Thanksgiving Past

I do believe I'm always going to remember this past Thanksgiving. I can't help it really because there will probably be a nice little scar on my middle finger to stir my memory. My poor little finger met up with the side of the oven when I was checking the turkey. I guess a small burn is minor compared to the fact that the turkey had to lose its head for us to eat him for dinner. Still I would have been just as happy to reflect upon the turkey while it digested comfortably in my stomach without having to feel the pain on my finger.

A cook though I guess must have battle scars to show that she/he is a valiant warrior in the kitchen.  Scars and wounds I think used to be a sign of fierceness and valor. Probably for a cook they are just a sign of clumsiness. Sometimes I wonder if I'm allergic to knives, because we never seem to get along very well and I'm often having to fetch the band aids.

You know I wouldn't mind being a very fancy chef who had someone who would do all the chopping. Then it would magically appear on the cutting board as if the onions and peppers had grown in the garden perfectly chopped. Then of course the chicken underneath its feathers would also have to be cut into perfectly sliced chicken strips,but maybe that is going a little far.

 Well life must be tough sometimes I suppose and a few little cuts never hurt a person...well unto they got infected and they had to lose their fingers, but that never happens in these days of modern medicine. I hope.

A word of advice, don't cook like me. Its far too dangerous and painfully amusing. 

After Thanksgiving

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Well the holiday has come and gone. Part of me is sad and the other part me is happy because that makes Christmas all the closer which means seeing my adorable nephew and such. This thanksgiving i didn't watch football . I didn't go Black Friday shopping till 11 am. I didn't eat stuffing. I didn't see see any of my family for they were miles away ... This thanksgiving I was very blessed in so many ways. Blessed to have a God to teaches and blessed to still be blessed 2 days After the holiday . It was a good day and I'm thankful to be able to be thankful all year long.

The List

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Eve and my personal belief is that the eve of a holiday filled with its anticipation and excitement holds just as much wonderfulness as the actual holiday.

Thanksgiving is wonderful time because you can write endless blog posts on thankfulness and its vogue :)

Every day is beautiful. Every day there is something to be thankful for. I find that easier to say  some days then others. Sometimes I breath the words with a heart over flowing with happiness and gratitude. Sometimes the words come out through clenched teeth and a heart that wants to be selfish.

Oh ungrateful person that I am!

In reality its almost embarrassing for me to count my blessings.

There is health, yes there has been the seemingly perpetual cold and a unpleasant case of the stomach flu, but all my limbs are still intact and my life is not ruled by doctor visits.

Wealth...true there isn't a lot be said about my life style, but all of my needs are met. Food, clothes, shelter, hygiene products and even the occasional Starbucks latte. I have never gone hungry because lack of money.

Church, I go to church and its a wonderful church. Not a perfect church...for there is not a perfect church anywhere, but I can fellowship and pour over the Word of God with fellow believers and my soul is fed.

Friends, No they are not always available to me when I feel they should be (that is just me being selfish though), but I have friends who will laugh with me and talk with me and tell me its going to be okay.

This is the embarrassment of riches that I have and so many do not, yet all of those could be wiped away from me and I would still be a very rich girl.

I would still have Christ.

    In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
   
(Ephesians 1:11-14 )

If all I had left was Chris I would have everything I would ever need. 

"Hallelujah! All I have is Christ
Hallelujah! Jesus is my life" ---Sovereign Grace Music

Thanksgiving and Veterns Day

One week ago we remembered the Vets and this week we are to remember Thanksgiving. The two holidays are not separate from each other I think. For so many families they are very much entwined with memories and longings. Thanksgiving is a wonderful day unless your loved one is half way around the world serving thier country instead of serving up carved turkey.

War has stolen the place settings from tables of families all over the country.  I don't know what it feels like to know your loved one is far away working in a dangerous place. I don't know what it is like to not really know what they are doing. I don't know what its like to always be trying to push the "what ifs" out of the back of your mind. I don't know what is like to have to trust God to take care of that loved one.

I don't know, but that doesn't mean I don't hurt and wonder. I watch others send off their sons, husbands, brothers, and friends. I see the pain and tears and I queitly wipe away my own tears, but I don't really know the pain they are feeling.

Christ knows. He knows the nights filled with lonely tears of the wife. He knows a mother's heart and a father's love. He knows the children who ache for their father. He knows how desperately hard it is too just live when a big piece of your life is missing.

    For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 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.
(Hebrews 4:15-16)

 This Thanksgiving as you play football (or just simply watch football if you've eaten too much turkey), eat your dinner with family and friends, and spend some time giving thanks stop and pray for the ones here in this country without a loved one. Pray for the ones far away serving and do whatever you can to be an encouragment.

I do not know, but I will pray.

Great Things. E is for...

End

All good things must come to a end my mother always told me. Sometimes though the bad things finally do come to a end and you aren't sorry to see them go. I'm thankful of course for the way God uses things in our lives, but I'm grateful that He will bring a end to the storm and cover the sky a rainbow.

Days that feel blissfully normal because the hard times have had a end are wonderful. I do not know how to cherish the normal until it has been taken away from me. 

Things end and you don't want them too, because they were just too wonderful. If things were wonderful all the time though would we really know how to be thankful for wonderful. Does wonderful perhaps have to end, so we can know what we really have?

There are two kinds of end. One I'm happy to see and one I would rather not see, but I'm thankful for them both.

Great Things: Scripture

There were the verse I turned too over and over again. Some verses I unexpectedly found, because they were part of my devotional reading for the day. I cling to God Word's, but yet not often enough to make my Bible fall apart.

    Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained.
(Philippians 3:12-16 )

 

It was the very last sermon I heard before I left my home church for my last few months of my senior year, but I carried that scripture with me for the rest of the year.

 

There is no way to describe how thankful I am that what lies behind me does not shape my standing with God. I can have a reason to get up on those tired mornings. There is a reason to smile and to just do something because this life is not simply meaningless, but we can look to the goal. One purpose. One reason. Growing in Christ. Serving Christ. I need to be reminded of that...every day. 

 

Written for Great Things. 

Great Things: R is for...

Rage

I'm thankful that God lets the storm rage around me.

"Sometimes God lets the storm rage but calms his Child"

There are the times I want to call it quits. Say I'm through learning this lesson and that I simply can't handle the turmoil anymore. I'm thankful though that God brings me to His word and shows me comfort and truth. He makes me realize that I need this storm. I need to grow. Maybe its a tiny rain storm or a roaring hurricane, but each storm is a gift from God. Aches and pains are just part of the process of the Potter molding the clay.

I do not ask for storms, but I do want to see them as a gift when them come. Sometimes the rain blinds me and all I hear is the thunder and I do not let my soul be quieted by God alone. Instead I seek temporary fixes until I'm near drowning and only the mercies of God pull me up.

How has God taught you a lesson this year through a raging storm?

Written for Great Things.

Great Things: Moments and Memories

Moments and Memories.

This year was the one with the wow moments, the I can't believe this is happening moments and there was the moments that I wished weren't happening. All through it all God was more then faithful.

1. New Job. Just a few days into the year and on the very first day of my last semester at college, my heart nearly stopped beating in the president's office. Did I have plans for after grad he asked and I told him nothing had been set. I was asked to stay and work for the school and also minister there. I was astounded and knew the only reason I had been asked was because of God's grace. Really I was the most unlikely person in the world to do what I'm doing now. Several months later I found myself continuing my education, by finding out what ministry was really like. Some things I wish I didn't have to learn, but those are the things God is using the most.

2. That day. The one where into my nervous sweaty palms was placed a certificate of completion of school. We stood in a straight line across the stage, and we sang "Praise God from Whom all blessings flow". I could hardly sing at all. I was in awe of the glorious grace that had graduated us all from school. When I look back on that day though it sometimes makes me want to cry. Oh it was a wonderful day, but it was the day where the precious season of me being student came to a close. I did not fathom then how much life would change and how I would sometimes long for the old days back.

3. Opened Eyes. The boarder guard handing us back our passports and we were officially in Canada land. Two weeks later we crossed back into the USA. I was exhausted physically and mentally, but encouraged spiritually. The eyes of the children we interacted with are seared into my memory. My eyes were opened to a mission field I knew little of before. I had new compassion for the missionaries there and understanding of the stamina it takes to work there.

4. Family. From around the world my big happy and ice cream loving family gathered for a few days. Cousins played together and the aunts and uncles shared stories and even though many of us hardly see each other we fellowshiped over the common bond of simply being family. Looking at our family I am so humble of what I can call me heritage. It seems rare to say you come from a family who has always sought after the Truth. A family who when together who will always get along with the help of lots of ice cream and cookie.

Those are just a few of the memories. Some of the moments happened deep in my heart where no one could see, but God alone as He taught me His faithfulness. Each day God gave this year has been a beautiful one...some of them have no been pretty at first sight, but more of pain. Looking back though I can now see "the pretty and the pain".

Written for Great Things 2012

Great Things 2012

This month is one of the most wonderful times of the year. Pardon me for saying that, I do know the phrase is supposed to be reserved for Christmas, but taking some extra time to count your blessings I think makes a very wonderful time of year. During the next days I'll be sharing with you my Great Things from this past year. Last year as you may recall I did the same thing and I'm so thankful for the blog Beautiful Song that is hosting this link up.

I would love to hear about your Great Things as well. All the details of how you can participate are explained here. 

You can find the links for them on this page...which people in the tech world call a landing page.  Thanks for tagging along on my little journey of the big and little things of my life from this past year. 

Day One: Moments and Memories


Day Two: R is for...

Day Three: Scripture

Day Three again:  E is for...

Held

This week we had an election which helps me remember that this week is also my dad's birthday because you see poor dad often had to share his birthday party with an election party. Still I quite forgot that today was the big day, because I'm sorry dad, but I've never good with remembering dates.

I don't remember the first time my dad held me. It was in a hospital room in the wee hours of the morning and dad had just watched his last child come into the world.

I remember the many other times dad held me though.

He held me on his lap. Probably to make his silly little girl sit still, but I felt safe and loved perched on dad's knee. When I was too big to sit on dad's lap I would lean on his shoulder, because it felt safe and good.

When I was a teenager and in the chaos of emotional storms dad would hug me and told me he loved me.

And then one day dad helped me carry my earthly belongings into a empty dorm room. Dad hugged me good bye and then I was alone in an big parking lot knowing that dad left me there because he loved me.

Three very long and very short years later I was hugging  a lot of people (some I didn't even know!) as I stood in the receiving line at my graduation. And then dad was there. Holding me tight and everything around us seemed to stop.

When dad held me his touch said more then words ever could. I knew I was loved. I knew that I would always be daddy's girl. I knew that there was no need to perform for love...it was given to me freely. Dad was showing me the love of Christ. No matter what I did my father would always love me, because he saw no the faults in me, but instead his little girl.

My father gave me a gift that is more valuable to me then words or riches. His love.

Happy Birthday Dad. And yes your card is coming, but well maybe you can just read this while you wait for it.

Roots

I wonder where those thoughts came from, a horrible mess of thoughts that would shame me if anyone knew them. How did they simply sprout into my mind without warning?

I had a warning. Deep inside my heart long ago roots of sinfulness had began to grow. Sometimes I saw them so I would tend to them with confession to God.

Sin though is like a bind weed. Its roots go so far down that if not treated properly the roots soon take over your whole life.

The sin is fun and seemingly delightful. I don't care about the roots it has taken and let them flourish and then I am degusted at myself. Realizing I'm a vile sinner with no good in me at all.

 Sin did not suddenly appear in my life...I let the roots grow. How much more pleasent would life simply be if the roots of sin were squelched quickly before the damage in my life began to damage the lives of others?

I think I need to go do some root pulling in my heart and seek the forgiveness of God and restoration.