We are preparing to enter into the week of Thanksgiving. A time that for many of us means family and food (and football). Thanksgiving is a time to be together with those you love and after being away from my family, I am thankful we will be together this year. We will cook our favorite dishes together and then sit around a big table with our extended family and eat more food than we need to eat. I know that I will look around the table and see my daughter's beautiful faces and be thankful that we are together. I will see my sister and her family and her family's family and be grateful that we are all together. We will laugh and share family stories. We will play games and my heart (in addition to my belly) will be full.
Yet I wonder if we even know what it means to be grateful. All around me are advertisements and signs for "Black Friday." A day after Thanksgiving, thousands and thousands of consumers will rush to shopping malls to fight the crowds to buy more the day after we focused on being grateful for all we have. Our consumer mentality wins out while 46 million Americans continue to live in poverty and the whole nation of the Philippians fights for survival. Where should our gratitude be focused?
You see, we tend to be thankful for stuff but scripture tell us that we need to be in all things because God is in all things. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says, "Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus."
Now I don't think Paul is saying we need to say, "gosh, I'm really thankful for this cancer I have," or "I'm so glad I lost my job!" That wouldn't be real. Hard times are hard times. They suck. But what we can thank God for is his unending, unconditional love and grace and mercy in the midst of all circumstances through Jesus Christ. God is faithful and steadfast. We are called to rejoice in him, pray to him and give thanks to him for his mercies.
We are blessed people and yet I know that I fail to see and understand the many, many blessings God pours on me each and every day. And so it's not so much about a day called Thanksgiving but a spirit of thanks giving - giving thanks each and every day to a might and powerful, yet loving and merciful God. May this spirit of giving thanks be our spirit - this coming week and this coming year.
Psalm 105:1 Give thanks to the LORD and proclaim his greatness. Let the whole world know what he has done.
Saturday, November 23, 2013
Sunday, November 17, 2013
The Beach
I love the beach. There is something about the ocean that stills my soul and brings me peace. It doesn't matter when or why I go, or who I go wit;, God always finds me at the ocean. He shows me His sovereignty and majesty in the power and roar of the waves as they clash against the rocks and the shoreline, pulling sand and driftwood back into its depths. He reminds me of His never ending faithfulness as the I watch the repetition of the waves maintaining the ocean tides, controlled by the moon - all created by the will of my Almighty God. I'm reminded that though I am as small as a single speck of sand, God knows me by name. As one of my favorite Psalms says:
"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." (Psalm 139:13-16)
There's something about the beach that just naturally causes me to relax. Perhaps its the consistent rhythm of the waves or the wind that always seems to blow. It could be that I go "unplugged." The computer stays at home and so I'm not checking e-mail or Facebook. My phone doesn't ring. There aren't chores to be done or things "I have to do" (or think I have to do). I go to the ocean expecting to relax and so I do. I forget work. I forget my responsibilities and my worries. I just relax.
I go to the ocean and "I'm still." My mind is silent. My heart is quiet. And God finds me. You see, God is always there and so it's not me who needs to find God. It's me who gets lost. Lost in my busyness. Lost in my stuff. Lost in my living this life on my own thing.
But when I go to the beach and I am reminded of the bigness of God all around me, and then I quiet myself - there He is. And when I'm still, God and I have amazing conversations. He speaks to my heart and I listen and I hear Him and I am filled. And when it's time to leave the beauty of the beach, I return to my live refreshed and renewed and filled with the presence of God - who is always with me. I'm just not always still enough to hear Him.
"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." (Psalm 139:13-16)
There's something about the beach that just naturally causes me to relax. Perhaps its the consistent rhythm of the waves or the wind that always seems to blow. It could be that I go "unplugged." The computer stays at home and so I'm not checking e-mail or Facebook. My phone doesn't ring. There aren't chores to be done or things "I have to do" (or think I have to do). I go to the ocean expecting to relax and so I do. I forget work. I forget my responsibilities and my worries. I just relax.
I go to the ocean and "I'm still." My mind is silent. My heart is quiet. And God finds me. You see, God is always there and so it's not me who needs to find God. It's me who gets lost. Lost in my busyness. Lost in my stuff. Lost in my living this life on my own thing.
But when I go to the beach and I am reminded of the bigness of God all around me, and then I quiet myself - there He is. And when I'm still, God and I have amazing conversations. He speaks to my heart and I listen and I hear Him and I am filled. And when it's time to leave the beauty of the beach, I return to my live refreshed and renewed and filled with the presence of God - who is always with me. I'm just not always still enough to hear Him.
"Be still, and know that I am God;" Psalm 46:10
Thursday, November 7, 2013
Transitions
Fall is my favorite season. It always has been. As a child, I loved school and so fall always meant the start of a new school year. That excitement has never gone away for me. A new beginning. A fresh start. I love the colors of fall and I missed the beautiful, brilliant colors of the PNW autumn while I was in Casper. We have enjoyed a gorgeous fall this year and so I'm feeling particularly thankful.
Tonight I'm sitting in the comfort of my living room, curled up in my favorite chair, wrapped up in a blanket, listening to the wind and the rain outside. There is a wild storm brewing outside. The second big storm of the season. The second time that high winds are sending the brilliantly colored leaves swirling through the air, tumbling about wildly here and there, landing them randomly on the ground. We are quickly transitioning from fall to winter. Soon the leaves will be gone; the trees will be bare.
It's the cycle of life. Unless the trees lose their leaves each year, new buds aren't able to appear, and new birth can't burst forth with the green of spring. It's the way God planned things. Transitions bring change. Transitions birth new life.
I'm in transition. It's lasted nearly a year now - a long time to be in transition. I feel a little bit like those brilliantly colored fall leaves right now - swirling about in the ruach (breath or wind) of the Holy Spirit. But because it's God, I know it's not random and I know that He's in charge. I know that wherever I land, it will be where God intends me to be. I am filled with anticipation for the new thing God is preparing to birth in me. I'm filled with hope and excitement for a potential pastoral call that I feel led to. I feel His presence in my life in a powerful way and am in awe of His faithfulness.
I'm excited! I sense a new beginning is ahead! Praise Be to God!
Tonight I'm sitting in the comfort of my living room, curled up in my favorite chair, wrapped up in a blanket, listening to the wind and the rain outside. There is a wild storm brewing outside. The second big storm of the season. The second time that high winds are sending the brilliantly colored leaves swirling through the air, tumbling about wildly here and there, landing them randomly on the ground. We are quickly transitioning from fall to winter. Soon the leaves will be gone; the trees will be bare.
It's the cycle of life. Unless the trees lose their leaves each year, new buds aren't able to appear, and new birth can't burst forth with the green of spring. It's the way God planned things. Transitions bring change. Transitions birth new life.
I'm in transition. It's lasted nearly a year now - a long time to be in transition. I feel a little bit like those brilliantly colored fall leaves right now - swirling about in the ruach (breath or wind) of the Holy Spirit. But because it's God, I know it's not random and I know that He's in charge. I know that wherever I land, it will be where God intends me to be. I am filled with anticipation for the new thing God is preparing to birth in me. I'm filled with hope and excitement for a potential pastoral call that I feel led to. I feel His presence in my life in a powerful way and am in awe of His faithfulness.
I'm excited! I sense a new beginning is ahead! Praise Be to God!
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