A Teachable Thanksgiving

Things I learned while I was home for Thanksgiving:

1. There is no place like home.  This year, school has been good for me, but every time I return home, I realize anew why it is so hard to leave.  I love being at home: being in a real house; having my family around; having my bedroom be a completely different place from my living room, kitchen, etc.   I love sitting by the fire, drinking hot cider. I love having a backyard and pets around.  There truly is no place like home.

2. Disinterested love means loving God not for his gifts but for who He is.  I was finishing reading 'Future Grace' by John Piper and he was quoting Jonathan Edwards (of course), and  it struck me because that term defines something that I have been struggling with and thinking about since the end of the summer.  Is my love for God 'disinterested'?  Do I truly love God or do I simply love His gifts?

3. Gabrielle's new recipe for cookies = divine, as Mike Schutt would say.  It's like a Reese's cup - in cookie form.  Amazing.

4. I love kids. (I think I already knew this, but hey. Relearning things is always good!) I got to run a drama rehearsal for my mom - it was a little crazy, but I loved it!  There is simply nothing like being with children, especially when it involves working with music, too!

5. You really don't have to overeat and have a billion people over to have an amazing Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving Day was quiet, just my immediate family (minus the married big bro) at home.  True, it is nice to have company, and we did on Friday, but I thoroughly enjoyed the peaceful (or lazy?) day that I had at home.

6. Monkey Bread is seriously one of my favorite foods.  I would rather have Monkey Bread on Thanksgiving than the entire Thanksgiving meal.  Honestly.

7. There is still hope for my cooking skills.  I didn't cook much at home but what I did make actually turned out.  Some day, I will be as good a cook as my mother.  Some day…

8. I am to be thankful in and for my struggles.  And I can be, because "I  can do all things through Him who gives me strength" and because "in everything, Jesus has the supremacy". 

9. Hallmark movies are just plain predictable. 

10. The common ground of faith in Christ creates a unity and friendship among people that outlasts shared experiences and creates deeper bonds than any similar circumstances ever could.

I feel like there is more I could share but the thing I am learning right now is this:  if I sat down every week and really thought about the things I had learned about myself, God and others that week, I might see more readily how God is working in my life.  So many days I go through the mundane routines of life without stopping to comprehend what God showed me that day.   When I reach the end of the day,  I simply mark off another day and move on to the next.  But each day is a day that God is changing, shaping and molding me.  To look back and notice, to stop and ponder, to sit and think, I would be more assured of what God is doing in my life.  I would be more ready and able to give an answer concerning what He is teaching me. 

Proverbs 1:5,  "Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance."  I pray that my heart is malleable and that I am willing to let my Savior teach me throughout each day. 

Princess in Training

I spent a half and hour practicing my posture at the occupational therapists on Wednesday.  You know that scene in "Princess Diaries", when Mia learns she is a princess and then she has to relearn how to sit, and stand, and walk?  Yeah.  That's how I felt.  Only not as cool, because I don't get a palace out of this deal.  I just get good posture.   But, Diane, my OT,  says the better posture will relieve stress and tension in my shoulders, thus helping the tension and tendonitis that is in my wrists and elbow.  

It was a week for progress.  A week when, for the first time in awhile, I saw a bit of light at the end of this tunnel.  While the light might have shown me how very long this tunnel is, it also gave me hope.  Monday was my first appointment with the occupational therapist.  Diane used to do gymnastics, and she plays violin.  We understand each other very well.  Coincidence?  I think not.  She discovered tendonitis in my left elbow, so I added that to my list of injuries.  She  talked me through some of what I'll be doing and working on for the next few weeks and months to begin the healing process.  Wednesday, when I went back, she introduced me to good posture.  I heard "Shoulders down"  more times in that half an hour than I have my entire life.  I'm considering hiring someone just to walk around behind me and remind me every three minutes.   While 'fun' isn't the word that I would use to describe therapy (it hurts!), hopeful is.

Thinking about this 'princess' posture that I am reminding myself to have, made me think about my role as a daughter of the King.  Sometimes, I feel it's cliché.  "I'm a princess, a daughter of the King!"  Ok, yes.  We get that.  That's nice.  We like to picture being princesses as dressing up, having beautiful, perfect hair all the time, not having to work and being fabulously rich.   But that's seriously not all a princess is.  A princess represents her father.  Raised by him, when she steps out of the palace walls, her name is inevitably tied to the King's.  She did nothing to earn such a title and needs to do nothing to keep this title. She will forever be the daughter of the King.  But her life, and her actions, her words and behavior, these all reflect on the King.  A poorly dressed princess, a rude and selfish princess, a unfriendly, uncaring princess…this all says something about her father.  She is held to higher standards than the rest of the people in the kingdom.  And one day, she will receive her inheritance.   But a princess who reflects poorly on her father will surely not receive the kind of inheritance that a daughter who honors her Father will. 

And so back to the idea that I, as an adopted child of God, am a princess, a daughter of the King.  I did nothing to earn this title.   And I am called to represent my Father.  Learning under his gentle teaching and gracious compassion and mercy, I should live in such a way that when I step outside my doors, people will inevitably tie my name to the King's.   I am held to a higher standard.  I am called to live differently.  I am called to have a "quiet and gentle spirit" and to realize that "charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting but a woman who fears the [King] is to be praised" (1 Peter 3:4 and Proverbs 31:30).  And one day, I will receive my inheritance.  Will my Father say, "Well done, good and faithful servant, daughter of mine" (Matt. 25:21)?  

I do not expect to ever receive a palace in this life.  I won't wear fancy dresses, drink tea with the Queen, or ever have perfect hair all the time.  But I am a daughter of the true King.  So for now, I will go back to working on my 'princess' posture and striving to let my life reflect upon my who my Daddy is.

"See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God".  1 John 3:1

Thank you, Lord...

It was a long week.  It's been a long weekend.  I spent this morning poring over the Psalms, feeling with David some of the anxiety and worry that he expresses.  I wanted to ask God why.  Why take the piano from me?  Why take what I love?  Why my HANDS?  Why MY hands?  But over and over, David and I drew the same conclusion: that His name might be praised.  Be still.  Know that He is God.  Take shelter  and refuge in Him. I know that God is good.  I know that He is faithful.  I can look the future in the face boldy and confidently, knowing that He is with me. 

Even still, today was one of those days…one of those "Thank you Lord, for water bottles" kind of days.  The days when I have to force myself to say thank you for things that don't seem good, until God graciously allows me to see His goodness.

That being said, here goes:

Thank you, Lord, for Sarah H. and her phone call right when I needed it.

Thank you, Lord, that I could type up most of my paper tonight without too much pain.

Thank you, Lord, for Sweet Peas from Hanover.

Thank you, Lord, for Cassie and a reminder that there are people praying for me, even when I don't ask for it.

Thank you, Lord, for an opportunity to grow in my trust of you.

Thank you, Lord, for this pain, if only for the fact that it drives me to cry out to you more often.

Thank you, Lord, for the great plan you have for my future, even if I can't see it right now.

Thank you, Lord, that I have 2 hands and can still hold things, write…

Thank you, Lord, for the Psalms, and for understanding. 

I found this quote the other day and I think it's appropriate right now.  Even when life doesn't necessarily make sense, I am still called to obedience and to a life that clearly, loudly and honestly declares my faith in Christ Jesus.

"I'm a part of the fellowship of the unashamed. I have Holy Spirit Power. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I'm a disciple of His. I won't look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, my future is secure. I'm finished and done with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, mundane talking, cheap living, and dwarfed goals. I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I don't have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded or rewarded. I now live by faith, lean on His presence, walk by patience, lift by prayer, and labor by power. My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way rough, my companions few, my Guide reliable, my mission clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the adversary, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity. I won't give up, shut up, let up, until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, preached up for the cause of Christ. I am a disciple of Jesus. I must go till He comes, give till I drop, preach till all know, and work till He stops me. And when He comes for His own, He will have no problems recognizing me. My banner will be clear!"  (emphasis mine)

--This was written by a young African pastor and tacked on the wall of his house.

May the hard times of life drive us to our knees before the cross.  May we "cast our cares on Him, for He cares for us" and may we find shelter in the shadow of His wings.