Be Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving! In all the hustle and bustle, jostle and chaos remember to stop for a moment and be thankful. I know, I know, there is the grocery shopping, the baking, the cooking, the chopping and mashing. If you're traveling, there is the the packing and the mapping and the driving or flying and oh the hustle of it all can be exhausting! But, it can be exhilarating too! Seeing family and loved ones and friends! Such a great weekend is about to happen! There's the eating and the football and the cheering and then there is the shopping!!! So much fun to be had. 
But take a moment to step away from it all and be truly thankful for all you have or what little you have. If you only have memories of Thanksgivings past, you still have much to be thankful for. 
We are truly blessed people! Find a moment for a private reflection to thank the One who made it all. Our God and Creator. 
Psalm 95:1-7 

Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord;
    let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before him with thanksgiving
    and extol him with music and song.

3 For the Lord is the great God,
    the great King above all gods.
4 In his hand are the depths of the earth,
    and the mountain peaks belong to him.
5 The sea is his, for he made it,
    and his hands formed the dry land.

6 Come, let us bow down in worship,
    let us kneel before the Lord our Maker;
7 for he is our God
    and we are the people of his pasture,
    the flock under his care. 

Amen! 

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours from my thankful heart! 

Know Who You Are

My kids and I "movie speak" a great deal when we are all together. They are grown ups now, but when they are all home it isn't unheard of for us to have a whole conversation referring to favorite moves we watched over and over again while they were growing up. "You don't remember the opossum?" from The Kid, among others. A favorite, is a line from the movie Lion King, "You don't even know who you are!" Rafiki says it to Simba, making reference to who his Dad is. Simba's dad was the king of Pride Rock. Revered and looked up to as a great leader. When my girls are scared, worried, seeking direction, or don't know what to do about a decision or a situation, I will often say to them "You don't even know who you are!" Referring to whose they are in Christ. We believe in GOD and therefore HE is our Heavenly Father. Know who you are! Your Father is the King of kings!
I am reading an excellent book by Alex Early, in it he says "The reckless love of God for you is not found on just one page, but every page of the Bible. This changes how we read it from cover to cover. If your starting point is with anything other than the nature of who God is and the reckless love he feels and demonstrates for you, then you're bound to end up missing the overall point of Scripture--that our holy, righteous, all powerful God has gone to great lengths to forgive our sin, heal what is broken in us, and fill us with eternal, unbreakable love." Do you know who you are? Do you know who HE is?

We also quote commercials, a favorite of mine is, the one for those drops that turn your water into flavored drinks, "It changes everything!" Knowing who you are and whose you are changes everything!

Attitude Adjustment

I needed an attitude adjustment yesterday, due to a lot of knee pain lately, so I took myself over to the trail along the ocean and parked myself in the gazebo.
I've also been at a weird place or a strange season for awhile now. Trying to figure out what I am suppose to do with this empty nest.
As I sat there, I asked GOD, "so what now? What's up with this?" I felt like HE said, just look out at the sea and watch the waves. Just sit here. No agenda, no plan, no time frame.

So I let the wind blow my hair all over and I huddled under my nice wrap that was a gift from a friend and I watched the waves. Some were big and loud, some were smaller and gentle. All of it was beautiful! The ocean, the rocks, the sun and the sky. Then I spotted the otters playing in the waves. Not at all flustered or upset with the waves no matter the size of them. A group of the otters seemed intent on making it over to the large rock formation. They were swimming southward and the waves were coming in to the shore, so they were swimming across the current. Some of the waves got larger and the sea was getting rough as gusts of wind were coming in towards shore. The otters kept swimming, they let the waves roll right over them but they never got deterred, they just kept at it. They kept swimming. I feel like that is what the LORD was saying to me (to my heart). Just keep swimming, keep doing what I have called you to do. Even if the waves of life are crashing over you and into you, keep swimming. Keep going. Don't stop.

I was getting cold, and was about to leave, and the LORD also said, "See the rocks? I put them there and you don't even know when, but they remain. The ocean knows where to stop, the sun is still shining. It will set, but it will rise again, I have all these things in My Hand, including you. I've got you. Trust me. Trust me!

To confirm all of this, the reading in Jesus Calling this morning included this "A yielded heart does not whine or rebel when the going gets rough. It musters the courage to thank GOD even during the hard times. Yeilding yourself to GOD's will is ultimately an act of trust."
Read Psalm 116. I especially like verse 7 "Return to your rest, my soul, for the LORD has been good to you."