Viruses and Gratitude

You take it for granted. I know you don’t mean to. It’s natural.

When was the last time you jumped into the air with joy for being able to read?

When did you cry for happiness at the thought of three square meals a day?

How many times do you fall on your knees and praise God for the Internet?

Two days ago I was vomiting up my guts. I won’t get too graphic, but I was up half the night and my stomach felt like someone had ripped it out, chewed it up, and then stuffed it back in with a plunger. Today I feel amazing, completely normal.

Wait a minute.

How often do we hear those two words used together? Amazing + Normal.  

Original Photo: Tears, a photo by Έλενα Λαγαρία on Flickr.

We all forget. The monotonous cycle of life numbs us into accepting the status quo. We’re always getting used the present and looking toward the future. 

The only reason I’m so thankful for a quiet stomach is because it has been unquiet. The only reason I praise God for flexible muscles is because my body has been aching. The only reason I’m grateful for my strength is because I’ve been lying around on horizontal surfaces like a limp dishrag. 

And that brings me to today’s shocking revelation—

We cannot appreciate our blessings until we have suffered.

I don’t know the answer to the immortal problem of pain, but let me ask you this: the things you are especially grateful for right now, would you value them so highly if you had never been in danger of losing them?

We can glibly write out a couple dozen reasons to give thanks, but the anthems of gratitude that come spontaneous to our lips in the silence of the night, when there is no one but God to hear, those are the sacrifices of praise that must make God’s heart thrill.

Remember this in the good times. 

When everything is going right, when life has settled into a gentle rhythm,  remember that suffering paves the way to gratitude. Take this moment to thank the Lord for all those things you might have lost, all those things you might still lose. If you don’t give thanks for this second, you’ll never get another chance.

This recent battle with a  stomach virus has forced me to mull these things over. Maybe you’ve had a similar experience. What are you taking for granted? Do you have any suggestions for how we can be grateful for the things we think are “normal”? 

Praise Him In The Storms.

“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” I Thessalonians 5:18

Hello, Thanksgiving! I love this time of year...don’t you? Crisp and colorful leaves drifting down from the trees, blazing fires to accompany the cool breezes, but most of all, I love this time of year because It makes me realize how blessed I truly am. Living in the United States (which I assume most of you readers are), there is SO much to be thankful for. Many of us have homes (and probably warm, toasty ones at that), clothes on our backs, food to eat (including epic Pringles as Kyla said ;), and people who truly, truly love us. With so much of everything, it’s easy to be thankful. But in our heart, are we truly thankful? Or do we just hop on the thankfulness bandwagon because we feel as if we are almost entitled to a wonderful life?

I found this poem and I thought it illustrated very well why we should choose thankfulness at all times. Even though it doesn’t rhyme (which I’m convinced all poems should), I think you’ll enjoy it.

“Be thankful that you don’t already have everything you desire,
If you did, what would there be to look forward to?

Be thankful when you don’t know something
For it gives you the opportunity to learn.

Be thankful for the difficult times.
During those times you grow.

Be thankful for your limitations
Because they give you opportunities for improvement.

Be thankful for each new challenge
Because it will build your strength and character.

Be thankful for your mistakes
They will teach you valuable lessons.

Be thankful when you’re tired and weary
Because it means you’ve made a difference.

It is easy to be thankful for the good things.
A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who are
also thankful for the setbacks.

GRATITUDE can turn a negative into a positive.
Find a way to be thankful for your troubles
and they can become your blessings.”

 -Author Unknown

Someone who has a truly thankful heart praises God at all times. Thankfulness should come as an overflow of praise to our glorious God, who owes NOTHING to us. This means even in the storms. So, when your life is less than okay, praise Him. When your loved one is hauled off to jail, give thanks. When your darkest hour closes in, glorify His name. As measly sinners, we don’t deserve anything. Let’s praise God in all situations. 

That’s what it means to be truly thankful.

thirty reasons for me to be thankful

a God who is way more awesome than I fully realize

a family that loves me far more than I deserve

a warm home

good food

beautiful friends

wonderful talent—or, at least, talent that occasionally errs on the side of beauty

Pringles (no, seriously, they’re epic)

good music that makes me want to dance and cry and laugh and love

beautiful books

being able to get my favorite movie trilogy for forty dollars when it’s supposed to be one hundred (Lord of the Rings, if you’re interested)

good people who are willing to put up with me even when I annoy them

a love beyond all measure and reckoning, that sent the God of the universe to a cross for me

a country where I don’t have to worry about being thrown into jail—at least, not for what my religious beliefs are

pens that fit perfectly into my hand, because they’re hard to find

inspiration

a workplace that doesn’t mind me taking off for months at a time to travel

the ability to learn

baby giggles

stories from old people

beautiful landscapes

motivation

the twenty-first century

being able to climb out of my bed in the morning

occasionally being able to stay in my bed in the morning

generous people

other fans of things I love, that make me feel just a bit more sane than I am

hope

the blood that covers it all

friends on the other side of the world 

all the little things

O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endures forever.

- Psalm 107:1

~ Smile ~ What has God blessed us with?

As we enter this week and look ahead to Thanksgiving, I smile at what the Lord has been doing in my life and my family's life.

This past weekend has been a busy one for our family.  My dad, sister and I traveled down to NYC for a few days to help with a church and the food pantry that they run.  Wow!  What an eye opener!  Yes, we have all heard that story of how someone went somewhere, where the people were in serious need and there eyes were opened to how blessed they were.  But somehow, when it happens to you, it still hits you hard, right between the eyes.

How many times have I had to worry about where my next meal was coming from? Never.  How many times have I wondered if I would be warm enough when the snow comes? Never.  How many times have I wondered if there would be enough food left after looking at the 100 people in front of me in line at the food pantry? Never.  How many times have I gone looking through bags of donated clothes set out on a table hoping for a jacket for someone special? Never. How many times have I wished I could bake Christmas cookies with family members, but known that it would all depend on if a certain store donated the ingredients needed to make cookies? Never. How many times have I waited in line for hours in the cold to receive that days groceries? Never.  How many times have I thought about God, but not known how to get to know Him? Never.  How many times have I searched for peace, love, and joy, but not found it because I had never been taught where to find the Source of love, joy and peace? NEVER.  When have I ever had a hurricane come through and ruin ALL my posessions? Never. When have I ever had to wonder if the water I was drinking was actually hurting my body, more then helping it? Never.

God has given us so much and yet so often I fall short in my gratefulness.  As I look back on the weekend and think of the people that I met and talked with, I can think of so many other things I am thankful for.

A family that loves me! A genuine relationship with my Heavenly Father! The Gift of Salvation!
A whole copy of the Bible that is accurate!  The Fellowship of other Christians!  A wonderful Pastor and his family!  Clean, healthy food!  The opportunity I had to be homeschooled!  The ability to see, hear, touch, smell and taste!  That I was taught to read, write and study!  Ok, lets get closer to home here at the blog.....Computers, websites, blogs, meeting kindred spirits online, email, the internet, photographs, etc.

God is so good! This past fall my sister and volunteered at a Christian Camp in our neck of the woods and we made some wonderful friends or built even better relationships then we had already had.  One of my favorite memories from this fall was on the last night we got together (there are several people who work the camp, but six of us specifically had gotten close.)  We were sitting around a campfire late at night talking, roasting marshmallows, heating up chocolate and making s'mores and just talking.  How many people are able to do something like that....sure I can think of a lot who can, but there are even more who can't.  I think of the people who live in cities. They don't have the opportunity to build a warm fire, see the beautiful sparks, smell that wood smoke, roast those marshmallows and make s'mores.  Many of them don't have likeminded, Christian friends who encourage and uplift them.

I could go on and on....as I think most of us could.  What are you thankful for?  It would be so cool to have each person who reads this post to leave a comment and write down and LEAST ONE thing they are thankful for.  Your comments are always a blessing for us the authors but also to the rest of the reader as well :) - Another thing to be thankful for :} 

Of Pilgrims and Separatists

Since we’re nearing Thanksgiving, it seemed appropriate to talk about the Pilgrims' idea of holiness. Should we follow their example, or did they get it wrong?

Though we know the early settlers of Plymouth Colony as “Pilgrims,” they probably referred to themselves as Dissenters or Separatists. They saw the Church of England as corrupt and distanced themselves from it—quite literally—by holding their own services, and eventually emigrating to Holland. They feared corruption by the people they were living among, and at last settled in one of the emptiest places possible, the New World.

I’m sure you’re familiar with the idea that “here we are but straying pilgrims,” and this world is not our home. I think many Christians can identify with the Separatists’ frustration with the modern church, and we long to somehow set ourselves apart from the rest and declare that at least we have it right.

If holiness means to be “different” or “separate,” then how does that relate to being “in the world, but not of it”? Jesus told His disciples, “If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you” (John 15:19), but he also prayed to the Father, “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one” (John 17:15). Sounds a bit paradoxical, doesn't it?

What it comes down to is this: are we called to look differently, act differently, talk differently, sing differently, cook differently, read differently, and write differently than the world? I believe so. The Jesus-life in us should permeate every thread of our being and make us altogether separate. But does that mean that we should get together with our Christian homeschool friends, build a boat, and sail off to an uncharted wilderness?

I don’t think so.

164/365 After the Storm (+1), a photo by martinak15 on Flickr.

“For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.” There is no place on earth so empty that can be perfectly holy as God is holy (remember what happened with the Pilgrims and Native Americans in the years after that friendly Thanksgiving dinner?). We'll always have ourselves to contend with, and much of the time we actually don't "have it right." 

However, there’s another part to that verse, “And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:15). We may not be perfectly holy here on earth, we are still in the world, but we have the promise that all the filth around us will be purged away, and God’s holy ones left standing in the brilliance of His grace.

Remember: God didn't put us here to be hermits! He called us to go “into all the world” (Mark 16:15). 

Do you think that the Pilgrims were "in this world but not of it"? How are you going to heed that call today?