Thank You, God, For Leaves....

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good.  For His steadfast love endures forever.  Psalm 136:1

What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving season?  Have you taken the time from your busy schedule to stop and reflect on this?

My daughter and I took an early morning walk yesterday.  The sun was shining and the rain the night before had left the leaves all coated in tiny ice crystals.  Each leaf shimmered in the sunlight as if glitter had been sprinkled over it.  We could not help but stop to wonder at the beauty.

Later that same afternoon, my son Lawson was equally enthusiastic about the leaves for an entirely different reason.  The leaves had been holding on to our trees for what seemed like forever and the rain and wind finally freed them at last.  He was dying to rake them up so he could jump into them.  Again and again, he ran all the way to the edge of our property so he could get a 30 foot running start and jump cannonball style into that pile of leaves.  Again and again I raked them back into a heaping mound so that he wouldn't hurt himself.  Something as simple as dead leaves brought him such joy, just as they had for me, earlier in the morning. 

 Today I had the privilege of teaching Sunday school to about 35 1st through 3rd graders.  I wanted to talk to them about Thanksgiving and found an awesome game to play with them.  I found an old shoe box and filled it with various household items.  Then the kids took turns drawing out an item and we talked about why we were thankful for it and how it was a blessing to our lives.  They pulled out a toy tambourine, a battery, a toy football, a pad of paper, a seashell, a Bible, a banana, and a bar of soap.  And I asked them how often they stopped to thank God for these things which certainly added meaning and fun and better health and beauty and inspiration and convenience to their lives.  When was the last time you thanked God for a notepad to jot down a grocery list...sure beats carrying around a stone tablet! 

As Thanksgiving approaches, take time to think back over the past year and really consider ALL the things you have to be thankful for.  It is all too easy to dwell on our difficulties and troubles and forget about these things.  How much richer and fuller and more meaningful our days become though, when we stop to truly appreciate the very small blessings we encounter throughout the day. 

Tonight, I want to say, Thank you God for leaves, because they brought me many smiles yesterday.  Thank you God for the way You remind me, through tiny details and oft-overlooked beauty, of Your love, Your care, and Your plan for me. 

Teach me to Really See...

 Lead me by your truth and teach me, 

for you are the God who saves me. 

All day long I put my hope in you.

 Ps. 25:5 (NLT)

Two consecutive days could not have been more opposite from each other in my wildest imagination.  Yesterday was consumed with taking my youngest daughter to the pediatrician after she had spent the entire night before awake and coughing.  At the doctor's office, there was immediate concern on the nurse's face when Eva's blood oxygen reading came up low after three attempts to test it.  Quickly, the pediatrician came in and ordered she be put on oxygen and Albuterol.  A flu test was done...and we sat and waited.  Her oxygen level went up a little, her fever started to drop after a dose of Ibuprofen was administered. The flu test came back negative and they sent us to Children's Hospital for a chest x-ray.  In the hospital waiting room, Eva threw up all over herself and me.  It was one of my lowest moments to be sure.  Hopeless could not even begin to describe how I was feeling as everyone in the packed waiting room looked on in dismay and disdain at my vomit covered clothing.  Every time someone exited from the exam room, their faces changed when they saw me sitting there.  Both Eva and I were offered hospital gowns to change in to.  I chose to wait it out but changed her into the gown.  Later that night, showered and feeling much better, I got the news that the x-ray was normal.  Eva slept through the night and today, apart from a little cough and very low fever, she was almost completely normal again.  

This morning, I took the two older girls into the city for a school time Symphony concert.  As an usher led us to our seats, I was excited to see that we were being taken to the Grand Tier Balcony seats, literally the best seats in the house.  We sat down on the plush velvet chairs, our own little balcony seemingly hanging out right above the stage.  As the performance began, I sank into the comfortable seat and just basked in the beauty of the music.  I let out a long sigh, soaking up this little slice of heaven.  I enjoyed hearing pieces that were familiar from my many years of playing in small orchestras.  Memories from those bygone days flooded back to me as I sat there.  I enjoyed watching the musicians, all working together as one to create something of very great enjoyment and beauty.  And it struck me right there, how different these days were from each other.  

How odd life is, when it swings us back and forth from very low lows to very high highs.  How quickly, I find myself going from my highs, back to those lows again.  How convicted I was tonight when I thought back on my desperate prayers of yesterday, for healing of my daughter, and the realization that I had forgotten to thank God today for healing her so quickly.  Oh when will I ever learn?  

What I lack is perspective...the ability to see above and beyond what is happening right now.  What I need more of is constancy, the ability to take my cares and concerns before the Lord and walk with Him through my struggles and valleys.  Even if I lived a thousand very bad days in a row, I would still have hope because I would still have God.  As hard as that is to accept, I know it to be true.

Teach me to really see, oh God!  Teach me to see things the way You do.  Teach me to trust You, just as much in the difficult times as I do in the good ones.  Teach me to put my hope in You, all day long.  And help me to remember that hope placed anywhere else will only lead to disappointment.  

Waiting...

Truly my soul waiteth upon God  ~ Psalm 62

The smell of baking cinnamon rolls wafted through the house this morning.  My dear husband must have been inspired while I watched the Great British Baking Show with my oldest daughter last night because he spent that hour, in the kitchen, whipping up this delicious treat for us.  The smell was intoxicating and my sweet son Lawson could not bear the wait.  "Are they ready yet?"  "How many minutes until they're ready?"  "How many minutes now?"

Finally I pulled the cinnamon rolls out of the oven.  "Can I have one now?"  He looked up at me with great longing in his eyes, but once more I told him he had to wait.  "You can't have one yet, Lawson, they're too hot.  You would burn your mouth."  I almost caved in seeing the look on his face.  He stood there...watching...waiting.  And then, finally, I cut a cinnamon roll out of the dish for him and he took it back to the table to devour.

As a loving parent, though I wanted to make my son happy, to fill his rumbling tummy, I couldn't give him the cinnamon roll too soon.  If I had taken them out of the oven early, the dough wouldn't have been cooked.  If I had given him one hot out of the dish, he would have been burned.  In love for my son, I had to make him wait.  And it was very hard for him, but it was for the best.

Again and again this week, I have sensed the Lord giving me reminders of the importance of waiting.  "Oh, but God, why can't I have an answer right now?"  "Why can't You fix this problem, heal this person, resolve this situation, now???"

And sadly, I'm often too wrapped up in my complaining, my longing, my self-centered desires for what I think is best, that I don't even wait to listen for His answer.  Ever so softly though, in His perfect timing, He shows me a better way...His way.

I am so humbled when I see how very similar I am to a five-year-old, panting over too-hot cinnamon rolls.  I see what I want and I want it right away.  But God says, "Wait!"

Lawson could have reached out to grab a cinnamon roll all by himself this morning, but he listened, and he waited.  Will I do the same?  Perhaps the hardest part of having faith in God isn't some action I must take, but is instead having the patience, having the discipline to obey and merely wait...and listen.  Further instructions will surely come. 

God, please help me to focus not on what I think I need, but first and foremost on YOU.  Help me to trust you, even when I don't understand the things that are happening in my life.  Help me to be patient in the waiting and to be still so that I might hear Your voice.  I have faith that You love me, that You have a plan for me, and that You know what is best for me.

How to Love Life...

 Every year this week in November is a week of birthday celebrations.  This week Carter turned 12 and my sweet mom turned 72.  There was cake....lots of cake.  There was singing.  There was laughter as Mom tried to swipe some of the decorations off the cake before dinner and when she tried to put her mouth right on the candle after we sang Happy Birthday to her.  Thankfully I was there to pull her back in the nick of time!  Two birthdays, 60 years apart...one so filled with hope and potential and seemingly endless possibilities...the other, a light that once shone so brightly, now fading away more day by day. 

If there is anything my mom taught me about life, it was not to waste a single day.  She certainly didn't.  My mom had such great excitement over the first bloom of spring, a beautiful sunrise or sunset, a bird she hadn't seen before, a shell she found on the beach.  She appreciated things that many people overlook for their entire lives.  She reveled in what many may call, "the mundane"...but which was not, in my estimation, mundane at all.  And Mom cared about people.  She was always helping people, either through her job, or family, friends, and neighbors.  Even now, when she doesn't have the words to express something she sees, I'm sometimes able to fill in the blanks of her garbled sentences to figure out what she's trying to say.  "The fall leaves are so pretty, aren't they, Mom?"  "That sunshine sure feels warm doesn't it?"  "Those clouds are so big and fluffy aren't they?"  Maybe having to be a kind of interpreter for Mom is giving me a whole new level of appreciating the world around me.  Perhaps, seeing things through her eyes, the eyes of a woman suffering from Alzheimer's Disease, can teach me something about how to love life.

 When I lean in to hug Mom these days, there is a difference.  She holds on...and I can sense in that lingering embrace some of the pain, the sorrow, the discouragement she must carry with her now, 24/7....and yet, also within that hug I know she still has hope.  I'm certain of it because of her frequent smiles.  I'm certain of it because of the faith I KNOW my Mom had for all the years I have known her.  She may no longer remember my name, but sometimes if I play an old hymn she can still remember the words to the song. 

For me, the hardest thing about losing my mom this way is the silence.  I've already forgotten the exact date of the last time she sent me an email, of the last time we spoke on the telephone (we used to talk almost every single day), of the last time she said my name.  But again, this teaches me....it teaches me more, day by day, not to take anything for granted.  It teaches me to cherish those we love the most.  It teaches me how to love this life I'm living, to embrace all of its seasons, and to use my trials to reach out to and encourage others who are struggling. 

While my mom slowly slips away from me, I can feel the grip of God growing ever stronger.  He gives me new hope each and every day.  His mercies are indeed new...every morning!!  I will not allow bitterness, frustration, anger, comparison between my life and the lives of others to cloud my vision of all the blessings I still have.  This is how to live life, and this is how to love life.  My mom taught me at an early age and I will carry it with me for the rest of my life....

You're Invited!

You're Invited!

Don't you love an invitation?  I certainly do!  There's a certain kind of feeling you have when you first see it.  You know that someone has thought of you and wanted you to take part in their special day.  There is an anticipation, and excitement, a joyfulness...

The first clue that this party is not typical, is evident when you read who is hosting it:

GOD

"OK, maybe someone has a good sense of humor," you think.

"You're invited to partake in My celebration," you read.  But, when you glace over at the "date" on the card, you become puzzled.  You read and reread what has been written there.

EVERY DAY.

There must be a mistake here.  Who sent this card again?  This is really getting weird now.  What's this all about anyway?

When you continue looking for the venue of this party, you really get a shock.

WHEREVER YOU GO, I WILL GO.
I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS.

Where do you RSVP?  You scan further down.  After RSVP, there isn't a phone number or email address, just the words,

REACHABLE BY PRAYER ONLY

It's tempting just to rip up the invitation, to throw it straight into the recycling bin, but something causes you to file it away with your other mail for the moment.

The invitation fades from memory, but the words come back to you a couple of weeks later when you wake up to a particularly stunning sunrise...

You're invited!

"OK, God.  I don't know what this is all about or what agenda You have for me, but I'm busy today."

Out for a walk a few days later, the brilliance of the changing fall leaves catches your eye...

You're invited!

Driving at night, you glance out the car window to see a gleaming half moon, shining in the clear night sky...

You're invited!

"Oh, I see now, God.  I see what you are trying to tell me," you think to yourself.  But do you??


Every day, from the moment you awaken to the moment your head hits the pillow, You're Invited.  You're invited to be in a relationship with Someone Who loves you unconditionally and more than anyone else ever will.  You're invited on your good days and on your bad days.  Accepting this invitation could change your entire life...but it's so easy to brush it off, to keep going at it alone, to think you're fine without God.  And maybe you are...for right now...but will it always be this way?  And couldn't accepting this invitation have the potential to make your life so much richer, so much fuller, so much better than you could imagine?

The invitation stands, every day, for as long as you draw breath...but will you accept?

Thanksgiving...

Psalm 9:1 I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.

This past weekend, I went away for a Women's Retreat in the rolling hills of Ligonier, PA.  The leaves were at the height of their color and beauty, and as I drove along I wished that I could stop, more than once, to take a photograph.  The intensity and variety of the colors was truly breathtaking.  As I neared my destination and was driving now on a smaller country road through peaceful farmland, something caught my eye.  On my left as I drove was a lovely farm and a sign by the roadside stated the name, "Pleasant Meadow Farm."  Then what really caused me to take notice, was just past that on the right...another farm named "Chilly Bleak Farm."  I chuckled to myself at those two names, which could not have been more different from each other.  Two farms, situated almost across the street from each other...what had caused their owners to name them such different names?  

Perspective is a powerful thing.  How we choose to focus our attention every day frames our entire point of reference.  Whether I choose to focus on the positive or the negative, that will determine the course of my entire day...and life!  And I truly believe the starting point for gaining a positive perspective is the way we go about Thanksgiving.

Colossians 3:17  And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

I walked in to Trader Joe's to grab some groceries, on Halloween Day, and saw, front and center, a display of Christmas items.  It was as if the coming of one holiday immediately ushered in the anticipation on the next big holiday.  I'd just come from my Bible Study where we had been discussing Thanksgiving and how it often seems completely skipped over.  Nowadays, Halloween ends and all focus goes to Christmas.  But let's not be too quick to pass over Thanksgiving.  We may be missing out on the greatest blessing of all in doing so.

Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas and all the anticipation that comes with it.  But perhaps, in order to truly appreciate the Christmas season, we need to first quiet our hearts and take some time to reflect on our blessings.  Dwelling on and expressing gratitude for the good things in our lives is a healthy practice, one that shouldn't by any means be assigned only to the month of November.  In taking time to be thankful, we are given the gift of new perspective.  In making a note of and even writing down our praises to God, we take our focus off the things that are difficult in our lives. 

Psalm 100:4-5 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise;

give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;

his faithfulness continues through all generations.

God challenged me over the course of this year to be more thankful.  I started working on a thankfulness journal at the beginning of summer and try to record things in it frequently.  Now as I look back over the hundreds of things I have already recorded, I can't help but feel even more thankful.  When I see the way God has blessed me, in just a matter of a few months, I am awed.  Though my days have often been a challenge, in reading over my reflections of Thanksgiving I see a whole different story unfolding.  I see a story of how God works in my life, even in the midst of great trials, and moves with strength, beauty and love.  I see how even on the hardest days, He has never abandoned me.  And I see how He has worked in and through my trials to bring about more good in my life. 

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

But how can I give thanks in ALL circumstances, you might be thinking.  This statement sounds counter-intuitive and frankly a little bit crazy when you stop to consider the kinds of circumstances some people are dealing with.  Once again, I think the point being made here is that even on our darkest days, we can still experience joy.  Even during very difficult situations, we need not look very far to find things that are beautiful and good.  And for those things we can be thankful.  It is all a matter of perspective, a shift from focusing on the hard things and averting our attention to our blessings.

I think of Paul and Silas, in prison, singing praises to God.... 

Acts 16:25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.

What a ministry we all might have if we responded to our difficulties in this same manner...if instead of lamenting our troubles, we turned around and acknowledged instead the goodness of God.

Don't neglect to anticipate, prepare for, and celebrate this beautiful season of Thanksgiving.  Don't miss out on all the blessing that there is in being thankful...any time of year.  Thanksgiving is medicine for the soul...it is what elevates you from a chilly, bleak outlook to that beautiful, peaceful meadow.

Goodyear Blimp flying overhead

Thank you God, for this day, and every day you have given me before it.  Thank you for ALL the ways you lavish Your love on me, even when I am completely undeserving.  Thank you for reminding me of all the beauty and goodness that surrounds me, even on the most difficult days.  I ask you to avert my eyes from the struggles and help me to focus instead on the joy of living in Your presence.