Always Good

Its the night before the night before Thanksgiving and its time to write down a few pieces of thankfulness.

Thankful for the sweet mercy of God. I was thinking the other night how God's goodness was so evident in my life. And than I remembered all the ways that day I had gone against God that day, but still God was good to me.

There I was there I was so undeserving yet so cherished by the grace of God

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

 Thankful for friendship. The past friendships that I don't presently interact with on daily basis, but still those friends are woven into my life. 

Thankful for the little church in the country I grew up in. Its been some long months of church searching for me and I miss those hard wooden pews. I'm thankful God has blessed our church with a fine pastor. 

Thankful for coffee. Thankful for the people I drink coffee with and thankful for good coffee that tastes wonderful  black.

Thankful fore e-mails and little pieces of news. 

Thankful for cold weather and hats that keep my head from freezing.

Thankful for reasons to be thankful.

Thankful this season of faithfulness will  never end, because God will always be good.

of talents and clay

There is something that you probably don't want to find out about me by experiential knowledge.

I can't sing.

Oh I can hold a tune just fine when I sing in choir and in small groups, but there is a reason I don't sing solos in church.

Not that I don't want make a joyful noise to the Lord, but everyone should else view my noise as joyful not as a trial to joyfully endure.

I love music though. I turn it on first thing in the morning to set the mood for the day. When I clean house I listen to one type of music. When I want to relax I listen to another genre and Sunday morning has its own special blend I listen too as I prepare for cooperate worship.

In the days of my youth I loved being in musicals and I lived for singing in choirs, but I quietly watched my friends around me do great things with their musical talents that I did not have.

I know many who use their gift of music to serve others. People are blessed and encouraged when my friends sing.

God gave them a gift, but its not my gift.

One year I was excused from choir, because my voice just wasn't up to par and those around me couldn't support me enough. Not going with the choir on tour was a bitter disappointment.

Interestingly though while the choir toured the country I spent those weeks caring for my cousins.

My beautiful cousins who I have the privilege of being their hands, feet, and voice. I push their wheelchairs around the block and they hang with me in the kitchen and giggle at the enormous messes I make.

And when I'm with them I have the time of my life.

And so that summer while the choir enjoyed using their musical talents for the glory of God I also enjoyed using my gifts to serve others.

I'm not less of a person for not having the gifts everyone else has.

When I sing with others their beautiful harmony, covers up the fact I don't always know the right pitch. Together we intertwine our gifts and together we glorify God.

God has molded all of us out of the same clay, but we all molded for a different purpose. Each of our purposes is beautiful. Maybe we painfully lack a skill, but someone else has the skill we need. And the Potter takes those skills and puts them together to make something wonderful.

In reality we are all broken pieces. Individual slivers of talents that do great things, but profit little when never used together in the body of Christ.

God has given us all something we are good at, but comparison of talents can be the wall that hinders us from using that gift.

 Sometimes God asks us to do things were not good at, but we shouldn't shrink in horror because God is going to stretch us and make us do things we never thought possible.

And all we need to is just be still and let God do the work. He never botches a job.

Words inspired after listening to a presentation on how a potter molds clay into various shapes for his purpose and the comparison of God molding our lives like clay.

Friday Thoughts

What I'm thinking about today...

How lovely it is to drink tea on cloudy days and how wonderful hats can be.

This week marks the anniversary I technically stopped being a farm girl, but when a girl bred in the country your not ever going to take it out of her. 

How absolutely thrilled I am that Thanksgiving is getting closer by the hour. Perhaps to you Thanksgiving means food and it does to me too, but it also means beautiful family time. The last time I was home for Thanksgiving was 3 years ago. Does that explain why I'm beside myself with excitement?

Thinking about how much there is to be thankful for. All of the little things and all of the big things.

And thankful for this song. The one you need to hear when life is getting crazy. When all that is in your sight is the things that torment you and not the things that cause you to rejoice.

"Everlasting God"

Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord
We will wait upon the Lord
We will wait upon the Lord

Our God, You reign forever
Our hope, our Strong Deliverer
You are the everlasting God
The everlasting God
You do not faint
You won't grow weary

Our God, You reign forever
Our hope, our Strong Deliverer
You are the everlasting God
The everlasting God
You do not faint
You won't grow weary

You're the defender of the weak
You comfort those in need
You lift us up on wings like eagles 

 

---Chris Tomlin

" ²⁸ Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth
Does not become weary or tired.
His understanding is inscrutable.
²⁹ He gives strength to the weary,
And to him who lacks might He increases power." Isaiah 40

 

Uncle Ben

Summer this year was long and short at the same time. I worked a job I loved. My job and I got along so well because the people I helped were so encouraging. All the residents held a special place in my heart, but Uncle Ben was no doubt my favorite.

Every day when I went to work my great uncle Ben greeted me with a grin that stretched a mile wide. He told me I was the one who made his day brighter. And he also would say few other things about my looks :)

Uncle Ben would get so excited when I pushed his wheelchair over to the dinning room so he could meet aunt Ellie for supper. He would laugh delightedly when he talked about "his Ellie".

He would always tell everyone with much joy in his voice where I was going to school.

When I was working as a server Aunt Ellie would remind me to give Uncle Ben his favorite strawberry swirl ice cream and usually a big piece dessert.

I loved being around Uncle Ben because it was like being around the grandpa I couldn't remember having.

He reminded me of my grandma, his sister, and I tried to imagine them as youthful children.

Mom told me how when she was a girl she would watch Uncle Ben milk cows and he would tell her about his special girl.

Parkinson's Disease made life hard for Uncle Ben. There wasn't much he could do from his wheelchair and sometimes you couldn't understand his words. Some would say he was just a sick person, but I would say Uncle Ben had a great big purpose in life.

His life was beautiful, because he made life beautiful for me.

This summer was special I got to know my great uncle in ways I had never known him. Every memory I cherish.

I went home last weekend to celebrate the grand occasion of my dad's birthday. I went to work to help with the Saturday morning Bingo.  After I made sure every had gotten their chocolate I went to U. Ben's room.

This time uncle Ben wasn't proudly pointing out the pictures of his great grandson who happened to be named after him.

This time I didn't have to find the feet rests for his wheel chair.

This time there was no smile.

There was only breathing, because that was all Uncle Ben's tired body could do. The sound of his breathing was a signal. I've heard too many people breath like that before and a knot of pain lay in my stomach as I listened, but I knew Uncle Ben was on his way home.

I clocked out of work that sunny Saturday afternoon with a heavy heart.

That night the breathing stopped. Mom held me tight and told me her favorite uncle was in heaven.

 Next time I'm home I'll clock back in for anther day of work, but something is going to be missing from my world.

Uncle Ben has gone home to heaven and that's exactly where he should be, but I'm always going to miss the gentleman who knew how to make a girl walk a little taller.

Interrupting...

Interrupting the scheduled programing...(or as the case maybe my homework) to say a few words I've been completely astounded by.

Well not really my words. God said them first.

Isaiah 43:18-19

¹⁸ “Do not call to mind the former things,
Or ponder things of the past.
¹⁹ “Behold, I will do something new,
Now it will spring forth;
Will you not be aware of it?
I will even make a roadway in the wilderness,
Rivers in the desert.

Our sin was paid for on the cross and is it not time to move on? Our God is the maker of great things and He does great things every single moment of every single day.

He has too when He chooses to use perfectly incapable people to accomplishes His purposes.

Mind blowing eh? 

I thought so.  

God is making ugly things beautiful. Casting away the old and fashioning the new.

Today I'm thankful for a whole grand collection of many blessings which of course includes leaves, but most of all I'm thankful God's hand works in my life and not my own hand. 

Confession, I am very ungrateful for the Christmas song Pandora played on my non Christmas station. Really the nerve of them, tis the month for thanksgiving not Christmas music. Anyway excuse the blast of coldness towards Internet radio I'm really am very much in appreciation of the unlimited free music.

This song, so thankful for it and not just because its not a Christmas song

"I Am New"

Now I won't deny
The worst you could say about me
But I'm not defined
By mistakes that I've made
Because God says of me
I am not who I was
I am being remade
I am new
I am chosen and holy
And I'm dearly loved
I am new

---Jason Gray