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.

New Life

I would venture to guess that most gardeners' favorite time of the year is the harvest.  I know my boys love picking the veggies we've been working hard to grow.  It is definitely awesome to be able to enjoy the actual fruits of your labor.

For me, though, I LOVE the planting.  I spent a good majority of today planting various seeds and transplanting tomatoes and peppers. As I was finishing up, I just sat in the garden and took it all in.  There is something so exciting and also peaceful about a springtime garden. 

As I sat there looking around, I couldn't help but think about 2 Corinthians 5:17.  It's the new life that is so exciting.  With gardening, it's an adventure to plant a tiny seed, see that seed emerge through the dirt, and eventually grow into something beautiful or edible.  With people, it's so thrilling to watch a similar yet grander transformation.  I love being around new Christians.  The new life in them is often mesmerizing.  This verse isn't just for "new" Christians though.   We are all new creations.  The New Living Translation says anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person.

As we prepare for Easter, I think about how new life would've been all around Christ during his last days.  Flowers blooming, seedlings emerging, and new births would've been everywhere.  What a perfect time to usher in a new way.  A new freedom.  A new life.

Hope When We're Just Plain Worn Out

What do we do when we just have a rough week?  A week filled with so many appointments and commitments and parenting woes and dirty kitchens and well, you get the picture. There have been good times this week in the midst of it all.  Yet, I sit here on a Friday night just plain worn out.  I keep thinking that one of these days I'll be mature enough or spiritual enough to rise above all this and not struggle in the day-to-day.  I want to be able to give and love, but some weeks, it just feels like there's nothing left to pour out. I want to walk in the Spirit following hard after Jesus, but some days are so loud that I can't seem to hear Him.  I long for some quiet so here I sit in a dark room hungry for peace and feeling defeated.

Then, I hear a whisper in my soul, you were not made for this place.  And there He is.  He pours out hope and grace reminding me that this world is not home.  This world is hard.  Loving others is exhausting. We are surrounded by hurts and selfishness and hate.  But there's hope.  And as I lean into Him in this moment, He reminds that I don't have to be enough.  He is enough.  My strength will always wear out this side of heaven.  His strength is everlasting.  And I'm led to these words in Isaiah 40 from The Message,

Why would you ever complain, O Jacob, or, whine, Israel, saying,“God has lost track of me.   He doesn’t care what happens to me”? Don’t you know anything? Haven’t you been listening? God doesn’t come and go.  God lasts.   He’s Creator of all you can see or imagine.  He doesn’t get tired out, doesn’t pause to catch his breath.    And he knows everything, inside and out.  He energizes those who get tired,  gives fresh strength to dropouts.  For even young people tire and drop out, young folk in their prime stumble and fall.  But those who wait upon God get fresh strength.   They spread their wings and soar like eagles, they run and don’t get tired, they walk and don’t lag behind.

He is good.  He is hope.  He loves you.  He loves me.  He is never worn out. God lasts.

Worth Reading...

I have a few tabs that have stayed open on my computer all week.  They are just good reads so I'm sharing them with you.

• 7 Things You Need When You're Overwhelmed and Can't Keep Up - Ann Voskamp shares these encouraging words over at (in)courage this week - We are all chased by grace.

• The Heartbreak of Foster Care - This family shares a piece of their heart and I agree with all of it.  I keep re-reading these words, "If he goes back to his bio parents I’ll cry because I will have lost him. If we adopt him I’ll cry because he will have lost his bio parents. Heartbreak is really just part of living."

• Doing Life Together - My friend, Sarah, who I've known most of my life, shares about what "Doing Life Together" should really mean.  Let's not let it become a cliche in our Christian circles. Let's mean what we say or stop saying it altogether. 

Happy Sunday!