Glimpses of Gratitude 15: Family Grace

Thanksgiving came and went quietly in our home this year, but quiet is good right now.  We were grateful to spend time with both sets of parents and two of our sisters.  We have not always enjoyed the opportunity to spend time with family for this holiday and were not certain my stamina would allow it this year, so we by no means took that joy for granted.

Both families kindly, cheerfully, and generously bore the cost of my limitations in order to include me.  My husband and I spent the morning listening to a favorite choral Christmas CD and building the border of a puzzle.  My mother carried my usual share of the cooking as well as her own, and my dad and sister helped with the dishes.  The bulk of the day found us on the sofas at their home, resting and watching a Christmas movie and the requisite Cowboys game.

On Saturday, a sister-in-law drove across Dallas-Fort Worth with my second parents to eat barbecue and drink hot tea.  This time was a special gift, and we thoroughly enjoyed their afternoon at Wits' End with us.  All of them live too far away for me to go to them this year, and we truly appreciate their sacrifice to come to us so that we could both visit with them without strain.

Not every family could or would arrange their holiday plans around the weakest member, but mine did this year, and I am truly grateful.

Furthermore, I thank my God and Father
2036. That both our families are kin not just by blood or by marriage but also in Christ
2037. Roast turkey and all the fixings
2038. Leftovers
2039. Cranberry sauce and toasted walnuts in my oatmeal
2040. Frosty mornings
2041. Quilts to cuddle beneath
2042. Having my husband just a hug away for a whole extra day last week
2043. Laughter with family
2044. Christmas carols
2045. Frosty mornings
2046. Attending church together as a couple
2047. Partaking of the Lord's Supper
2048. Praise music
2049. Breath to sing it
2050. Leaves on the Bradford pear trees finally turning
2051. Seeing "A Gift from Nonni" on a magazine label
2052. Shelter of a warm house
2053. Food in refrigerator and pantry
2054. Adequate employment
2055. God's extravagant generosity toward us
2056. Happy memories

Gratitude 14: A Visit from Grace

Grace visited our home, Wits' End, Friday night.

My husband answered the knock at the door, and a women's prayer group swept into the foyer.  For the next hour, they filled our living room with joy, love, and praise and our table with food they had thoughtfully prepared and presented.  These lovely ladies shared songs of praise in Chinese and English.  Their gentle, multilingual prayers enfolded and rested upon us like the wings of the Almighty.  We are still eating and drinking the nourishment they provided.

The most remarkable aspect of the whole evening is that I had never met any of these women before.  One of their number works alongside my husband during the week.  Through him, she came to this blog; through her, the other women came to know of us and the challenging stretch of terrain we've been walking with my chronic illness flare.  Simply because we are part of the same body of Christ and they believe that when one part suffers, the whole body suffers, they brought their prayers to us and poured the love of God into our lives and home for an evening.  They asked for nothing in return except a song at the piano, which I happily was able to provide.

That evening gave me the most profound experience of grace--unmerited, abundant favor--I've had in a long time.  Never have I felt so accepted and loved by a group of new acquaintances.  They may have arrived as strangers, but they left as friends, as sisters.

Yes, grace visited our home Friday night, and the fragrance lingers still.

From my list of God's endless gifts (#1938-1950):
~the ladies of the Friday night prayer group
~the beautiful meals they left us
~returning appetite to enjoy them
~the body of Christ in action
~antibiotics combating another sinus infection
~sleeping through the night
~a gray, blustery fall day
~husband using days off for home repair and medical appointments
~Ebony thumping his tail in his sleep, dreaming happy dreams of squirrel chasing and bacon?
~watching the  caterpillar (monarch? swallowtail?) chewing on parsley leaves
~fragrant blush-pink rose from the garden
~turning the heat on for the first time this season
~opportunity for Americans to give thanks collectively this week for God's boundless gifts, the sacrifices of this country's first English settlers, and the freedom to worship openly

This may be my only post this week, due to the holiday.  May God bless you with a heart overflowing with gratitude, wherever you may be.

Give thanks in all circumstances; 

for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

(1 Thess. 5:18, NIV)

The Gentleness of the Risen Christ

In John's account of the Resurrection, Jesus rises by stealth, under cover of darkness, in the interstitial silence between sentences.

This risen Christ appears not in majestic, light-enrobed, angelic-chorused splendor to taunt and terrify His enemies, but in homely humility to meet tender, personal needs among His friends.

To Mary Magdalene, paralyzed with lonely grief, He shows Himself alive and speaks her name.

To the Jew-fearing disciples behind locked doors, He breathes out peace and the Holy Spirit.

To Thomas in stubborn unbelief, He offers wounds in hands and side, reason to trust again.

To night-wearied fishermen, He gives a haul and a hot meal.

To sheepish, ashamed Peter, He extends another chance, a call, a commission.

Whatever your need, your wound, your grief, your failure today, the still-living Christ is able to meet you there.  May He show Himself to you and give you fresh hope.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! 

In his great mercy 

he has given us new birth 

into a living hope 

 through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

1 Peter 1:3, NIV

Reflections on Love

by a disciple Jesus loves

Love brings a cross.

Falling into the ground to die,

Washing the feet of one who will deny Him,

Embracing one who will betray Him with a kiss,

Laying down His life,

Leaving the beloved to suffer for a time.

Love brings a cross.

Love brings resurrection.

Bringing forth much fruit,

Cleansing and holiness,

Abiding in the Father’s love,

Entrusting the beloved to the better Comforter,

Returning again to receive us to Himself.

Love brings resurrection.

Love calls the beloved to follow:

The shadow of the cross,

The glory of the resurrection.

“Love one another as I have loved you.

Abide in My love.”

Gratitude 13: Hope

Hope is a gift:
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (1 Peter 1:3).


Hope is a choice:
Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming (1 Peter 1:13).


Hope does not depend on the seen:
We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.  Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently (Romans 8:22-25). 

Hope depends on God's Word:
I wait for the LORD, my whole being waits,
   and in his word I put my hope (Psalm 130:5). 

Hope depends on God's character:
Israel, put your hope in the LORD,
   for with the LORD is unfailing love
   and with him is full redemption (Psalm 130:7).


Today I thank You, Lord. . .
~that You are good and Your steadfast love endures forever (Psalm 136:1)
~for Your presence in a difficult, uncomfortable week
~for my husband's support and willingness to adjust his plans to care for me
~for my mom's availability and willingness to give a day to me when I needed help and her company
~for my dad's voice on the phone
~for fancy tea from my sister
~two sets of family who love me and haven't yet voted me off the island
~for my husband's family's generations of Christian heritage
~for good days and bad days
~for Christmas presents on the porch
~for Ebony's faithful "fuzz therapy," health, and good cheer
~for caterpillars (swallowtail? though we only saw adult monarchs) left behind in the parsley as the monarch migration fades
~this stunning post reminding me "we are morning people"
(Gratitude list # 1841-1853)