Counting 1000 gifts of thanks with Multitudes on Mondays

Touched and inspired by Ann Voskamp and her book, One Thousand Gifts, to start my own list of gifts of thanks.  May it inspire you too...to live a life of thanksgiving, and by so doing, find yourself seeing our Lord in every nook and cranny of life, living with God "in focus", tasting and seeing and hearing that the Lord, He is good......even when......yes.....even when.....

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14.  our founding fathers and all who came before them to seek "the land of the free, the home of the brave".
15.  patriotic Americans, the ones who are not ashamed to believe in all our country has stood for, who believe our honorable history, who want to keep our founding principles, our Judeo-Christian heritage.
16.  for a holiday to celebrate the brave men and women who committed their "lives," "fortunes," and "sacred honor," to give us our republic.
17.  for all men and women who fought for our country, those who died and those who lived, who gave themselves to defend the cause of liberty both here and abroad.
18. for our military men and women who are today defending our nation, may God keep them and reward them.
19.  for the Holy Bible, God's Word, that teaches us God's hand in the lives of nations, reminds us to pray for our leaders, and reminds us of our responsibility to pass on to each generation all of God's activity in history, all His power and glory in our world.
20. For our ability to exercise our love for country and our God....and to pass it on....
21.  And above all, our forever thanks for the freedom from sin and death that our Savior Jesus Christ bled and died for...eternal liberty to praise and worship and give thanks to Him!

Some links to enjoy today....
God Bless the USA, video
Gaither Vocal Band: Let Freedom Ring

Counting 1000 gifts of thanks with Multitudes on Mondays

Touched and inspired by Ann Voskamp and her book, One Thousand Gifts, to start my own list of gifts of thanks.  May it inspire you too...to live a life of thanksgiving, and by so doing, find yourself seeing our Lord in every nook and cranny of life, living with God "in focus", tasting and seeing and hearing that the Lord, He is good......even when......yes.....even when.....

Thank you, Father (abba) God for:

5.  my husband, who walks with God and loves me more than I can understand--always a flesh and blood example of God's unconditional love for me. (and praise to the Lord for this beautiful backdrop of God's handiwork at Yosemite National Park in 2009)

6.  the sweet fellowship of dinner and prayer with our "Lifegroup" from church--God's words of wisdom and prophecy and encouragement flowing through your Spirit to those in need of Your strength and power-- transforming moments, seeds of faith planted, beginnings of breakthroughs, lifting us to higher ground with views into the heavenlies! 

7. the invention of air conditioning, providing sweet comfort during these days of outside temps from 104 to 113, that I'm sure will cook an egg on the concrete!

8. cameras that capture those precious moments with children and grandchildren

Our daughter Jenny, her son Nate ("Big Guy") and Lane, big brother to Colt below, our oldest son's boys, and Chester

Nana and Colt (one month old)

Nathan, in his momma's high chair, having fun at Nana's house

9. the smiling faces of the grandsons as they play happily, letting you know they are secure and safe in our love

Lane and Nathan playing on the rocking horse that Grandpa made

10. the blooming flowers in my yard--they endure the heat and winds, yet remain able to make beautiful flowers--what an example of God's intent for us in the tough times of our life.

11. Faith and Hope--how do we live without them?  What a blessing when waiting starts to pull us down...finally two inquiries into our family wildlife and ranching consulting business...and most of all...affirmations that walking and waiting in Hope and Faith in our Lord produces what we cannot see!--

"Optimism is hope for the best with no assurance, Hope has a guarantee of God's performance; Faith is not believing He CAN, Faith is believing He WILL for YOU." pastor John Hagee

12.  Sunday's rest...sermons of God's truth....sharing prayer requests....praying for others in need.......time to reflect on the week ahead...time to read a good book (The Woman in White, by Wilkie Collins)...watching a good movie with my husband, Herman Wouk's, The Winds of War series, streaming on Netflix.

13.  Monday's plans for the week...plans that are many, but am anxious to accomplish--what a blessing!

When we think it's not enough...

When I quit working last year, my husband and I had to tighten our budget quite a bit, but we continued to save our change in a jar. For several years we collected the coins all year and by Christmas time we had enough to buy all our Christmas gifts. It was such a blessing to not stress over having "enough" money for gifts, which we enjoy giving. But this year, the change wasn't building up like it did in the past.       
On Mother's Day Sunday, it was announced in church that we would be offered an opportunity to give an offering for the Care Net Pregnancy Center.  Baby bottles were in the foyer and could be taken home to fill with coins. The bottles would be collected on Father's Day and given to the Center.  I grabbed a bottle and wondered if we would be able to find money in our budget to put in the bottle.  But on the way home from church, my husband remembered the change in our jar and thought it would be more than enough to fill the bottle.  I was skeptical.....

After we got home, we started transferring the coins to the bottle. We learned a lesson or two that day....as we had just enough change to fill the baby bottle.  And when it was counted...a $35 dollar offering was available!  An offering that far exceeded what my mind expected. An offering that I initially thought we couldn't afford to give.

When it comes to Jehovah Jireh, the God who Provides, two things are evident in Scripture.  One is that He provides enough and/or He provides an abundance to be used for His purposes.  Our coin jar seems to be  an example of God's gift of enough, like manna for the Israelites in the desert....manna for Christmas gifts, manna for gifts to His ministry to women in need during pregnancy.  A provision that was just enough--no more, no less, than what was needed to "fill" the empty stomach. Not a provision to be stored away, but one that must be used up for that which God intended, and according to His timing.

Isn't it just like God to teach us over and over that His provision is always enough for His plans...even when we can't see it?  Even when we question all the darkness in the world, all the poverty, all the illness, and the misery...when we are overwhelmed and feel totally inadequate to help those in need?  Even when our eyes just cannot see that it's enough...not enough for bills to be paid, for food to be bought, for medicine, doctors, transportation.....the list can go on until we only see what we see with these earth-cloudy eyes, and we only understand with our earth-centered minds. But God says this....

"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, 
Neither are your ways My ways," declares the Lord.
"For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways, 
And My thoughts than your thoughts.
Isaiah 55:8-9

When God's "enough" or His abundance cannot be seen, how are we to trust?

By FAITH....because by definition,  

"faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." 

Heb.11:1

Maybe where we go wrong, especially in America, is that our natural mind tends to think of provision as an abundance of material blessings.  Yet in Scripture, the term is applied not only to riches, but also to peace, comfort, lovingkindness, grace, and wisdom.  And although we often have to wait...we will mount up like eagles; when we are still...we will know that He is God; when we humble ourselves...He will give us grace; when we seek Him in faith...we will be rewarded; because His promises are all Yes in Christ Jesus, and because we are His children, He will take care of us...He WILL provide....

$35 in change--God's "enough"

Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, 

according to the power that works within us, 

to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus 

to all generations forever and ever. Amen

Ephesians 3:20 

For further study....Psalm 72:7; 2 Cor. 1:5; Ps. 86:5; Rom. 5:17; James 1:5; Isa. 40:31; Psa. 46:10; James 4:6; Heb. 11:6; Matt. 6:25-34; Matt. 7:7-11 

1000 gifts of thanks

Touched and inspired by Ann Voskamp and her book, One Thousand Gifts, to start my own list of gifts of thanks.  May it inspire you too...to live a life of thanksgiving, and by so doing, find yourself seeing our Lord in every nook and cranny of life, living with God "in focus", tasting and seeing and hearing that the Lord, He is good......even when......yes.....even when.....

Thank you, Father (abba) God for:
1.time with a new friend, knowing she is a gift from you

2. the smell of fresh baked French bread, and
                                                   
fresh apricot cobbler
(fruit of my tree),
beginnings of a lunch to share with my new friend

3. a cool day--87 degrees instead of the 100+ degrees of the last week
4. a gathering of neighbors to have supper with--neighbors next door instead of miles and miles away like it used to be....
5. the blogosphere, where I have found a highway for expression of your thoughts in my mind...
6. for this day, of life to live, of memories to make, of thanks to give

A Tender Heart

When I was a kid, my mom and dad were always up before the 5 of us kids, except on Sunday morning.  That's the day they would stay in bed, propped with pillows against the headboard of their bed reading the Sunday newspaper and drinking coffee, coffee that one of us older kids usually made for them. The best of my earliest memories of  daddy was a day like that.  Even though he's been gone now 21 years, I still remember it like yesterday.

My Daddy a few years before his death

I was six, in first grade and having a tough time.  I had a case of warts on my hands. "Warty" a group on the playground called out to me during recess day after day.  The very shy girl stood alone, wanting to cry...the wounds of humiliation and rejection taking the breath away even in one so young...wanting to run home, if I only knew the way....and every school day morning the lump would rise up in my throat and with it the dread of all dreads like a ball and chain dragging behind me all the way to school ...not able to speak it in words to my Mommy, why I didn't want to go to school. 

But one Sunday morning, as Daddy read the paper and drank his coffee, with me and Johann, the family dachshund, sitting on the bed with him and Mommy, it all spilled out.  My daddy put his arm around me as he moved the newspaper aside...and he said he thought I needed a loyal friend...so from now on, Johann would belong to just me.  Daddy said Johann would always be my special friend and always love me because dogs always love their owners...and the doctor was called, the warts were removed, the lump in my throat was healed, and the ball and chain were released....

a Johann look-a-like

That's when I knew that my daddy loved me and cared about my feelings...and as I got older, though he had a tough exterior and was often impatient, short-tempered and critical, I knew my Daddy also had a tender heart...even when he couldn't say it in words...because my Daddy had been wounded as a child...more than just in first grade...and his wounded heart was still tender from the hurt....

And be kind to one-another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.  Ephesians4:32

 

Tenderhearted means "well compassioned" and "sympathetic" according to Strong's Concordance of the Bible.  Newer definitions include "having a kind, gentle, or sentimental nature," and "easily moved by another's distress." I don't know all the specifics, but I do know that my daddy had a very difficult childhood.  He was wounded and scarred, and it kept him down in many ways throughout adulthood. His scars showed up in anger far more than in compassion and sympathy. 

But through the years as I grew up, the knowledge of Daddy's tender heart never left me... I made it through the rough spots with Daddy with the same compassion for him that he had had for me when I was six.  As a teenager, especially, I still had plenty of angry and bitter feelings at times over incidents that were hurtful, but as I matured, God gave me understanding that when Daddy acted the most angry, he felt the most inadequate.

Thank you Lord for giving me the good memories to get me through the hard ones that come with growing up with imperfect parents! Thank you for always renewing my mind so that I can think with yours, for giving me your Spirit so I can love with your love, and for giving us Ephesians 4:32--the law of personal Christian relationships....and....Eph. 5:1-2...the perfect one to imitate....

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you, and gave Himself up for us....

In memory of my Daddy....Happy Father's Day

showing his tender side, with my newborn daughter, his 6th grandchild