A Thankful Heart

This has been a wonderful day. We started our day with homemade biscuits just like my mom used to make, then cleaned up the house with my husband directing our small army to keep working. Next threw up our Thanksgiving decoration around the house ( ok almost missed it, but better late than never!) and then worked together to make our Thanksgiving meal. After that, we worked on our Thankful Tree, a paper tree that we tape to the wall and cover with colored construction paper leaves. Before we stick the the leaves on the tree, we write things that we are thankful for on them, as an exercise in reviewing God's blessings to us this year. It was a very restful day to just be together and enjoy each other's company.

As I sat around the table at dinner with the nine people that are my greatest gifts in this life, I was reminded again that the Lord has been so kind and gracious to our family. I want to always acknowledge that "every good and perfect gift comes from above!" Every blessing is straight from His hand. He has filled our lives with indescribable riches.

While all those gifts are so wonderful, Christ Himself is truly my greatest treasure. What would husband and children and friends and material possessions be without the Lord Jesus. As Stephen Curtis Chapman said so well in one of his older songs, "Jesus is LIFE...the air I'm breathing, why my heart is beating, everything I'm needing...Jesus is life!"

Pondering Jesus gives me a very thankful heart, indeed!

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Thankful for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Day is one of my most favorite holidays. It's not just the yummy food, (though the scale may tell a different story in a couple of weeks!), but I am glad that we still have a day set aside in our country that originally was to be a day of prayer and thanksgiving to God. And while the commercialization of every holiday is a reality in our country, Christians can get past that and enjoy a day of remembering God's great blessings. Certainly we want to do that every day!

With that said, one thing in particular that I'm thankful for today is the comfort that Christ brings to the heart of the Christian. It really is true that this life is full of trouble. Over the last year many friends my age suffered devastating physical trials. Cancer and strokes and accidents strike when no one expects them. Then there are the overwhelming financial burdens that have come to families because of our ailing economy. Last spring there were 6 families in our Bible study that were facing a loss of employment. Various other trials, big and little, happen daily that overtake us and leave us feeling as if someone has just punched us in the stomach. Pain and anxiety are real, and we cannot escape them in this life.

But those who have put their trust in the Lord Jesus have a refuge from the troubles of this world. He says to all, "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." (Matthew 11:28,29) Circumstances often remain difficult, yet in the midst of it the Christian can cast all his care on the Lord and experience peace, comfort, and rest. No one else can set a troubled heart at ease. I have experienced this personally, and I am so thankful that the Lord cares for us in this way. He sits as the Sovereign of the universe, and He alone has the power to change our circumstances. At the same time, He is wise, and if He chooses to let our trial continue on, then we can trust that in His lovingkindness and wisdom, He is accomplishing His purposes in our lives by the best means possible. He can fill our hearts with hope, and help us to carry on, even rejoicing in Him. How kind and gracious is the Lord!

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Heavy On My Heart

When I compare the trials that I have personally experienced in my lifetime with the grave difficulties that I have watched many friends endure, I realize that I have not really been tested in the area of suffering. Nevertheless, when a trial overtakes someone that is precious to me, the pain of watching them suffer hangs heavy over my heart as well.

For the last week I have had a very heavy heart for a dear friend and her family. On October 30, my friend Connie suddenly and unexpectedly suffered a severe seizure that lasted for 30 minutes. She was rushed to the ER that night, and a week later she lies in a hospital bed unable to speak or move. She is a wife and mother (to six children all still at home, ages 18 months to 18), and to all who know her, she is a light for Jesus Christ. Connie was one of my dearest friends in the church where my husband pastored for many years, and I have many memories of her encouraging words to me, her loving example, and her sacrificial service to whomever God brought across her path. In fact, the last time I saw her was when our family stayed in her home for three days.

Connie's doctors up to this point have said that her condition is the result of nerve damage at the base of the brain and that it is untreatable and irreversible. However, she was moved last night to a different hospital, and her new doctor is pursuing other meds and tests in an effort to come up with answers.

There are so many people who love Connie and are praying for a miracle for her, her husband Jeff, and their six children. I share all of this with you to ask you to pray along with us. We serve a great God who made our bodies, and has the power to heal and sustain life. Yesterday, as I was struggling with the gravity of what has happened to these friends of ours, my daughter came into the kitchen and handed me a post-it note with a Bible reference on it. We had been praying throughout the week, and she was encouraged by a verse she found. It was Job 42:2 which says, "I know that You can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted." That is our God! He can do immeasurably beyond all that we ask or think, all to the praise of His glorious grace. Please pray for Connie!

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