Euaristeo Day 26... Living in the Moment

“Forever is composed of nows.” 

–Emily Dickinson 

Tomorrow our little family heads to my mom & dad’s for Thanksgiving. In our near 25 years of marriage we’ve only done this one other time.  I am so excited, I can just barely stand myself… I mean, there is just something about being in your parent’s house. Am I right? 

Here are just a few things I am looking forward to… 

Getting up early for coffee.  My dad is an amazing barista & my mom always reads us a little portion of scripture before we start the day. 

Listening to my dad & Chuck talk ‘shop’.  Nothing warms my heart more than to hear those two talking about what God is doing in the ministries He’s called them to.

Giggling with my mama & sisters. This probably needs no elaboration. 

Watching Hannah hang out with her cousins & maybe beat Gramma at checkers… that’s a BIG maybe.

Worshipping together at my daddy’s church. 

My mama’s cooking. She’s the best cook in the history of the world. 

So. Now that I have said all that, this blog today is partly about my mama’s homemade rolls & partly about… well, I’m getting ahead of myself. Back to the rolls. 

They are nothing short of amazing. I’m wracking my brain to find some descriptive words here & can honestly say… I got nothing. They are just… MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM…

 I’ve attempted to make them myself to no avail. I don’t know if it’s the complexity of the chemistry of yeast & flour & scalded milk or if I just get distracted with watching the balloon floats at the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade & miss a step all together. Now don’t get me wrong, my creations have been highly entertaining to say the least. One time they came out like rocks. The dog wouldn’t even eat them so, we repurposed them for a game of baseball in the back yard after dinner. Another time they rose so big that they took over the entire oven. When I opened the door… they took on a life of their own & practically swallowed me whole. Unfortunately, as large as they were, they were only filled with hot air. Hmmmm… shall we say, they were a teensy bit like their creator? 

Yeah... so... let’s move on… 

Anyway, my baby sister Yaya & I have always loved my mom’s rolls. When we were little girls, after everyone had gone to sleep for the night, we would sneak back down to the kitchen & sit giggling in the dark as we ate just a couple more. 

I am really looking forward to doing that with her Thursday night. 

& that leads me to what I’ve really been thinking about…

We live in such a fast paced, media driven world that often times, even when we are celebrating rare & precious moments with our friends & families we aren’t really there. We are checking our emails, or Facebooking, or texting, or playing on Instagram or Twitter or Snapchat, or pinning on Pinterest, Googling or blogging or watching the TV behind their heads.  

I’m guilty. I’m not gonna lie. 

But here’s what I am purposing to do for the next few days…. I’m going to attempt to be present. I’m going to leave my computer at home & will be limiting how much time I text (WHEW). Instead, I’m going to take my Bible & my camera, will write my thoughts in my journal with a pencil, will engage in conversation, will take walks with my parents, will be silly with my sister, will hold my husband’s hand, will give my daughter my undivided attention & will call our boys & our sweet daughter-in-law on Thanksgiving. 

I’m loving this whole holiday season a little bit better already.

I’m committing today to be present…

Will you? 

Eucharisteo Day 25... unexpected & unnecessary blessings

Yesterday during our Sunday morning service, my husband did something a little different. After sharing a brief message on Thanksgiving he opened the floor to the congregation to share what they are thankful for this year. It was moving to hear how God continues to move in the lives of our friends we share life with here.

& then our eleven year old daughter took the mic... she shared how grateful she is for her dad & mom. She shared how thankful she is that out all the millions of babies in the world that need families, that we chose her. I cannot begin to tell you what happened to my heart in that moment. Tears poured down my cheeks.

What my sweet daughter did was completely unexpected... & unnecessary. My love for her is not contingent on what she says or what she does. There is not a single thing she can do to make me love her any more or any less. She is my girl. The precious gift that God chose to give us.

As I got home that afternoon I began to think about how much she blessed us & I just wanted to encourage you to do something unexpected & unnecessary this week. It can be simple. Don't weigh your emotions too much. Just do it. Allow the gratitude in your heart to pour out as blessing. 

Let your life be a reflection of God's work in you.

Reflections on gratitude: 

Language- Do your words encourage, uplift? Are they positive? Do they reflect thanksgiving? 

Attitude- Do your actions reflect evidence that you are grateful?

Lifestyle- Do your patterns, habits & the nature of who you are reflect thankfulness?  

Eucharisteo Day 24... goldfish crackers

Place these words on your hearts. 

Get them deep inside you. 

Tie them on your hands and foreheads as a reminder. 

Teach them to your children. 

Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street; 

talk about them from the time you get up in the morning until you fall into bed at night. 

-Deuteronomy 11:18-19 

This is me... eating goldfish crackers... circa 1973

I am thankful that my parents took me to Sunday School.

I remember a few key things about those early years... My teacher Miss Lois. Singing Jesus Loves Me. Listening to Bible stories told through flannel graph. Doing art projects with glitter. & sitting at a little table eating goldfish crackers. 

Oh those goldfish crackers... even today this many years later, I cannot say no to those delightfully cheesy things. My mama was a crazy organic eating foody (before that was cool). Her idea of a snack was an apple or a handful of carrot sticks. Hence, my standout memories of the goldfish crackers. 

When my own children were old enough for Sunday School, I couldn't wait for them to go. I'd come flying in with my hair on fire, one child hanging off my hip & the other one attached to my leg. I'd detach them from my body & leave them crying as I drug my exhausted, hungry soul to my own class. It was amazing to pick their little glitter-covered bodies up an hour later, my own soul renewed & them chatting away about what they learned, what they played, what they sang & what they ate. Well... well... well... sounds familiar right? 

Last year, I was praying about how I could best minister on Sunday morning at my church. I remembered those weary days when I was a young mom & felt God prompting to be Miss Lois at my church. This is a little out of character for me... mostly cause my Minnie Mouse voice tends to get little kids riled up & I am just about the worst disciplinarian,.. ever. 

I am so thankful that I just did it anyway. 

Sunday mornings are my favorite. I love every second with those little ones. I love when they come in all bright eyed & rip roaring ready to go. I love seeing their parents head back up the hall to their own classes. I love hanging out with my friend & co-teacher, 'Miss Bitz'. I love playing play dough & coloring crayons & doing puzzles & reading books & singing songs & handing out goldfish crackers. I love their sticky fingers & tight hugs & giggly voices. 

Most of all I love seeing how it comes full circle...

Yep... me again... coloring Jesus pictures... circa 1974

“Your children are the greatest gift God will give to you, and their souls the heaviest responsibility He will place in your hands. 

Take time with them, teach them to have faith in God. 

Be a person in whom they can have faith. 

When you are old, nothing else you've done will have mattered as much.”  

-Lisa Wingate

Eucharisteo Day 23... when it is dark

You gave me life and showed me kindness, and in your providence watched over my spirit. 

-Job 10:12 (NIV)

This week a dear friend of mine received news that her very active, young adult son has been diagnosed with an debilitating disease. As she shared her heart with me, I was blown away by her faith. Here are her words... "So this took me completely off guard.  But not God.  He knew.  I believe that God is Sovereign.  And that he sifts everything that happens to us through His hands.  So I am trusting God to care for my son." 

How easy it is for us to praise Him when things are good... when we are healthy... when we are happy.. when we are comfortable?

How much more difficult is for us to be grateful when things are tough?

Today, as I pray for my beautiful friend & her precious son, I am reminded that it is very often in the darkest places that we see begin to God's handiwork.  Today, I too will trust Him & His bigger plan.

“Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring 

 

Eucharisteo Day 22... Because... WOW!

 

How deep the Father's love for us,
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure

How great the pain of searing loss,
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the chosen One,
Bring many sons to glory

Behold the Man upon a cross,
My sin upon His shoulders
Ashamed I hear my mocking voice,
Call out among the scoffers

It was my sin that left Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished

I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection

Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom

http://youtu.be/nR-N_Oh4uNg 

Echaristeo Day 21... reminiscing

At 4:21 Eastern Standard Time today our oldest child Joshua turns 23. 

It’s funny how a birthday can bring about a spirit of reminiscing… 

I can remember everything about the moment when I held Josh for the first time. He was tiny & pink & perfect. To say I was clueless would be an understatement.  I didn’t know a single thing about being a mom. But as his little hand curled around my finger, I was hooked & I knew that we would figure it out together. It wasn’t long after that I began to wonder… “Who would this little boy be?”

When he was two, he emptied the contents of the woodstove onto our living room floor… & I wondered.

When he was five, he climbed to the top of a tree in our backyard… & I wondered. 

When he was ten, he built a six foot ramp in our condo complex to rollerblade off of… & I wondered. 

When he was a teenager, he grew his hair long & wore band t-shirts & baggy pants… & I wondered. 

When he went to college, he played football & changed his major & wrecked his car… twice… & still I wondered. 

This year was a big one for him. He graduated from college, moved to Florida, married a beautiful Florida girl & got a real job as a youth & family pastor. 

Well, well, well…  so this is who he is…

A husband. A pastor. A man of God.  

Truly amazing. 

 I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth.

-3 John 1:4 (NASB)

Eucharisteo Day 20... who knew gratefulness would play out like this?

grate·ful

ˈgrātfəl/

adjective

adjective: grateful

1. feeling or showing an appreciation of kindness; thankful.

synonyms:

thankful, appreciative; indebted, obliged, obligated, in someone's debt, beholden

I love words. As nerdy as it may sound, I find a lot of comfort in the trusty dictionary & thesaurus I  have on my bookshelf. 

I love how sometimes I can think I know exactly what a word means & then WHALAH! It means something completely different. 

It’s that way with the word ‘grateful’. I mean, I knew the basic meaning of the word but hadn’t ever thought about how ‘showing an appreciation’ fit in. 

Oh I am grateful… for far too many things to even begin to count.

But do I show it? Do I put words to & actions toward my gratefulness? 

Romans 12:1-8 is a precious reminder of what serving out of a grateful heart looks like… 

So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

I’m speaking to you out of deep gratitude for all that God has given me, and especially as I have responsibilities in relation to you. Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace, it’s important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him.

In this way we are like the various parts of a human body. Each part gets its meaning from the body as a whole, not the other way around. The body we’re talking about is Christ’s body of chosen people. Each of us finds our meaning and function as a part of his body. But as a chopped-off finger or cut-off toe we wouldn’t amount to much, would we? So since we find ourselves fashioned into all these excellently formed and marvelously functioning parts in Christ’s body, let’s just go ahead and be what we were made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren’t.

If you preach, just preach God’s Message, nothing else; if you help, just help, don’t take over; if you teach, stick to your teaching; if you give encouraging guidance, be careful that you don’t get bossy; if you’re put in charge, don’t manipulate; if you’re called to give aid to people in distress, keep your eyes open and be quick to respond; if you work with the disadvantaged, don’t let yourself get irritated with them or depressed by them. Keep a smile on your face.

 Hmmmm... true gratitude... it's more of an action... a life poured out for others. 

“To be grateful is to recognize the Love of God in everything He has given us - and He has given us everything. 

Every breath we draw is a gift of His love, every moment of existence is a grace, for it brings with it immense graces from Him.

Gratitude therefore takes nothing for granted, is never unresponsive, is constantly awakening to new wonder and to praise of the goodness of God. 

For the grateful person knows that God is good, not by hearsay but by experience. 

And that is what makes all the difference.” 

-Thomas Merton