Thankful

Dear God,

As I see pictures and hear stories of the devastation caused by Katrina, I am reminded of how truly blessed I am. Please don't let me lose sight of all that You've given me. Don't let me become ungrateful and take Your gifts for granted.

When I open my power bill, let me be thankful that I have electricity.

When I pay higher prices for gas, let me be thankful that I have transportation, and that my car is not buried underwater.

When a phone call interrupts my dinner, let me be thankful that I have phone service.

When I mow my grass, let me be thankful to have a yard to mow, and a house that is intact.

When I complain that I have "nothing to wear", remind of how truly dumb that statement is, and let me be thankful that I have a closet full of clothes.

Whenever I'm tempted to wish for what I don't have, remind me of all that I DO have, that You have graciously given me. Let me be thankful that I am safe, that my family and friends are safe, and that all blessings come from You.

Most of all, let me be thankful that this world is only a temporary dwelling place. I am going to a place where there are no hurricanes, no flooding, no power outages, no gas shortages, no financial struggles, no looters, no losses.

Your power was shown in the awesome spectacle of the hurricane. Now let Your glory be shown. Let those suffering see Your compassion through us. Use us as Your hands, Your feet. Feed the hungry through us. Clothe the naked through us. Shelter the homeless through us. Dry tears and give hugs through us.

You have blessed me so much, Lord. Let me be a blessing to those in need.

Then the King will say to those on the right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.' "Then these righteous ones will reply, 'Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison, and visit you?' And the King will tell them, 'I assure you, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!' Matt. 25:34-40

In Jesus' name,
Amen

A Lesson in the Tall Grass

I mowed my grass tonight. It really needed it. Between the bouts of rain we've had, 90-something degree weather every day, and a hectic schedule the last couple of weeks, I'd neglected to cut it. But tonight was actually a few degrees cooler and the sky was a tad overcast when I got home from work so I pulled out the mower and began to mow down the jungle before my neighbors (most of whom are retired with plenty of time on their hands to have well-manicured lawns) revolted.

As I cut swaths through the thick, overgrown grass, I thought about the fact that I actually sort of like having tall grass to cut. I really don't EVER enjoy cutting grass, but if I have to do it, I want to do it when I can see progress made instantly. I like looking back at the strip of grass I just cut and seeing it neatly shorn next to the still uncut blades. Instant gratification.

I had an idea tonight that maybe sometimes God is slow (at least, from our standpoint) in handling our problems because He wants us to see that it's Him at work. When our worries seem to go from bad to worse, growing up and threatening to take over our lives completely, perhaps it's because God knows that if He took care of things sooner, we wouldn't notice or truly appreciate the difference.

I don't want to cut a lawn that will look the same both before and after it's been cut. Maybe God feels the same about our lives. Just a thought.....

Coming Clean

Recently I found out that an acquaintance of mine is still a bit miffed about a practical joke that I played a part in a few years ago. Someone else suggested that I consider apologizing to this person. Now, normally I am very sensitive to the Spirit's conviction in me when I hurt someone. However, in this case, I had honestly not thought about the situation in a very long time, and never felt the need to apologize.

Now that the suggestion's been made, however, it's been rolling around in my head and gathering steam. I could (and have) made many excuses justifying my lack of apology: this person is too sensitive, they should have gotten over it a long time ago, it was just a joke, it wasn't that big a deal, they need to move on with their life and stop living in the past, etc. And granted, I think I could make a strong case and many people would probably agree with me.

But--OBVIOUSLY it's a big deal to this person if it still bothers them all this time later. Maybe an apology from me is needed to further their healing from this situation. I don't know. But the more I think about it, the more convicted I feel to swallow my pride and apologize. I'm not looking forward to it. But confession is good for the soul, right?

What I'm Thinking...

It's been one of those weeks. I've had two big expensive car repairs done in the past week (although not as expensive as originally estimated, praise God!). Now I've got to call a plumber to fix a leak underneath my kitchen sink. They say money talks, and lately mine's saying "Goodbye, Lisa!".

But in spite of the inconvenience and expense of having all these repairs done, today I've really been convicted about my study in Philippians. I'll probably go into detail later when I have more time to write, but for today, my thought is that life is not nearly as big a deal as I often make it out to be.

Surprise, Surprise

Don't tell my dog, but I have a big surprise for her. A couple of years ago, my friend and down-the-street neighbor Aleah and I used to meet at the crack of dawn with our dogs and walk around the neighborhood. It was good exercise (especially on the particularly hilly streets), gave us an opportunity to catch up with each other and have accountability time, and also provided our dogs with ample street corners with which to do their business.

For multiple reasons (time, laziness, etc.) we eventually gave up our walking routine, much to the dogs' dismay. But the other day, Aleah asked if I would start to walk with her again, and I agreed. So come Monday, we'll be greeting the sunrise by walking around the neighborhood.

I know that I'll be bringing my dog (Bailey) along with me, but I can't tell her that just yet. It's gotten to where I have to spell out w-a-l-k in front of her, or else she'll start running for the door at the sound of the word. Just seeing her leash sends her into fits of joy as she jumps all over me in anticipation of getting to go for a walk. So I can only imagine the extreme doggy joy that she will experience next week when I get out of bed, get dressed, pick up the leash, and walk her down the street to meet her canine pal Cooper.

I wonder if God sometimes withholds certain plans from us because He knows that if we just heard about it, we'd go into insanely eager fits and would be unable to handle it. We don't often think of God having big plans for us up His sleeves--we figure that if He's not showing us the full picture now, then there's nothing there to show at all. How wrong we are. I believe that God has incredible, amazing things in store for us, things that our earthly bodies and minds are ill-equipped to take in and accept. I wonder if God is as filled with anticipation of showing us His plans as we are in waiting to receive them.

The Final Score

The other night my boyfriend and I caught the re-airing of last season's SEC football championship game between Auburn and Tennessee. With him being a huge Auburn fan and me being a non-Tennessee fan (by virtue of my being a huge Alabama fan), we both enjoyed watching the game again.

Although there were parts of the game that we didn't enjoy (hearing "Rocky Top" just once is usually enough to have it stuck in my head all evening), we could relax as we watched it because we knew what the final score would be (Auburn 38, Tennessee 28, in case you forgot). When Tennessee looked like they were making a comeback in the second half, we didn't get upset or groan. We knew who the winner would be.

It occurred to me that we already know the outcome of this life, already know that we're on the winning side. And yet so many times I forget that and become anxious and worried and fretful, unable to enjoy today because I'm unsure of tomorrow. Too often, I need to be reminded that Christ has won the victory for us. I may not know when this life will end, or exactly how it will, but I know the final score.

"...Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world." John 16: 33