banners proclaiming we are Christians.  We need more believers who shine like stars in a dark world, because they’re living out the truth of what they believe by refusing to grumble and instead choosing to give thanks!

     The world complains, but the Christian rejoices, because her joy is in Christ.  Society is twisted and distorted, but the Christian stands straight because she measures her life by God’s Word.  The world is dark, but the Christian shines, because she carries the Light of Christ within her.  The world has nothing to offer, but the Christian, Paul tells us, holds forth the Word of Life! 

     O might we shine for Christ this day, because we refuse to go along with the culture's penchant for griping about everything and fussing about any perceived denial of our rights and preferences.  

     O Lord, keep us counting our blessings rather than calculating our burdens.  One leads to piercing the darkness and the other simply adds to it.  Help us to shine like stars for You, Father.  For You are glorious.  To God be the glory.

                

One bloom

     In case you aren't familiar with this particular type of flower, it is called "The Persevering Against All Possible Odds Rose."   Yes, this rare type of rose grows only in the Fountain's yard where the two forlorn rose bushes are never--and I mean never--pruned, fertilized, or cared for in any manner whatsoever.  I admit this to my utter shame, but my full disclosure should give you a greater sense of wonder and admiration for "The Persevering Against All Possible Odds Rose." (PAAPOR for short--doesn't that have a snappy ring to it?)
     Yes, loads of her sissy, wimpy cousins flourish in yards where they have fancy men in a white truck that come and slather them with all manner of fertilizer and bug repellent and other assorted potions to enable them to grow and produce loads of beautiful blooms. But still, wouldn't any flower flourish under such excessively luxurious conditions?  They're gorgeous...but then, why shouldn't they be?--they live on easy street.
     But not our hardy PAAPOR!  No sir!  Despite the negligence, ignorance, and lack of all gardening prowess or desire by her caretakers,  our little PAAPOR bloomed anyway!  Incredible!  In fact, I was stunned one morning when I looked over toward the boxwood bushes and there she was: one perfect blossom, opening up her pale pink blooms to a sun-splashed fall day as if in celebration of life.  Just one solitary bloom, but that was enough.  Thank You Lord for the gift of her beauty...her persevering beauty.
     This all brought to mind a quote I read just the other day by French novelist Alphonse Karr: "Some people are always grumbling because roses have thorns; I am thankful that thorns have roses."  Amen.  Sometimes we need a little reminder, don't we?
     So today, I'm thankful for PAAPOR, for fall days, for roses--and even for thorns--and for their lessons on perseverance, perspective, and gratitude.  Just a little more ammunition in the war against complaining!  Keep us grateful for You and Your gifts, Father.  To God be the glory.

So, how's your day?

     “Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea;  on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers;  in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.  And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.” (II Cor.11:25-28)

     So, how’s your day going?

     Thought this might provide a little fuel for the fire for anyone joining me in the No Complaining Challenge.  Boy, we’re quick to find things to grumble about, aren’t we?  The weather, the wait in the fast food line, the weariness of our daily routine.  But not Paul!  Like James, he “counted it all joy” and, in fact, ended his staggering catalogue of suffering by saying, “For the sake Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities.  For when I am weak then I am strong.” (II Cor.12:10)  O how thankful I am that in our weakness, God is strong and strengthens us!

     What’s the opposite of grumbling?  Gratitude!  Or, more specifically, speaking words of gratitude.  We can’t just desperately attempt to bite our tongues when the bile of griping and grousing threatens to spill out of our lips.  No, we need something positive to put in the place of complaining, right?   We need to have hearts that are focused upon Who God is, what He has done, and what He is doing even now.  Even in the midst of our sufferings and sorrows and setbacks. And I’ve found I need to write down or speak out loud those words of thanksgiving. Replacing words of grumbling with words of gratitude changes not only us but can alter the whole atmosphere of a workplace, a school, a church, or a home.

     We’ve got to choose “a sacrifice of praise” even when we don’t feel like it.  So in those moments when we’re trying not to grumble, make the choice to replace it with gratitude. After all, nature abhors a vacuum!   

     Sometimes it can be challenge, but I’m telling you, nothing changes your perspective and your attitude like finding something, anything, for which to be grateful.  When Janie was in such terrible shape in the ICU, I mentally kept a running list of all that I was thankful for--the wonderful nurses, the hot tea, the warm, dry place inside when it was pouring outside, the amazing care Janie was getting, the encouraging text from a friend just when we needed it, the presence of dearly beloved family and friends, the gift of laughter, a good sandwich, and on and on.  It didn’t change Janie’s condition...but it sure changed me. 

     More to come on this subject!  But for now, Lord enable us this day to speak words of gratitude rather than words of griping.  Keep us focused upon You, the God of all grace and goodness, rather than upon ourselves and our circumstances.  After all, circumstances change by the minute...but You are changeless and completely in control of all.  

     We choose to trust in and rejoice in You.  To God be the glory.

The No Complaining Challenge!

     Time to step out on a limb and take a leap of faith.  Maybe not your typical leap of faith, but still, a bold step.  Wanna join me and jump?  

     We’re going to call it the “No Complaining Challenge.” 

Let me explain: We're studying Philippians in Bible study--which, by the way, is one fine book of the Bible!  But O my, if you want to indulge in grumbling and ingratitude and keep a consistently negative perspective on life, then do NOT read Philippians! 

      But if, on the other hand, you’d like to change your attitude and your life and if you’d like to know how to live with indefatigable joy even in the midst of adversity, well, then, you know where to go.  And incidentally, I can’t think of a better book of the Bible to be reading around Thanksgiving.  

      So here’s what Paul tells us in Phil.2:14 “Do all things without grumbling or questioning...”  Goodness, he had me “all.”  Don’t see much wiggle room in there, do you?  Not “Do most things without grumbling...except, of course, when someone is irritating the fool out of you.”  Or “Do as much as you can without grumbling...except, naturally, when your teenagers are driving you crazy, or the weather is horrific, or you're overwhelmed by all you have to do and no one seems to helping you.”  

     Nope, just “Do ALL things without grumbling.” 

     Paul goes on to give us the incredible, wonderful incentive as to why God doesn’t want us to gripe and fuss...but I’m saving that for my next post.  Otherwise, you might start complaining (shame on you) that I’m going on too long.  So stay tuned.  

     But for now, let me explain the “No Complaining Challenge.”  I figure if anybody out there wants to join me, then you might want to hear a bit more about it.  My original modest goal was to make it one whole day without any kind of grumbling or griping...but I already messed up yesterday...several times.  sigh.  

    So I had to start fresh today.  Thank the Lord we serve a God of second...and third...and fourth chances!  

     Then I thought, well shoot, let’s go for a week.  Ambitious, bold, probably impossible...but “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,” right? (Phil.4:13)   

      And then the Lord had to go to meddling. Funny how He likes to do that.

      He reminded me that occasionally, just every so often, I turn into the Wicked Witch of the West while trying to get everything bought and wrapped and cooked and cleaned and mailed and finished for Christmas.  Somewhere about, O let’s say mid-December, I start to freak out about all that’s left to be done and that inevitably leads to fussing and fretting.  Actually, that should read “Fussing and Fretting” with capital “F’s.”  

      This may never happen to you, and if so, you might as well stop reading right now and go finish those last few details of your Christmas preparations, since you’re probably one of those people who have it all done by mid-July.  But mind you, I’m not complaining.  Just observing.  

      Anyway, the Lord seemed to whisper--why not go for the whole holiday season?  After all, Philippians 2:14 is a command contained in His Word and that which the Lord calls us to do, He promises to enable.  

      So, no grumbling, griping, or fussing through Christmas Day.  By the way, that includes Christmas Eve--no griping while futilely trying to assemble that toy or gift at 1:45 a.m....when you’re already on the edge of hysteria-induced exhaustion.  Always a happy, happy time, isn’t it?        What do you think?  How’s this for a bold, somewhat insane, and completely impossible challenge?   But it is God’s Word, after all.  It is by His power and for His glory.  And then, of course, there’s always His amazing, relentless grace for our inevitable mess-ups!  

      Anyone out there up to joining me?  In the words of a Bebo Norman song: 

  Here goes nothing

  Here goes everything

  Gotta reach for something

  Or you’ll fall for anything

  Take a breath, take a step

  God only knows

  But here goes...

      To all my friends and family, you have permission to remind or correct me throughout the holidays.  “Oops, Mama, what about the NCC?”  That’s short for the “No Complaining Challenge”--to perhaps lessen embarrassment...and irritation.  I need all the help I can get.

      So here goes, Lord.  To God be the glory!  

The stars...the Savior...and us

     Wow.  That’s pretty much covers it.  Wow.

     It’s early in the morning--my favorite time of day.  So quiet and still.  A blanket of darkness outside makes the warmth of light and mug of hot tea inside all the more cozy and comforting.      I walked outside to put something in my car, and the bracing cold startled me into alertness.  Deep breath--O my, it’s good to be alive this fine, cold day.  I had somehow forgotten the gift of this day as I abstractedly began the early morning routine.  

     But then I glanced up at the sky.  And that was when God wow’ed me.  Yeah, yeah, sure, there’s the sky and the stars again, you say.  But that’s our problem, isn’t it?  There it is again...and again...and again.  Dulls our senses to the wonder of it all.  The vastness.  The distance.  The glory.  

     An inky black sky with pinpricks of shining light dot the canopy above me.  How on earth can we simply walk underneath such astounding beauty and be indifferent?  How can we not be awed by our smallness and heaven’s vastness?  How can we not look beyond the glories of the heavens to see the unmistakable reflection of the Creator and His jaw-dropping handiwork?  

     Makes me feel both small and large at the same time.  Small, of course, in comparison. “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars which You have ordained; What is man that You take thought of him, and the son of man that You care for him?” (Ps.8:3-4)  We’re just little “dust-people” as Jill Driscoe always says.  Dust, here and then gone so quickly. 

     Consider the vastness and the eons of time reflected in those pinpricks of light poking through the blackness.  We’re here, what, 60, 70, 80 years?   The stars would laugh at such an age span.  And here we stand beneath the heavens, all 5 foot 5 or even 6 foot 5 of us.   Wonder what the heavens think of us when we think we’re too big for our britches?  “You little pip squeak!  You want big, I’ll show you huge,” shout the stars at our audacity.  Yep, puts me in my place to see such vast and awesome wonder. 

     But yet...I feel big somehow.  In fact, pretty gigantic.  For Jesus created the stars...but He came to save me.  Someday, eventually, all of those stars will die.  It may be thousands upon thousands of years, but each of those pinpricks will fade and disappear.  But not us.  Small dust-people that we are, we were created for eternity.  And the Creator of those heavens chose, in His merciful sovereignty, to exit the unfathomable glories of heaven and enter time and space for us.  For you, for me.  To become dust-people just like us.  So that we could become like Him for eternity.  

     We were crafted for eternity.  That’s why King David went on in the very next verse of Psalm 8 “Yet You have made him a little lower than God, and You crown him with glory and majesty!” (v.5)  Kind of makes you want to square your drooping shoulders and lift your head in thankfulness and wonder, doesn’t it?   Yeah, stars, you've got it going on and you're pretty remarkable and wondrous...but He simply created you.  He came...and died for us.   

     So today, just remember who you are--small, sinful, needy.  But then remember Whose you are--saved by an Almighty, all-glorious Savior who spoke those stars into being with a word.  Remember His saving power.  Relax in His sustaining presence.  Rejoice in His goodness and grace to you again...and again...and again.  

    To God--who not only created, but who came--be all the glory.