It's Time for Thanksgiving

http://www.jacobabshire.com/musings/wallpapers/wednesday-wallpaper-give-thanks-to-the-lord-for-he-is-good/

I read the book, One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are, when it first came out.  I think Ann Voskamp is a modern day poet and prophet, and her blog has challenged me to go deeper with God for years now.  This book is a challenging, but incredible read.  In it, with her rich words that paint a picture in your mind, she teaches us that God gave us the secret to joy and peace.  She uses the Greek word eucharisteo to explain,

Yes, it's all Greek to me, but this is the word that can change everything: eucharisteo—it comes right out of the Gospel of Luke: “And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them…” (Luke 22:19 NIV). In the original language, “he gave thanks” reads “eucharisteo.” 

The root word of eucharisteo is charis, meaning “grace.” Jesus took the bread and saw it as graceand gave thanks. He took the bread and knew it to be gift and gave thanks. Eucharisteo, thanksgiving, envelopes the Greek word for grace, charis. But it also holds its derivative, the Greek word chara, meaning “joy.” Charis. Grace. Eucharisteo. Thanksgiving. Chara. Joy.

Deep chara joy is found only at the table of the euCHARisteo; the table of thanksgiving. The holy grail of joy, God set it in the very center of Christianity. The Eucharist is the central symbol of Christianity...

One of Christ’s very last directives He offers to His disciples is to take the bread, the wine, and to remember. Do this in remembrance of Me. Remember and give thanks.

This is the crux of Christianity: to remember and give thanks, eucharisteo.

Why? Why is remembering and giving thanks the core of the Christ-faith? Because remembering with thanks is what causes us to trust; to really believe. Re-membering, giving thanks, is what makes us a member again of the body of Christ. Re-membering, giving thanks is what puts us back together again in this hurried, broken, fragmented world.

It's a powerful message.  And for her it all started with a challenge from a friend to list 1,000 things in which she was grateful.  It began a change in her heart, in her life, in her calling, and the book shares what she learned through all of it.

I've confessed that I love lists a little too much and a formulaic way of thinking is dangerous for me. Knowing this about myself, I decided not to jump in with a list when I read this, but lately this book and this eucharisteo thought keeps coming back to me.  I've been asking God to open my eyes.  Help me see the people, the things, the world around me through a different lens.

You know what I'm finding?  The troubles and weights of this life feel lighter and my heart becomes more free as I allow the Holy Spirit to change my mindset to one of thankfulness in all things.  

Today I am thankful for,

1. A God who sustains.  He holds me together all the time, even when I feel like I'm falling apart.
2. Hot coffee on a cool morning
3. Friends who pray for me even I am too proud to ask
4. My home, not just a house, but a home - a place to invite, to unwind, to take shelter from this crazy world.
5. Books.  Real paper books that I can hold and write in and let me tears of both grief and joy  falls on their pages.
6. A God who loves me where I am.  He loves me when I doubt.  He loves me even when I choose self.  He loves me enough to call me to choose Him.
7. Getting glimpses of the man my 10-year-old is becoming and knowing God is doing a good work in him.
8. Grace. Grace. And more GRACE.
9. A doctor who continues to seek answers on my behalf even when nothing makes sense.
10. Pathology reports that start opening the door to answers.
11. Autumn.  Today we usher in a new season, my favorite season, with a sigh. It's a time for coolness, a time for family, a time to breathe and relax, and a time to give thanks.
12. A marriage of two imperfect sinners could bring disaster but when yielded to a perfect God brings goodness, mercy, love, kindness, and humility.

Why is Asking for Prayer Difficult?

Have you noticed that during "prayer request" time in your small group, Sunday School class, Bible study, or wherever that we rarely ask for prayers for ourselves?  Sure, we hear "please pray for us as we travel this week" or "pray that my surgery goes well on Thursday" or "pray for my job interview this week."  But rarely is there open, transparent requests for prayers for ourselves.  It seems that most prayer requests are for things like Aunt Jane's cancer or a coworker's child or a friend who was in a car wreck. While there isn't anything necessarily wrong with these requests, they tend to be impersonal and can even keep us from getting too real.

Why is asking for prayer for our own struggles so hard?  When I examine my own heart, I think there are a few reasons.  One, I don't want to be or, more likely, appear selfish.  Two, my problems aren't as "bad" as these others so I don't want to waste anyone's time.  Or probably at the root of it all, I don't want to be too vulnerable.  I can be open about so much.  I have a husband who is pretty much an open book to our entire congregation.  Being married to him lends to few secrets in our family.  It used to really bother me, but I've grown to appreciate it (most of the time ;) ).  Even still, I don't want to be vulnerable.  I don't want to NEED people or be a burden to anyone.

The only problem is that we all keep answering "I'm fine" when all the while so often, we are not.  I keep thinking what if our small groups (whatever they look like) become our safe groups.  What if "I'm fine" is no longer an acceptable answer in these groups?

Don't me wrong.  There are times when things are really good.  But instead, let's share them, praise God for them together.  And when things are just not, let's share those as well and hold each other up, encourage one another, truly live this hard life together.  Not in a spirit of complaint and there needs to be guarding against that, but in an effort to drop the masks and the walls.  We all need people.  God does not require us to walk through this life alone.  He is enough for us, but He also understands our struggles and gives us church families, friends, spouses, and more to lean on.  Oh, isn't He good?

This past week in our Sunday School class, I prepared myself to share some health struggles that I've only been partly open about it and felt God urging me to share.  When our teacher said we are not going to do prayer requests this week, I relieved a sigh of relief.  I could keep it all in for at least another week.  I could talk myself out of it before next Sunday rolls around.  I mean the pastor's wife should never even consider the possibility of being a burden when there is so much hurting going on all around, right? These are the arguments I have in my head.

The truth is though that pretending like it's all okay and making jokes about my health issues, so I don't to worry anyone, is wearing me out.  Don't worry I'm not dying (at least not from any of my current issues ;) ).  Some of my autoimmune issues are flaring and I've added a new one to the mix.  I have unexplained weight loss that is so far baffling my doctor.  I've struggled with anxiety off and on this past year.  Some days I feel fine and other days I'm exhausted for no apparent reason.  I am so very blessed with a husband who is most always patient with me, but  I don't think it's fair to him that I won't ask for prayers.

I am confident that God holds my health in hands and grateful that it's not worse.  I know this is not my future.  I pray that God uses all of this for His glory yet I'm realizing that if I walk around keeping up appearances, I may be not allowing Him to do just that.  This morning I read in Galatians  4 where Paul shares, "As you know, it was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you."  Oh, let that be true of me someday.

So, I ask you, that next time you meet with your "safe group", be real, be honest, share the good and difficult.  C'mon,  I don't want to be the only one getting real.

Seriously, no worries about me. SERIOUSLY. God says do not worry.  God knew I'd be here struggling in this very moment.  He has plans for me and He has plans for you.  If you feel led to pray for me, pray that He would use all this.  Pray that I would ask for help when I need it.  Pray for my marriage and my family as we continue to try and figure this all out.  Pray for my husband who is having to do way more than his fair share some of these days.  Pray that most of all in whatever I do or say, I can do it all for the glory of God.

I pray that everyone reading this has a safe place to be real and that you stop carrying your burdens alone.  God never intended us to be worn out simply from keeping things in.  He knows this life is hard.  He knows we have struggles, health issues, financial woes, and so much more.  I believe He gives us people in our lives for a reason. And that reason is not to make us more tired.

Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. James 5:14-16

Two are better than one,
    because they have a good return for their labor:
10 If either of them falls down,
    one can help the other up.
But pity anyone who falls
    and has no one to help them up.
11 Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
    But how can one keep warm alone?
12 Though one may be overpowered,
    two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12