Hope and Gratitude

It will be a small celebration for us at Thanksgiving. The boys won't be home so it will be just Asherel and her stodgy old folks. Sorry Asherel! But Friday, we plan to go skiing. I am watching the weather and the snow in the mountains. If all goes well, we will have clear roads and snowy mountains. Still, I was feeling a little down that as our children grow up and out, our home gets emptier.

ON the plus side, since there will be no big family gathering or guests coming, I won't have to knock myself out cleaning the house. It will give me time to work on my next article. Yesterday, I interviewed an SC candidate for the Senate who hopes to unseat Lindsey Graham. I do not consider myself well versed in politics at all, but I do care deeply about my nation and have grave concerns about the plunge into moral , social, fiscal, and spiritual decay. (Other than that, I feel hopeful.) Anyway, I was told this candidate was different...might really have a vision that could turn things around. He has been very busy since declaring his candidacy so I didn't know if he would ever have time to sit down and chat with me.

Then yesterday, Bill Connor called and for 90 minutes we discussed everything from his philosophy of government, to his heroes, his vision for the country, his concerns and solutions, his diagnosis of the problems and his cures. I finished the interview thinking maybe there really is hope for America. Maybe all the good, brave, intelligent, articulate, Godly, and righteous people have not given up. 

I loved how he prefaced his desire to serve politically with the Biblical mandate for government. He quoted 1 Peter 2, how we are to be subject to the human institution of government, whose role is to punish evil and praise good. How refreshing it was to hear someone unabashedly see God's hand in the affairs of men and to have a world view fashioned after Biblical principles. He was quick to point out that he did not wish to form a theocracy -- he knew America was a Constitutional Republic. But the lens through which he viewed the world and his role in it was based on his relationship with and understanding of God.

I have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. I am grateful that while my children are not all here this week, they are happy and thriving. I am grateful that for a little while my beloved daughter is still home with us and we get to ski together, something she and I truly love. And now I have a new item to add to my list of Thanksgiving blessings -- God has raised up a fresh, eager warrior in the battle for our nation's soul. It blesses all of us when Godly people listen to their calling in the service of others.  Maybe there is hope.

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Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. (1 Peter 2:13-15 ESV)

Broken

 

Oh how wonderful! Just in time for Thanksgiving, my oven broke! Actually, not all of it broke. Just the top broiler coil seems to have given up the ghost, but I presume it is only a matter of time before the rest follows. The oven/stove/microwave unit is original to the house, so probably 30 years old. I imagine there have been some upgrades to kitchen appliances in the past three decades.

About ten years ago the microwave stopped working. We were very resourceful and have used it as a spice rack. It always surprises guests when they see us pull our spices out of the microwave. So while I don't relish the expense, I really am looking very forward to shopping for a new stove. It is way past time for one. Maybe a new stove will reinvigorate me towards amazing escapades as a cook extraordinaire. A new era is dawning. I can feel it! Maybe instead of just collecting recipes, I will actually use one. That would also be a first in thirty years.

So in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I am thankful my oven broke. Sometimes things need to break before we understand how badly the new is needed. I think that is what Jesus tells us. We really cannot understand how badly we need God, until we understand how badly broken we are without Him. And let me be clear, by broken, I mean full of sin. Unless we get that, we don't see the need for redemption. As long as we think we are ok, we are like a microwave that is full of spices. We will never accomplish our intended function and will be a poor substitute for what we were created to be. We will be an oven unable to function because half our coils are burnt out. It is good to admit we are broken. The new beginning, the new heart, the new spirit that indwells us is far superior to the old, ragged junk we were limping along with.

I really cannot wait for my new oven.

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Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. (Psalm 51:13-17 ESV)

Black Friday- a Study in Contrast

Black Friday is when people go shopping and get great deals and fill their cars with all the items on their Christmas list for half the cost they might otherwise have incurred. Black doesn't seem to match the mood.
Good Friday is when Jesus was crucified, tortured, taunted, and killed. Good doesn't seem to match the mood there either.

This year, Black Friday really was black, My nutty son and adventurous wife left at 9 pm to be sure to get a good parking space for the midnight opening of the stores. It was cold and dark, an inky black sky. They planned to shop all night. Ah, to be young! I went to bed before their car wheels hit the street. It is exhausting preparing an enormous multi-dish meal that you hope to all come out hot simultaneously. It also required college level math computations. I had to compute when my make-ahead casseroles (5 of them) had to come out of the freezer/oven, and go in to the oven either concurrent or directly after the turkey came out. They all had different thaw times and different cook times, which made the careful computation necessary if they were all to emerge at exactly the same time from the oven, just as the turkey was done being carved, and the family seated with just the right amount of famished. It is a juggling act that those who have never attempted have no idea about the complexity involved.

So on Black Friday eve, I was happily snoring while the mobs scoured the malls for items that would change their life. It is really a custom that somewhat puzzles me. Thanksgiving is all about contentment and gratitude. But Black Friday really feeds upon discontent, and insatiable desire to have more. I understand the drive to save money on Christmas gifts or necessities, particularly if money is tight, but still....there just strikes me something inherently off with the biggest shopping day of the season following the day when we all wallow in contentment. And now it doesn't even just follow the day of Thanks; it begins as early as 9:00 the same day. We of course know where this is headed. Black Friday will completely engulf Thankful Thursday, gobble it up entirely, and instead of the family gathering for a feast and prayers to our Almighty Creator, we will be standing in line at Walmart gathering for prayers to the Almighty Dollar.

This is not to say that I can't wait to see what Matt and Karissa snagged on their all night foray when they wake up, which won't be til the middle of the day, I imagine. I just wish Black Friday could occur a few days after Thanksgiving. It would have a less incongruous feel. Even Jesus waited three full days after Good Friday to demonstrate why it was so good.

Job 28:3
³ Mortals put an end to the darkness;
   they search out the farthest recesses
   for ore in the blackest darkness.

Matthew 27:
³⁹ Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads ⁴⁰ and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!”

Isaiah 53: 4-6
⁴ Surely he took up our pain
   and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
   stricken by him, and afflicted.
⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions,
   he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
   and by his wounds we are healed.
⁶ We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
   each of us has turned to our own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
   the iniquity of us all.

Thankful!

Thankful! My sister just found out her pancreatic cyst is fully drained on its own! Her pancreas is healthy and they do not expect any recurrence of the dangerous pancreatic attacks that had her in the hospital for almost a month off and on.
Thankful! My wonderful good friend Andi who has had a string of men unworthy of her just got engaged last night to one of the nicest people on earth.
Thankful! My son and new wife chose to spend Thanksgiving with us and took hours from studying law school finals to advise and design a new more professional cover for my book.
Thankful! I figured out all by myself how to pair my bluetooth keyboard with my replacement phone after nearly 5 hours of bashing my head against the wall.
Thankful! I am surrounded by God, husband, family, and friends who support and encourage and love me despite what a wretched person I can be.
Thankful! For the beauty of the sunset, the grandeur of creation, the affinity with all God's creatures (except of course snakes...but let's not get carried away)
Thankful! For a country where we are free to worship whomever we choose in any way we choose, educate our children at home if we so desire, live in peace and prosperity, and govern our own affairs with minimal intervention (for now...) .
Thankful for eyes that see, ears that hear, mouth that speaks, legs that walk, hands that reach out and can still grasp dreams or clasp in prayer.
Thankful for the atoning sacrifice of Jesus that saves me from the prison of my sin, and assures me that no matter how thankless my days ahead may feel, in the end, I will see God.
Happy Thanksgiving!

Isaiah 52:
⁹ Burst into songs of joy together,
   you ruins of Jerusalem,
for the LORD has comforted his people,
   he has redeemed Jerusalem.
¹⁰ The LORD will lay bare his holy arm
   in the sight of all the nations,
and all the ends of the earth will see
   the salvation of our God.

Leaves Abound

We have a pile 50 feet high and still the oak trees are only half bared. Since it is almost Thanksgiving, I will think of the leaves in a new light. We are blessed with leaves, abundantly and overflowing with the blessing of leaves. Our yard runneth over.

My bible verse this morning was about loving each other. This is not always easy, in fact I find it to be often quite hard. I want to love others, and I especially want them to love me. But others can be such irritating schmucks.

However, the prayer at the bottom of my study struck me. It said to view others as Christ sees them. And then added another little zinger about how we are forgiven and loved while we were yet sinners.  My love should overflow like the leaves in my yard. And my heart should be filled with forgiveness. And my eyes should be focused on the person that Christ knows he or she can be, not necessarily who he or she is at the moment. This is impossible, like raking all those leaves. And yet, it is what we are urged to do. Loving well, like raking, is a never ending task.

Isaiah 43:4 NIV

Since you are precious and honored in my sight,

and because I love you,

1 John 4:19 NIV

We love because he first loved us.

Romans 5:8 NIV

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

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