I know this is not the season for thanksgiving, but I don't think of thanksgiving as a season. Thanksgiving is an everyday occurrence when we wake up each day and have everything still in tact...most especially a sound mind, which we take for granted. There are so many things going on in people's lives, on a daily basis, that I hear about. People losing their jobs, can't pay their mortgage, not having enough food to eat, all adding to more strain on families and marital relationships. Sometimes because the struggle to survive is so overwhelming people don't think straight, and their minds tell them that there is nothing good in their lives. I am trying to encourage people to try to think of at least "one thing" each day to thank God for so that it will be a motivator to continue looking for a way forward instead of "giving up." I am doing this myself, on a daily basis, and finding that it is what helps me to encourage others. Being thankful to God for "one thing" does not call us to ignore the current struggles, but is a strategy to help in the fight to remain of a sound mind.
When I think about this holy season of Lent, I know it is a time when I should be thinking about growing closer to the Lord, and how I am going to accomplish that. In an earlier writing, I touched on how love has so much to do with our lives. It is weaved into all of our relationships. As I was pondering what to write this time...I ran acrose the scripture from 1 John 4:7-8 "He who does not love does not know God, for God is love." I thought "wow" that really hits home. I stared at this for a while and then I realized that what I really want in my quest to grow closer to God is to know God in a more intimate way. That means that I need to find out a lot more about love, which is what God is. God is compassionate, merciful, patient, forgiving..not willing that any should perish. God does not have to try to be any of these things, He just is. I on the other hand need to always be conscious of what love looks like and how it is displayed in my life. If it is true that we are like the people we hang out with...I need to spend more time in God's presence. My desire is to gain more of God in my life so that I can display more of His love.
Having lunch with some colleagues led to an interesting conversation. We were discussing many things when the conversation turned to how we choose our relationships. Someone said “as we get older, we get picky or too
picky” was the phrase used. Another person said “if we are in a relationship, just hold on
without fear of it not working out.” There was a lot of back and forth about love and how it
changes our perspective. When I got back to my office, the thought crossed my mind of
Tina Turner’s song title “What’s love got to do with it.” Well, to answer her question, for
me it has everything to do with it. When you love someone, you are not so quick to walk a
away, although, I know there are times when that is necessary. When you love someone
you want what is best for them and it is not always about you. When you love someone
you also realize that they are not perfect and neither are you. I am fortunate that I have
found and experience love with my husband, my daughters, my family and friends. I thank
God each day that they are in my life. God has made us in His image, and I believe that
is the reason we have the capacity to love. I don’t ever want to get to the place that I am afraid to give my love away. Love is not without it’s challenges, but I think I would rather have the experience than to live life never knowing what it is.
I started telling you the saga about my cats last week and how they have brought us to a new place in animal loving. After we finally decided that we love our two cats...my mom's oldest sister passed away. Of course, when that happened we knew that we would have lots of out of town guests in our home. We are a close family and up until this point they had never known us to have pets. In all of the running around and preparations for the funeral, we forgot to tell my brother and his wife that we had cats and they needed to be careful when going in and out of the house. On the night that they arrived, we were not at home and in the midst of them carrying luggage in the house, they left the door open and one of our cats Desi went out. We did not discover this until it was late in the night. We kept seeing Lucy walking around, but not Desi. We looked high and low for Desi, but to no avail. Finally, we accepted the fact that Desi was gone. It was quite sad, my mom's oldest sister Aunt Margaret was gone and now Desi. Needless to say we began to pray and pray and pray. We prayed for seventeen days in faith, hoping and looking each day for Desi to show up at our door. It happened one night as I was about to go to bed. I heard a meow on our deck, and I ran downstairs and at first I didn't see him, but then I opended the door and he hopped in. I ran downstairs to tell my mom, since everyone else at this point was asleep. The next morning we all rejoiced that Desi had come home. We took him to the Vet to make sure that all was well, and it was. It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord for all of His goodness. We gave thanks on that day and we continue to give thanks, because the Lord is good. I am reminded of the word of the Psalmist that says "O, taste and see that the Lord is good." I can tell you that once you get a taste, you will want more.
I never thought that I would love animals of any kind until one day my oldest daughter adopted 2 kittens. I was sort of tricked into loving them. I have two daughters who love animals and I don't honestly know where they got that from. Neither my husband or myself would claim that we love or even liked animals. When my oldest daughter was in college, she adopted two cats and called our youngest daughter who is still at home with us to tell her that she could have one of the kittens. We thought "oh no" we will not have any animals living in our house and if we did, it would certainly not be cats. We owned a cocker spaniel once and the loss of that dog made us say that we would never do that again. I gave in to her and then my husband said no way. I was caught between my 14 year old and my husband. I came up with a plan to keep the little kitten (at the time) to satisfy my daughter and to maintain peace with my husband. Everyday when I heard my husband come home, I would put the kitten in the kennel outside on the deck until he was in the house, sitting down and reading the paper...and then I would bring the kitten back inside. I did this for at least a week...when one day my husband looked at me and said "I know you still have the kitten" and that we could keep the kitten, but just don't let him jump up on the couch when he is sitting down. We promised (my daughter and I) that we would keep him from jumping on him, and we have to this day. Needless to say, we now love our cat and cannot believe that we now have two, which is another long story that I will share one of these days. This taught me to "never say never." I could not have imagined in my wildest dreams that I would love an animal the way that we do. I realize also that they are God's creation and taking care of them is a good thing.
Isn't it funny how you can do so much planning for an event, a holiday or something like that and before you know it,,it has come and gone. This past year ran by so fast , always preparing for one thing or another., without enjoying the current place. If there is anything that I would like to accomplish this year, it is to take more time enjoying where I am "at the present time." I call it Savoring the Moment. Many times we do not enjoy where we are because we are busy looking forward to the next thing. Now, I am not suggesting that we stop planning our lives, but I know for me, I could slow down and reflect upon the place, space and people that are in my presence. Maybe this could be what the Psalmist had in mind when in the midst of turmoil God's word rang true from Psalm 46:10 Be Still, and know that I am God.
When I think about starting the year off right...I am thinking about having the right attitude because for me..the right attitude is everything . Many of us have things that we did not accomplish in 2008 that we need to go after in 2009 however, if we think that all is lost, we can potentially have a negative attitude toward our own ability. A right attitude doesn't give up, neither does it allow the past to dictate what can be accomplished in the future. A right attitude also realizes that as long as we have breath in our bodies, we can continue to reach for our dreams. Do you have dreams or goals that you want to accomplish..goals for your ministry, your family, your health, your finances? You can fill in that space with whatever your dream or goal is. The most important thing is that you have something to fill that space with. As the manager of OurPrayer, we have many dreams that we set out several years ago to accomplish. We knew that we could not accomplish it all in just one year, neither were we discouraged when we didn’t get as far as we hoped we would. We have had setbacks and obstacles that could be discouraging if we had not stayed focused on reaching our goals. We have not arrived at the place where we want to be, but every week, every month, and at the end of each year, we thank God that we are making progress and helping peoples lives to become better through the power of prayer. As you and I continue reaching out and lifting up our spirit, soul and bodies to the Lord, we can go about our daily task with a right attitude, knowing that we can accomplish great things. Spending time meditating upon God’s encouraging word can help us to keep the right attitude. It also helps us to realize that we are not alone. As I mediate upon these words of encouragement from Philippians 3 :12-14 my focus is maintained “I have not yet reached my goal, and I am not perfect. But Christ has taken hold of me. So I keep on running and struggling to take hold of the prize. My friends, I don't feel that I have already arrived. But I forget what is behind, and I struggle for what is ahead. I run toward the goal, so that I can win the prize of being called to heaven. This is the prize that God offers because of what Christ Jesus has done.“ This is what I call starting the year off right. How about you?
When I think about starting the year off right...I am thinking about having the right attitude because for me..the right attitude is everything . Many of us have things that we did not accomplish in 2008 that we need to go after in 2009 however, if we think that all is lost, we can potentially have a negative attitude toward our own ability. A right attitude doesn't give up, neither does it allow the past to dictate what can be accomplished in the future. A right attitude also realizes that as long as we have breath in our bodies, we can continue to reach for our dreams. Do you have dreams or goals that you want to accomplish..goals for your ministry, your family, your health, your finances? You can fill in that space with whatever your dream or goal is. The most important thing is that you have something to fill that space with. As the manager of OurPrayer, we have many dreams that we set out several years ago to accomplish. We knew that we could not accomplish it all in just one year, neither were we discouraged when we didn’t get as far as we hoped we would. We have had setbacks and obstacles that could be discouraging if we had not stayed focused on reaching our goals. We have not arrived at the place where we want to be, but every week, every month, and at the end of each year, we thank God that we are making progress and helping peoples lives to become better through the power of prayer. As you and I continue reaching out and lifting up our spirit, soul and bodies to the Lord, we can go about our daily task with a right attitude, knowing that we can accomplish great things. Spending time meditating upon God’s encouraging word can help us to keep the right attitude. It also helps us to realize that we are not alone. Mediate upon these words of encouragement from Philippians 3 :12-14 “I have not yet reached my goal, and I am not perfect. But Christ has taken hold of me. So I keep on running and struggling to take hold of the prize. My friends, I don't feel that I have already arrived. But I forget what is behind, and I struggle for what is ahead. I run toward the goal, so that I can win the prize of being called to heaven. This is the prize that God offers because of what Christ Jesus has done.“ This is what I call starting the year off right. How about you?
There is a familiar hymn that we sing in church named "Count Your Blessings." The song ask us to count our blessings and to name them one by one, count your many blessings, see what God has done. Many times we think of blessings being of a material nature, but when I think of blessings, it is oftentimes for the intangible things that money cannot buy or replace. My blessings start with waking up in the morning and being able to get out of bed without assistance from anyone...just based upon the strength that God so graciously gives to me. I count it a blessings to have an unworried mind...a peaceful state of mind, a loving family and good friends. I count it a blessing to live in a country with the freedom to worship and praise God. Even in the toughest of economic times, I count it a blessing to see the gas prices going down and transportation becoming more affordable. I count it a blessing not to work in a hostile environment, but an environment where people are thankful and pray for others at times when they themselves are hurting. As twe approach the Christmas Season, I will continue giving thanks unto our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for all that He continues to bless us with. It is the intangile things that I value most in life and it is what helps me to enjoy the tangible things that God has provided, as well. Whenever I feel a little ungrateful, I have to remind my soul to "Bless the Lord." This is why I think it is important sometimes to sing the old hymn "Count Your Blessings, and Name them one by one..Count your many blessings..see what God has done".
Have you ever attended a Prayer Breakfast and it was more about the breakfast than prayer. I have to tell you that I recently attended a Prayer Breakfast that invigorated me to want to pray more often, and to not make my prayer session a time of complaining, but a time of being Thankful. I realize that there are times when we need to complain, especially when there are experiences of injustice and oppression, but then again, if we look around and count our blessings we would be a lot more thankful for what we have. At the prayer breakfast, the speaker John Mason told a story of a woman who had a positive heart and always looked for a way to be thankful. He described this woman who woke up one morning and had three hairs on her head. She looked at the three hairs and decided that since she had three of them…she would braid them and that made her day. The next day when she got up, and looked at herself in the mirror..she had 2 hairs, so she decided to give herself a part with one going each way, and this made her day. On the third day, she woke up and looked at herself in the mirror with only one strand of hair, she decided to make a pony tail, and this made her day. When she woke up the following day, and looked at herself in the mirror, she did not have any hair at all. She looked up and said “Thank you Lord” I no longer have to worry about what I am going to do with my hair. She had a thankful, a heart of gratitude for what she had rather than looking at what was missing. How about you..can you think of reasons to be thankful? I can. In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 4:18
