Gratitude

Book of Kindness

It’s time for counting kindness……

An interesting thing happened when I started to count the gifts of gratitude one by one……that counting the good things became even more a part of who I am.
They slipped in quietly, but they surprised me by their insistence, even when I was worried, or stressed, or angry, or scared…..they came alongside and made their presence known, and didn’t back down.
And now I find myself wanting to count other things. That is what started my book of kindnesses…..
It is for keeping track of the things my friends and family have done for me or others……all those little things it’s so easy to lose track of. It’s so important to know that there is still much kindness left in the world.
My Mom in her childhood watches…..I think she likes the idea

And hopefully, this counting will inspire me to practice kindness on myself and others, because I know there is much room for me to grow. These I don’t count, for God Himself keeps track of each one done

In Jesus name…….“And (A)whoever in the name of a disciple gives to one of these [a]little ones even a cup of cold water to drink, truly I say to you, he shall not lose his reward.” Matthew 10:42
First entry: Diane (who bought me this little book) goes with my Mom to the Doctor during a scary checkup
Second entry: Just about every time Elaine makes an ice-cream cone for our household, she makes three extra and takes them next door to Bob, Eileen and Estelle
Third entry: Bob and Eileen take Elaine to get her car from the shop
I often like to imagine all the many things that Jesus must have done that we have never heard about…..
“And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen.” John 21:25
I have a feeling they ended up in the Father’s own book of kindness

Counting the Gifts

In that day— “Sing about a fruitful vineyard: I, the LORD, watch over it; I water it continually. I guard it day and night so that no one may harm it. Isaiah 27:2, 3

I just finished a marvelous book called, “Halfway to Each Other,” by Susan Pohlman. It chronicles one family’s incredible life-changing experience after leaving their fast paced and stressful LA lifestyle behind and moving to Italy for a year. On the brink of a divorce, while walking along an Italian beach on a business trip husband Tim ventures that maybe they should move there for a year. At first the notion seems ridiculous and illogical. But at the brink of desperation to save their marriage, they do just that.

At times funny, sad, always heartfelt, this book will inspire you and lift you to the heights, and make you think about some of the ways the American lifestyle is extremely unhealthy for both mind, body and spirit. It made me think of what I already really knew. That the magic and memories come when you slow down enough to really get to know each other and God.

The good news is, while we can’t all move to Italy for a year, there are changes we can make right here and right now that will have a big impact on our lives. Slowing down……turning off the noise that constantly barrages our ears, our senses, our lives.

Cutting out activities, the running here and there. Keeping up with the Jones’es or in LA, The Kardashians! Taking little walks together, noticing things, taking the headphones off.

I will never forget one Christmas Eve when we lost all the electricity. We still talk about it…we lit candles and a fire in the fireplace, sang songs, laughed…..and we were all a bit disappointed when the lights came back on. We had captured a bit of magic that we weren’t ready to give up yet.

I was reminded of the joy of games on my recent trip up to the mountains. There in the living room of the cabin we rented, a little shelf was overflowing with board games and my niece’s eyes just lit up like she had just hit the mother load. Of course, she wanted to get them all out at once.

She decided on monopoly. With a special needs kid you don’t go by rules…..you improvise. I think that made it even better. Then I realized to my utter disbelief, that I had no clue what the rules were anyway? How could I have forgotten this game that I had played for so many hours growing up? My brother recalled how he and our cousins would play with a vendetta……sometimes holding games over for the entire weekend after falling asleep at the board.
That weekend, I felt like I had a gift……I will never forget Lauryn and I playing that game, and how she borrowed money “from the bank” to buy Park Place. I can still see her beautiful face lit up with excitement, and hear our conversations that night.

That’s what life is about……celebrating being together. Recapturing what we thought was lost forever……Simple moments that can’t ever be replaced.

Returning a bit of Eden to our lives……Celebrating thankfully today for all those, little/big moments…….

rediscovering games and conversation, drinking in nature, September which leads to October, which leads to cool weather, days off, laughter in the midst of stressful moments, clean sheets, furry ones that love no matter what, discovering a new restaurant yesterday, answered prayers for the end of a challenging week, beautiful Arizona sunrises, a bit of rain last night……#713-#724

Join the gratitude community here to count along with Ann and many others…….

Louis and Jesus

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing. 2 Timothy 4:7,8 

When you spend any amount of time in a rest home, you get to know some of the residents. You walk the halls and notice things, people. You are grabbed by the desperation that seems to live and breathe there…..Many times the vacant stares we are greeted with make us want to dash out the door and take a deep breath of the fresh air of the living. We recoil at the bleakness of it all and none of us wants to think about the possibility of going there someday. I call it God’s waiting room.

It was on such a walk through the halls, that Elaine met Louis. He was sitting in the doorway of his room reading His Bible. It was the Bible she noticed first. She greeted him in the engaging way she has…..she is a real people person. He brightly said, “The book of Numbers!” She noticed his sweet spirit and the light in his eyes…..the gentleness in his soul. There was hope there. He said, “I read this Book everyday.” She told him how wonderful that was. His walls were adorned with Scripture verses, pictures and books. Louis was still very much in the land of the living.

She made a habit of looking for Louis every time she went in. One day she wanted to introduce me to him, but he was out. His family had come and taken him visiting. Louis told her that he came from a long line of Preachers. His Grandfather, his Dad and he were all Pastors, and so were both of Louis sons!

One day while they were having church in the main hall, we spied Louis sitting in back……his well worn Bible open on his lap.

After being gone for awhile, we went back looking for Louis but he was nowhere to be found. The nurse said that about 2 weeks before, he had died peacefully in his sleep…… Louis is with Jesus now. We rejoiced for him. He knew where his strength lay and where his hope rested. His happiness and joy didn’t depend on his circumstances. Instead of spending time wishing he were someone else, he communed with Jesus every single day in that rest home. Louis, like Mary, chose the better portion. He spent his days listening to voice of Hope.

So much of it is about choice, isn’t it? Life and death. Some have continued to choose life and some have given up and closed themselves off to it.

Louis chose life.

“Now listen! Today I am giving you a choice between life and death, between prosperity and disaster.” Deuteronomy 30:15
Each day brings forth the same choice, life and death. To dwell on all the riches of God’s blessings, or to dwell on everything we don’t have or feel cheated out of. To be grateful or miserable. Really, we are all in God’s waiting room, whether we know it or not. One small step away from eternity.

We will miss seeing Louis there reading his Bible. It was an encouragement to me, just to know he was reading those words of life, still trusting in His savior. But now when I think of Louis, I smile…..knowing that the waiting for Louis is over. He is basking in Godlight.

With every Monday that rolls around, I am amazed that I still have so much to thank Him for:

The best night’s sleep I have had in awhile…..fresh okra from the garden…..people who speak life to me everyday….hope for the coming cool weather….piles of books that speak encouragement…..shelter from the unbearable heat outside….the end of another week’s work…..time spent just hanging out, laughing, talking with my best friend who is so grateful for me, and tells me so often…..a beautiful awe-inspiring sky coming home from work…..being able to buy special things to send to my family, along with my love. #701-712

Drawing from the Well

“But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:14

What a wonderful thing to have memory…….it is our well-spring that we can draw upon again and again. I think if we counted the times during the day that we dipped into it, we would be surprised, since it is not really a thing we count….

We think of times well-spent and our memory bank is always adding up as the new slide in with the old and they all become part of who we are…..the good ones tend to override the unpleasant ones with enough time and healing.

But if I lost every scrap of my memory today……..God would keep me, I know that. For He has hid His Word deep in my heart.….. I would have the wellspring of His water that never runs out to draw from. I have Very God living in me which will carry me into eternity, along with all that is me……
was me, and will be me.
Everything I am is kept safe in Him, for He has promised that, so there is nothing to fear, not Alzheimer’s…..or cancer….or old age, or anything else……..“and we have a priceless inheritance–an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay.” 1 Peter 1:4

I really don’t know how it would be to lose my memory, my mind…..living with someone with Alzheimer’s has made me ask that question. It must be terrifying, I really can’t imagine it. I hope I never have to find out. But one thing I know.

When I have the water that always quenches, it will be more than enough.

thankful for feeling better today, almost over my cold……thankful for two specific things that happened yesterday, one the direct result of prayer…..thankful for days off to re-energize……for God who never gives up on me, even when He sees my inside my heart, it still doesn’t faze Him…..wonderful memories of a great Birthday week…..appliances that keep right on going through the stifling heat of summer….my first cuppa joe in the morning…..people who speak wisdom into my life….the memory of sand in my toes…..and being splashed my precious niece…..#701-711

Join the Gratitude Community here and add your list to Ann and others…….

Simply Thankful

“And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.” Colossians 3:15 

This little dove doesn’t have to try to be a dove, she just is. She sat there looking at me as I rounded the corner one morning, just being herself, doing what doves do. I think she can teach me a lesson on just being. Being who God made me and resting in the Holy Spirit. With Christ reigning in my heart I don’t have to work at getting peace, I already have it in Christ. I need to stop working at it and rest in who He is.


There are so many things trying to rule over our hearts these days, things that threaten that peace……but when I close my eyes and know, really know, that Christ is ruling my heart, I feel myself calm, then my heart starts to beat with His. I am seeing turbulent waters grow calm. I think of how He smoothed out the waves that early morning in the boat…..I hear Him say….”Peace, be still……” to the waves and to my heart.

One of the best ways to feel at peace and to honor Him is by giving thanks. When I give Him my gratitude, I acknowledge where the blessings come from. So today I offer up my list of little things, which are really not so little at all.

I have almost made it through the last of my 12 hour shifts this week feeling under the weather. That was my goal, to finish out the week. I have four days off to look forward to. I had a good night’s sleep and that makes the day go much better. I know I will get better, and there are many who won’t. I have food, and I have free fruit and drinks all day here at work. All these little blessings are what some would give anything to be able to give to their children.

I know God appreciates it when we stop and realize how rich we really are.

I think of the conversations I have had in the past two weeks, some with family and some with friends who are going through very hard things. One thing stands out. One very important common denominator.

In spite of everything, they hold fast to their gratitude. They are thankful because they know that with God they have it all, but without Him they have nothing.

Fig Leaves and "Jersey Shore"

“This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” Romans 3:22-24

I kept seeing snatches of things on the internet yesterday and I didn’t know what it was all about. Then the Christian radio station was talking about it as I was heading in to work this morning. From what I gathered, Ambercrombie and Fitch is a bit nervous because they feel that a certain star might taint their image, and they want to pay him off to stop wearing their clothes.

“Abercrombie & Fitch, the clothing company, is offering “substantial payment” to Mike (The Situation) Sorrentino, of the show Jersey Shore, if he will stop wearing A&F attire on the air. “We are deeply concerned that Mr. Sorrentino’s association with our brand could cause significant damage to our image.” Source: http://www.montrealgazette.com/
Now, I have been in Ambercrombie and Fitch before and I have seen the ads. They do have a really great fragrance there that I have bought several times. But they don’t exactly send forth what I would call a “wholesome” image on their billboards and commercials, so my question then is this: “Just how raunchy do you have to be to have Ambercrombie and Fitch reject you for fear of sullying their image?” I have never seen “Jersey Shore”, but in light of what I have seen on TV lately, nothing would surprise me.
The radio commentator had a good point and that is my whole reason for bringing this up, because I loved what she said. The gist of it was this, “Aren’t you glad that God didn’t say to us what Ambercrombie is saying to this actor?” In effect:
“You are just too rauchy for us! Go somewhere and disappear, in fact, we will pay you to do just that!”
Instead, He sent His Son so that we could attain righteousness through Him. Christ has become our righteousness! We don’t have to bother holding up our fig leaves to God, no matter how beautiful or elegant or creatively we make them look. He always sees right through them.
I still try to trot them out once in a while, wave them in front of His face…… But no matter how much I try to fool Him, I realize again that He sees my filthy rags for what they are, an effort to save myself…..a poor substitute for Jesus, my bread of life. What beauty is in this plan……Only God could initiate such terrible beauty.
Over and over again, He brings it home, and home is always Jesus.
Over and over again, I celebrate the joy of this Communion here where I sit, where I walk, where I drive.  I don’t need the elements to be thankful, feel the magnitude of what He’s done.

Like a gift that we lift out each day, still shiny, still new.
 
Like stepping back into Eden all over again.

Image of fig leaf from google images

Sleepless in Arizona

“Behold, He who keeps Israel Will neither slumber nor sleep.” Psalm 121

I was pondering this fact early this morning when I awoke at 12:30 AM. If God does not sleep, I thought, then what does He do? He certainly doesn’t need to keep the universe going. That was all set up long ago and He has no problem keeping it all running. That leaves one thing……He is watching over me as He watches over Israel. I can never catch Him by surprise. I never catch Him dozing off……Even as I toss and turn at 12:30 in the morning.

I heard the outdoor flag flapping in the wind, which had picked up. I heard my little outdoor decoration sliding back and forth on the wall. I got up and took them both down…..there was dust in the air. I came in and laid back down…….All was quiet except the cat snoring, fast asleep in his place on the bed.

After I determined that sleep wasn’t soon to come, I burrowed through my pile of books by the bed until I found “Big Red.” It is the Bible I always turn to when I need a special comfort. It has years in it. It holds them all lovingly in its pages. I turned to my notes in the back……notes from sermons, studies, things I have thought and read. My eyes fell on this printed in red:

Know how to meditate on the Lord. What do I do when I can’t sleep? Do I quiet my soul and spirit with meditation on God or do I run for a sleeping pill? What am I to meditate on?

God’s word……..God’s promises……..the person of God

I continued thumbing through and thought about the years held there in those pages. It’s about 34 years old now. I listened to the rustle of the pages and something about it quieted my spirit. I noted the changes in my printing style over the years, sometimes slanting left, sometimes right. Some of the notes are faded with time.

Most important are the words it holds. God’s words to me, to all of us.

I turned out the light and rested my old friend on my chest and felt its weight and it felt good. I thought of all that precious book and God have brought me through. Saved my life more than a few times. Maybe more times than I know. I couldn’t help it, a few tears of gratitude slid down, and I thanked Him. My heart slowed its beating…….my spirit calmed. Outside, the wind may have been blowing, but I no longer heard it.
I drifted into a peaceful slumber at 2:00 AM.

At times like that I think that maybe God just missed me and wanted my undivided attention.

Counting the Gifts

“Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters.  Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.  He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.” James1:16-18

Between last night and this morning we have had some wonderful artwork in the sky. Though we suffer through these stifling summers, who a Pastor last week very aptly described as being hit with a blow-torch, this time of year yields the most wonderful skies with the afternoon rains we sometimes get.

This morning I went out in my usual spot in the corner of the yard, where I get a bit of a crosswind, and watched the world wake up as I awoke with it. There was a puddle the rain left behind and I watched as a group of birds ingeniously dunked their bits of food in the water and alternately bathed……it was quite a show……

Then I went around back and caught Mama and Papa quail and their little one on the wall….
I am thankful today for my camera, which allows me to stop and take a second look at the world and all of God’s good gifts…..
For God who provided me with the money to buy it……
For my best friend who forced me to buy something for myself even though I walked around and around Costco before I did it……
All these things which remind us that God is good, and so is the world He created.
For His word, our compass to show us where to go……
What path to take.
And the Holy Spirit who helps us do those impossible things that we could never do on our own.
For the people who love and encourage us every day.

Celebrating Multitude Mondays along with many others in the gratitude community today……..

(sorry, the little graphic for Ann’s website wouldn’t download today)

All Creatures Great and Small

“If you have men who will exclude any of God’s creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men.” Saint Francis of Assisi
Today I honor our animal friends with a photo essay of “Briggs.” I am so thankful for the joy and the laughter our pets bring to our lives, and for the comfort they so unreservedly give, expecting nothing in return. They leave their footprints across our hearts and change us for the better. I am thankful for all those who volunteer in shelters, giving their love and time and extending their compassion to all God’s creatures who have been left behind and abandoned.

“Oh, no she has that black thing out again that clicks and flashes the bright light………must you do that nooowwww?”

“Okay, if you insist on doing that, I will just do my best to ignore you and take a bath……”

“Doing my best to look thoughtful and pensive……how am I doing?”

“This is all so very tiring…..I think I will just lay here and guard my mouse.”

“A cat’s work is never done……”

Thankful today for all the ones I have held and known, run and played with throughout my life. Thankful for a loving God who saw fit to create them for us as wonderful companions in the journey of life.

Briggs is the king of the house and loves everyone…..Sydney adopted me as his own and follows me everywhere, flopping upside down in my lap every night…..

All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful,
The Lord God made them all.
Cecil Frances Alexander

holy experience

Even while we sleep……

Though you probe my heart and examine me at night, though you test me, you will find nothing; I have resolved that my mouth will not sin…….my steps have held to your paths; my feet have not slipped….Psalm 16:3,5

I was tossing and turning over a situation. It was a fitful night, but this morning I awoke to the sound of rain….welcome rain on the rooftop. I heard the gentle patter of it off and on while it was still dark, and though my sleep was not totally restful I was somehow always lulled back to sleep.
I needed the comfort of the Psalms this morning and so I opened my Bible to my old friends that never fail to give me the peace I need in every situation.

Imagine, even while we are sleeping, God is working for us……..”I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. I have set the Lord always before me. Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.” Psalm 16:7,8

I am praising and thanking the Lord today, for Godly counsel. For the wisdom I find in His word and for those He has lovingly placed in my life who say just the right thing at the right time.

holy experience  I am giving thanks for my Mom today, who said just the right thing this morning when I needed it. What a solid rock you are! I can always find the right perspective when I talk to you. I thank God for you.