Category: Giving Thanks (page 1 of 1)

November 3, 2020 / 0 Comments

Tis’ The Season…for Giving, and for Thanks

Seasons are familiar to all who live on this amazing earth. Because it was set to spin while tilted at the angle of 22.5 degrees, we receive the benefit of weather variation throughout the year. Is the weather too hot where you live? Just wait a few days or weeks and it will cool down. Are you tired of shoveling snow? You can trust in the fact that Spring is on its way, replacing your ice and snow with a variety of flowers and comfortable temperatures.

In addition to seasonal weather changes, experience in life teaches us all about the surety of going through various seasons in our lives as we walk through our individual paths on this beautiful, life-sustaining planet as it orbits around the sun at 67,000 mph. In one year, our earth travels 584 million miles around the sun! I mention these mind-boggling stats to remind us of the precision of our divinely-guided location in the universe.

We should be encouraged as we experience a period of time when the dark shadows of our heart seem to be lingering longer than we can endure our lack of warmth and vision. By being reminded of our planets’ changing seasons, we find encouragement to stay strong in the knowledge that ‘this too shall pass’.

As we enter into November, we come upon a season within a season. We have set aside some time for celebration during the darkest days of winter to recognize the bounty of our year and the birth of a redeeming Ambassador from another realm. Lights are lit and songs are sung during our seasonal darkness. We plan times with our families and friends to be reminded of that which is most important to our hearts. The holiday season is an oasis, a break from the normal dealings of everyday life during the reduced warmth of the sun.

As we all take time during this season to offer up our collective giving of thanks for the gift of life and the bounty provided to sustain our lives, may we commit to a daily effort to offer thanks for His goodness and His precision in ordering our seasons…

September 27, 2020 / 0 Comments

Beyond The Realm Of Time

Time…an amazing and mysterious instrument that forms the parameters of our walk on earth. We measure it, even down to the smallest portion of a second with an atomic clock. I can purchase an ocean tides book and look up when it will be a low tide in my area for the purpose of going clamming in a few months. If I care to, I can even look up the time of low tide years in advance.

Recently, we were alerted to the event of a meteor shower in the Northwest. Meteorologists knew it was coming years in advance. Yes, they were able to calculate the date because of the accuracy of our solar system which runs even better than a Swiss watch which, by the way, relies on the accuracy of our solar system to set the watch in the first place!

Our lives are governed by time. You have heard the expression, “Time flies when you’re having fun.” Do you know when it doesn’t fly? When you have a severe tooth ache and you are waiting for the dentist to see you. Right? Or if you have insomnia the night before a big meeting, time seems to move like a sloth just waking up; So…very…slow…It all has to do with our awareness of time during those moments. It seems the older you get, the more you think about time and the knowledge that you are daily moving forward toward the sunset of your time on this wondrous planet, the only home you have ever known. Most folks try to avoid thinking about their end of time. They stay busy and find distractions before fear can grip their heart.

I read the one-page letter that Steve Jobs left behind when he knew he was close to the end of his life. It was his effort to encourage his family, friends and company employees to make the most of every day. He said he would exchange all of his money for just a little bit more time. No one knows when our life clock will chime, but we know that it will.

Now we come to the most important discussion of time…it will one day end as far as the life we know and enjoy on this planet. No more clocks, no more schedules to keep, no more wondering what day of the week it is. Beyond this realm of time is the realm of forever. You say you don’t believe that? Then why do you sometimes use the term, forever, in certain situations? Would you like a few examples? How about, “Oh, we have known each other, like forever.” “How long has this been hurting you? Well, it seems like forever.” “Sweet lady, I am going to love you forever.” “We have been sitting here waiting for you forever!”

In the book of Ecclesiastes, 3:11, it reads, “He has planted eternity into man’s heart and mind…” We were originally designed and built to live forever in fellowship with God. But then, the seed of sin entered and has infected every single one of us. Just as human traits are passed on to our children, even so, the traits of sinful behavior are also handed down with the consistent result being death to our bodies. And yet, our minds and hearts still ponder and crave eternity. “Who now will release and deliver me from the shackles of this body of death?” Romans 7: 24. I thank God that through Jesus Christ, my heart and soul can now live forever! We can rejoice and give thanks that time is not the end of our lives. We can now look forward to life beyond the realm of time.

July 28, 2020 / 0 Comments

I Do Not Know How He Does It

Do you consider yourself a patient person? Do you get comments on how well you handle a situation in such a patient manner? I am maybe just marginally better than average at this point in my life. I used to have virtually no patience when it came to dealing with people, especially the ones I thought of as being quite close to moronic.

Patience is listed as one of the character qualities that He seeks to build in our hearts during our time on earth. I raised four kids and dealt with lots of childish behavior and learned that children basically have no patience … zero. And that is part of what we as parents try to teach our kids while also dealing with our own lack of patience! Now, four kids are plenty to deal with, but He has millions! Just thinking about that fact gave me shivers. How does He do it?

One night I happened to catch a clip of the news showing violent rioting by a mob of people whose sole intent was to destroy property of innocent people. I was so angry with them that I had to turn it off. I have no patience with that kind of behavior. I walked outside under the stars and it struck me that God has no off button. He says He sees and hears everything! I watched 15 minutes of awful behavior and had to shut it down.

Which leads me to ask you a question: If you were forced to watch the horrendous acts of Man committed in the darkness against the innocents in a video loop, how long could you watch it? Could you watch it again the next night, and the next? My guess is, no, you would not. He does, moment by moment, every hour, every day. How does He not say, “Enough! Project is now ended! The darkness of Man is now beyond My capacity to endure another moment” Why does He not say that?

Actually, there was a moment in time when God almost ended us. Did you know that? The story is told in Genesis 6:5-8.

“The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every imagination and intention of all human thinking was only evil. And the Lord regretted that He had made man on the earth and He was grieved in His heart. So the Lord said, ‘I will destroy and wipe away mankind whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and all creatures, for it grieves Me that I have made them.’ But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.”

Because of one righteous man, God spared the rest of mankind and gave them a chance to repent while Noah built his boat. God’s love for one family kept Him from blowing away His project of building His own family. His patience was tested, but love kept you and I from being non-existent. Do you now like Noah?

I give thanks to God for the righteous men and women who live in our present time, people who love God and find favor in His eyes. It appears that is the only reason for God to continue to be patient in the midst of the darkness He is forced to observe every moment of every day. I am so very thankful to Him for His mysterious love. I may not always be patient, but now I know why He is …

November 10, 2019 / 0 Comments

So Many Things Had To Go Right

As we approach the holiday season, we have many things to think about. I need to make sure I have the necessary time off for the trip to get back home. I must start thinking about gifts for my loved ones, which is a real challenge for me. For the Thanksgiving meal, what should I be bringing? Who should I be taking with me? Do I have the proper clothes to wear? And the list goes on.

But, before all of that, let’s take the time to think about something even more worthy of our pondering. Let’s think about the fact that I am still here to be able to enjoy the holiday season again. There are thousands of people that shared in the celebrations last year that will not be gathering with loved ones this year because they are no longer with us on this amazing planet. Where are they? Only God knows. For all of us to be here this year and thinking about the coming holiday season, so many things had to go right. Now, what do I mean by that? Well, let me give you a few examples.

Thousands of drivers had to pay attention and stop at the red lights so that I could go through my intersection without harm. The airline planes had to perform flawlessly, as well as the pilots. The immune system in our bodies had to combat all of the harmful germs that tried to take us down. No person with evil intent approached me on that dark night in the parking lot. My car brakes worked properly when that deer jumped out in front of me. And the list goes on.

It is such an enormous gift for you and I to be alive this year and to be able to plan to see people that we love and care about. We had no written guarantee that we would be here today. As Jesus was telling the story of the rich man making plans for his wealth and the coming season, He said, “This night, thy soul shall be required of thee.” Change of plans.

All of life is a gift; every breath and every heartbeat keeps us functioning in a manner we have come to take for granted. The life wind within us is a gift from the One who called all things into being, and must one day be returned. My mother and father are no longer able to gather with us at the table. They are missed tremendously. They leave a hole in our lives as we celebrate the holidays. And one day, I will leave a hole in the lives of my loved ones.

So, as we ponder the coming gatherings, let us come with a heart of thanksgiving for the fact that I am still here to fill my place in the lives of these wonderful people. The potential stress moments will flee your heart as you give thanks for the supreme gift of just being here…

November 10, 2019 / 0 Comments

The Magical Power Of Giving Thanks

In The Thanksgiving Handbook I discuss what I call “the magical life-changing power” of giving thanks. Now, I hesitated to use the word ‘magic’ because it is over-used and misunderstood by most folks. But, the word does mean something to every person. For me, it means seeing something that I find hard to put into words. We have all had experiences that are hard to convey in words to another person. But if you say to them, “It was a magical moment”, they will most likely understand.

I remember the first time I saw a Humpback whale leap out of the water in front of my skiff and come crashing down so close, that the spray got my face wet. Magical moment. When the Americans beat the Russians in hockey in the 1980 Olympics, that was a magical moment and hard to explain to someone who did not see it. I once held a hummingbird feeder in my hand and had a dozen hummingbirds buzzing my face and landing on my hands at the same time. Trust me, it was a magical moment.

I remember one time when I was up early and fixing myself breakfast in the kitchen. The house was quiet while everyone slept. Then, just as I finished scrambling some eggs, I heard a shuffling sound behind me. I turned and here was my 18 month old daughter, Corrie, crawling up behind me with a big smile. She had followed the sound and the smells to find me. I picked her up and we both sat down for some breakfast together. She was quiet as we ate, but it seemed to me that she thought it was special to be having breakfast alone with dad, just as I did. And yes, it was a magical moment for me.

Now, when I tell people that Thanksgiving can have magical moments, they usually respond with a look of “Huh? Oh, you mean like a close finish to the football game?” No, I mean during our time of recalling together our past year that was peppered with personal moments of receiving a special gift of blessing. But unless you make room in your Day for sharing together, you will miss out on hearing about those moments. And that, again, is why we keep our “Thankful Moments Journals”. They assist us in recalling those blessings.

In His Word, God shares the fact that there is power in His words and in our obedience to His words. At one spot, he says that His Word is “An anchor for the soul, both sure and steadfast.” Now, His words mean nothing, they hold no power, unless we, by faith, act upon them. Think of it like this: you can stand at the plate with a bat in your hands, but if you never swing it, you will not know the power of the bat. Even so, we must swing the bat in obedience to His promises. And one of those promises is that acting on His words can anchor our soul during a time of emotional storm.

All of us experience stormy days, either at work or at home. We have days filled with disappointments, sickness, mean words, betrayals, and depression. Some folks have such a stormy day that they choose to sink their ship by taking their own life. What if they could have just gotten through that day. Would they maybe have gone on to live a full and rewarding life? Maybe if they could have just anchored their heart during a storm, they would have come through the moment as a stronger person. And how do I anchor myself? By responding to His Word with action.

When He says, “In everything, give thanks”, he means in every situation, during every storm and every magical moment. So, let’s create a stormy moment. A loved one is desperately ill, and may lose their life. You are at the hospital and you are torn up emotionally; so much so that you cannot focus on any one thing. Your mind and heart are “tossed, to and fro”. The storm has hit and you are without an anchor. What should you do? Who can assist you? God can, but how? By you doing what he asks you to do: be thankful for the moment. Excuse Me! Be thankful? Yes, be thankful. Send off a prayer of thanks that this person who means so much to you is still with you and has blessed your life. Be thankful you are alive and have known them and are now available to ask for their healing. Be thankful for how this storm has revealed how deeply you love them. And express your thanks that God has His eye on them at this exact moment, just like He does with every sparrow that flies His sky and sometimes falls to the ground.

He promises that if you will express your thanks for the moment, He will anchor your soul in the midst of the storm. And storms always pass, usually followed by bright sunshine and calm. Trust me when I say that this can become a magical moment for you, one that you will want to record and save for your time of sharing with your friends on Thanksgiving…

November 10, 2019 / 0 Comments

Thanksgiving Traditions For Children

Can you remember the first time you told someone ‘Thank You’? No, of course you can’t. Just like you can’t remember your first smile or your first steps when learning to walk. And why did you go to the trouble of learning to walk? Because it was in your nature to do so. You did not want to settle for crawling. Your instincts urged you to stand up. Even so, our instincts tell us we should be thankful for all things.

When we learned how to walk, more than likely we had assistance; someone took our hands and urged us on with encouragement to walk upright. We did not fight it because we had the desire within us to walk.

Likewise, teaching a child to say ‘Thank you’ is simply assisting them to obey their God-given instinct and nature. As children, we need to be encouraged as to how to say it and when. Then, like learning to ride a bicycle, we are going forward on our own. It feels right and it feels good to give thanks, to show gratitude.

In The Thanksgiving Handbook, I encourage folks to keep a journal of the moments throughout the past year that induced feelings of thankfulness in our hearts. It could be an unexpected promotion, or a clean bill of health at the doctor’s office, a close call on the freeway, or as simple as seeing a meteor shower while out camping. These are moments to remember and to share as we gather on our holiday, our Feast Day.

Likewise, children can be taught to write down moments that caused their hearts to feel gratitude for something. Maybe they were given a new puppy, or a new bicycle, or they saw a rainbow for the first time. As parents, we can teach them to write these things down in their own personal journal. When they ask why they should, share with them how it is good to recall the good things from the past, especially when some unpleasant things come into our life. Remembering the good helps to balance our perspective of life. You can then tell them that when Thanksgiving comes, they get to pick three or four things to write down and bring to the gathering so they can share their stories with others.

By including your children in this manner, you are helping them to build an internal memory bank of the good gifts and moments that come into their lives. They will tend to grow up with a sense of gratefulness in their lives which will tend to build a positive attitude of expectancy for each day as they grow into adults.

I have witnessed such children being the ones to remind adults during tough times to remember the past and to be grateful for what they presently have. It becomes a life habit for them and can positively impact those who end up working or living with them down the road as adults.

So, consider starting a Thankful Moments Journal with your child. The rich dividends it might reap could astound you as you watch them grow into positive living adults.