Thankful 6...

I am thankful for rest.

Rest for a tired body.
Rest for a weary mind.
Rest for a concerned heart.
Rest for an unsettled situation.
Rest for an uncertain future.
Rest for a yearning spirit.


Rest isn't just about sitting on the couch or snoozing in the bed.  I've often done both, only to get up exhausted.

The only true rest is found in the comfort and safety of the sheep pen, under the care of The Good Shepherd....  "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."(Mt. 11:28)

"There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his name." (Rev. 14:11)

 





"Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him.   He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.   My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge. Trust in Him at all times, O people.  Pour out your hearts to Him, for God is our refuge.(Ps. 62:5-8)

Thankful 5...

Today I am thankful for emotion. Even though sometimes emotions hurt...

Ridicule hurts, but I want hearts to stay tender enough to feel the pain.

Love is sometimes so intense it hurts. Especially when those we love are sad, or hurting, or when we are separated. But I want hearts to have an increasing capacity to love.



Emotions are sometimes hard to distinguish from one another. Fear often looks and sounds like anger. Sadness can easily be mistaken for disinterest or disdain.

I purpose to identify and embrace each emotion. It is difficult...

Thankful 4...

I am thankful for make-up.

As I applied my cosmetics this morning, I thought about how different I look with it than I do without it.  I think I look better with....   I think most everyone would agree that I do.

 I battle vanity, and I don't think I'm extremely vain, but I would rather you see me with it than without it.

As I applied cosmetics this morning, my mind turned to how God sees me.

I am thankful today for what He has made available to me to make me look perfect in His Eyes.

The blood of Christ Jesus covers my every flaw.

Hallelujah.

Thankful 3...

I am thankful for correction.

I remember learning to type...way back then.  We had correction tape.  It was a lifesaver.

I keep a bottle of White-Out in my desk drawer.  It comes in handy.  Often.

We are learning to depend on spellcheck. And as we do, we become less cautious and aware of mistakes.

I had my bite corrected in order to be rid of headaches.  My teeth were not lined up correctly, and it caused pain.
Surgeries are performed regularly to correct problems.
I wear glasses to correct vision problems.

The list is endless.

Corrections are often not pleasant but are necessary and beneficial. But corrections are not really corrections if they aren't done with an ideal standard.

Spelling has a standard.  We have dictionaries.
Vision has a standard.     We want 20/20 vision.
Our bodies have a standard. We want them maintained in the original design.

We are wise to be easily corrected.  Behavior. Attitudes. Actions.  There IS a correct way to live, and even though we  choose to deny or refuse it,  it is the standard.  We will all be measured by it eventually.

"This is the nation that has not obeyed the Lord its God, or responded to correction. Truth has perished, it has vanished from their lips." (Jer. 7:28)

"He who heeds discipline shows the way to life, whoever ignores correction leads others astray."
(Prov. 10:17)

"He who ignores discipline comes to poverty and shame. Whoever heeds correction is honored."
(Prov. 13:18)




"Bless is the man You discipline, O Lord, the man You teach from Your law." (Ps. 94:12)


I purpose to hear and heed the first Word of correction.... to be easily corrected. I do not want to be re-taught, yet when I do not learn easily, I purpose to be thankful that He does not give up or allow me to slip further away from Him.

Thankful 2...

I am thankful for reasoning.

I think about the line from Forest Gump, "I am not a smart man..."  

I'm not the smartest or most educated person you know, but I can reason.  I can think about things and make sense of some things.  Certainly on some levels anyway.

Understanding the concept behind a matter makes a lot of difference.  Knowing the 'why' of doing something instead of just the 'how'.  In teaching hair cutting or hair coloring, I emphasized the laws of color and the principles of shape.

It does limited good to learn ONE haircut.  When you learn the principles behind the steps of that one design, when you learn why those steps have that particular end result....then you can use the principles in endless ways.

I think of dozens of examples...and I am reminded of one example that changed history.

Adam and Eve.

While I am thankful for my ability to think and reason, today I purpose to use that reasoning only within the parameters of God's design and His will.

When God says 'do' or 'do not', He says it because His reasoning is perfect.  I need not understand it or even try to reason it out for myself.  It is always always always in my best interest to simply obey and follow His reasoning and rest my own in the matter.

There are ample opportunities to exercise mine.....

Thankful 1.....

It is again the season of Thanksgiving.  And I again issue a challenge.....

Make it your purpose to develop the habit of thankfulness.

I have heard that it takes ten days to develop a habit.  That means we can develop a habit of thankfulness between today and turkey day !

What is it you are thankful for today?

I challenge you to look beyond those broad responses like health and freedom.  Even though we should all indeed be thankful for those things.  My challenge is to be more specific....





Today, I am thankful for words.


I am thankful to be able to use these things we call 'words' to communicate by voice, by sign language, written on paper, transferred thru technological machines across the entire globe....

Words are powerful.

They are a gift of God that empower and connect us.

They build up, but can also tear down.
They encourage, but can also defeat.
They communicate love, but can communicate hate.

I am thankful for words, and I purpose today to use them in positive ways.

Sand...

When our boys were little, we hauled sand almost every year.  They loved to play in it, build roads, pile it into mountains, and dig lakes.  They were always frustrated because their lakes wouldn't hold water...

I've spent a lot of time on lake shores, but I had never spent much time on a beach before last summer.  We visited our son's family and made a day trip to the New Jersey shore. Miles before we arrived, I began to see sand.  The trees began to get smaller and scrubbier.

Standing on the edge of that massive body of water, my bare feet could almost feel the current of water pushing thru the sand.

Today, I am back visiting New Jersey.  But this time there will be no visit to the beach.  Instead, I am drawn to the news programs as they show the devastation of the recent monster storm, Hurricane Sandy.  The houses built on the sandy beaches have been washed away, their foundations of sand unable to withstand the power of the wind driven water.

I am reminded of the song we sang in Vacation Bible School when I was a child.

"The foolish man built his house upon the sand.....the rains came down...the house came crashing down...."

I don't mean to call those folks foolish. I don't presume to judge or criticize.  I would love living in one of those beach houses.  It is a beautiful place, a beautiful environment....but it is vulnerable.


Water pushes thru sand and sand moves with it.  It just does.
Sand washes away..  It just does.

My heart breaks for the devastation on those sandy beaches from hurricane Sandy.

 I purpose today to not build my life on what can be pushed and washed, or blown away by circumstances on this planet.  I purpose for my life to be lived on The Rock of ages....

"For in the day of trouble, He will keep me safe in HIS dwelling, He will hide me in the shelter of HIS tabernacle, and set me high upon a rock."
( Psalm 27:5 )

And I thank Him again this morning for the safety we have enjoyed during hurricane Sandy, so close to those beautiful sandy beaches here in Tabernacle, New Jersey with our son and his family.

And I pray for all those who suffer and grieve as I sit here untouched.... God help them.