The practice of thanksgiving

       Here we are again, Thanksgiving week.  And, here I am again, a little bitter that the consumerism of Christmas is overshadowing the reflection work that is needed in our hearts as we learn to practice thankfulness.  

       My dream this year?  To sit with those I love and reflect out loud on myriad things in which we are thankful.  To talk about the things of the heart and the things of life that really matter.  

       Last week I got the opportunity to share holiday memories and traditions with our women’s ministry.  I reflected and shared about worshipping as a family on Christmas Eve.  Christmas music and times with family always bring me back to missing my dad and celebrating the many rich memories we had together.  So, of course, in true Jen fashion, I cried from the beginning.  Never fails–add a big group of people and sharing, and I lose it.  

      I took pleasure in hearing the other pastor’s wives and ministry leaders share their traditions and memories.  In fact, there were several that I would like to put into practice in our family–many of which had to do with the act of thanksgiving.  Many shared that they sat around the table and shared what they were thankful for from the past year.  I have made place cards in the past telling those there what I appreciate and am thankful for about them.  The idea that stuck with me was a thanksgiving jar.  This family has a jar in their home where they place sentences of thankfulness throughout the year.  As God works, they write it down.  They, then, dump the jar on the table after their Thanksgiving meal and one by one read what God has done and praise him for it.  We are all so quick to forget his faithfulness.  I loved this idea.  What I also loved about this is that it is about sharing the heart, but it may be less intimidating for an introverted person to read out a slip of paper than have pressure to share from their memory or something “profound.”

     We are commanded in scripture to give thanks in all circumstances–to rejoice and be thankful.  This is a conscious decision and practice.  Thankfulness breeds joy and encouragement.  It forces our eyes upward to God instead of on ourselves in self-worship (even if that self-worship involves negativity and feeling overcome with circumstances).  So, I choose to share what I am thankful for in this year, and I invited you to share as well…Not necessarily in order.

• First and foremost, I am thankful that God has taught me so much about beholding and living in the truth of the Gospel daily–That I am declared righteous in Christ because of his perfectly obedient life and death that bore the wrath for my sins…That I am set free from the bondage of sin to walk with him and in him and that I can obey him…That God has no more wrath for me–only the love and direction of a Father.
• I am thankful for His grace toward me daily. I do not live in religion and a set of rules but in his gracious work and character! ( and a reminder so faithfully to share that with others)
• The gift of my husband, Greg…that God is making us more like Christ in the pleasurable times together and in the hard.  That we can laugh together and be silly.
• Family and friends that are in relationship with Christ spurring me on toward love and good deeds and showing me the grace of Christ when I fall flat on my face.
• Dear old friends that knew me when and know me now and ask the hard questions…Cindy and Amber.  The fact that we semi-regularly get together and regularly chat on the phone.
• My “mentor” friend, Beth, who listens and helps from recycling to issues of infertility.  God is so gracious to put people in our lives who understand the heart and function of things at just the right time.  I am thankful that she is there now and has been there.
• I am thankful that God has stretched me and is stretching me to “do hard things” like form a non-profit, Women’s Discipleship Concepts,  providing a board, and people who are praying and giving, and new friends to minister with and to.  Hard work and faith and hard work and trust–he is faithful.
• I am thankful for the small group that God had us in for 7 1/2 years…and the friendships that have come out of that even when though the group has ended.
• I am thankful for the opportunity to minister and be ministered to as a small group leader for 5 years to a group of young women whom I miss meeting with weekly.  I thank God that he is faithful in their lives and is growing them.
• I am thankful for my dog, Bailey, whose presence teaches me to care beyond myself and whose warm snuggles are a joy.  I am thankful that her presence is there even when she makes my backyard look like a nuclear bomb has gone off…Even more special, we got her on my dad’s birthday 2 years ago.  I know he would have gotten a lot of joy from playing with her.
• I am thankful for Melba, my mentor, who ministers such love, grace, truth and encouragement to me.  I am thankful that she faithfully points me to God’s word.
• I am thankful for a warm bed to sleep in and a warm home to open to share with others.  I am ashamed when I compare to others and think I have less–because we are richly provided with all we need.
• I am immensely thankful for our church body, Fellowship Church.  I am thankful for the heart of the elders and pastors and the body which seek to honor Christ and hold tightly to his gospel and nothing else!  I am thankful that my husband has a boss there that ministers to him and encourages him.  
• I am thankful for deep questions to ask of myself and others—and I am thankful for dry answers from myself and others which continue to teach me that I need Christ every moment!
• I am thankful for the opportunity to work with college students and young adults–the life and energy and challenge they provide.
• I am thankful for all my nieces and nephews and how different and uniquely special they all are–in order of Age-youngest to oldest…Kale, Hunter, Joel, Sarah, Stephen, Andrew and Brittany.  (From 3 months to 22 years!)  I cannot wait to meet little Kale at Christmas.  I could not imagine at 11 years old, when Brittany was born, how much these precious ones would be a part of my life.  
• I am thankful that I get to stand with Brittany and have the honor of being her Matron of Honor next May as she marries Ben.
• I am thankful for God’s provision of timing and a doctor to help diagnose and treat Greg this year as this is the beginning of our battle with Rheumatoid Arthritis.  God has been faithful to provide from doctor to medicine to energy…to joy in the midst of hardship.
• I am thankful for a mother who has wisdom to support in very special ways and not put pressure–I think about dating and marriage and now looking toward children.  She never pushes or puts pressure in those areas.  I only hope I can be wise in those things with others.
• I am thankful that God is the one in charge of bringing life into our family…I echo my trust in him.
• I am thankful for new friends this year…
• I am thankful for music.
• I am thankful for the opportunity to exercise.
• I am thankful for the talent of painting and art and creativity.  It is a way to enjoy life fully.
• I am thankful for times of quiet–at my sister’s lakehouse, in the hammock, in the bathtub, driving in silence, hiking, at my aunt’s beach house…
• I am thankful for the diversity of all our family.
• I am thankful that God is Sovereign…a beautiful comfort for a worrier like me.  I am thankful he is teaching me to rest in his sovereignty in all things…salvation, finances, marriage, children, future, friendships, etc.
• I am thankful for the things that are yet to come in this year as we celebrate together Thursday and beyond.

A much needed challenge

Check out a series of blogs on Sabbath rest at Ben Finch’s blog.  Sabbath is a foreign concept to many, but it is  commanded and needed.  This is good stuff.

More and more…

‘Finally, brothers, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living.  Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more.’ 1 Thessalonians 4:1

‘Now about brotherly love, we do not need to write to you for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other.  And in fact, you do love all the brothers throughout Macedonia.  Yet we urge you, brothers, to do so more and more.’ I Thessalonians 4:9-10

       Yesterday, I had the opportunity of studying and reflecting on 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12 with my mentor, Melba.  I am trying to learn homeletics from her, and we used this passage to practice.  This passage has been very dear to me lately as 1 Thes 4:3 about God’s will being our sanctification has really been an anchor of truth in some circumstantial uncertainties.  

       The whole passage is about following and obeying God’s teaching to grow in purity, holiness and love in our living to glorify Christ to the world.  It serves as an encouragement and command to the people of Thessolonika.  They had been taught what was good, and they were obeying.  A phrase that stuck with us yesterday was to do so ‘more and more.’  In other words…keep seeking him, keep obeying, keep loving, keep following, keep being purified in him ‘more and more.’  

      Spiritual growth is a continuous process in which we never “arrive” on this earth.  When we compare ourselves to others we can pretend we arrive (if we compare ourselves to the right people), but we are not meant to compare ourselves to others.  The goal of our spiritual walk is sanctification–the conformity to Jesus Christ.  God, as our loving and gracious Father, grows us and disciplines us and forms us in our journey here through his word, relationships, circumstances.  Just like an earthly parent, he teaches us to say no to the things in our lives that hurt us and yes to the things in this life which grow us in his character (like a parent teaching manners and work ethic and respect, etc).  He also gives us his Spirit to depend on and rest in and to transform us. 

     Our lives are meant to be lived in relationship with him–in dependence on him.  The process of “more and more” teaches us to be dependent.  When making an honest assessment of life, do we strive for the ‘more and more?’  To live ‘more and more,’ we cannot be lazy–it is a daily interaction, reflection.  It involves daily worship–confession, repentance, study, prayer.  These are not things to check off a list; this is a life of surrender.  It is also a life lived in the truth and the power of the gospel daily.  We do not accomplish the ‘more and more’ by ourselves.

     Yesterday, we spoke of the ‘more and more’ in loving, giving, humbling ourselves, sharing, serving, living in purity.  The list could grow ‘more and more.’  Here are some questions to ask today:

• Where are you resting in yourself instead of depending upon him more and more?
• What do you know to be God’s will revealed in his word that you are not growing in more and more?
• How are you examining yourself daily to grow  more and more?
• Are you celebrating the gospel more and more in your life?
• How can you love more and more today?  
• How can you prioritize life to give more and more resources?
• How are you growing in purity more and more by what you watch, listen to, think on?
• What is the state of your heart when you read this?  Frustration? Guilt? Anger? Joy?–Remember the Cross of Christ and who you are in it.

Stewardship

Go over to Women’s Discipleship Concepts for a new blog/study about Stewardship–it is not just about money!

Lost in Life

    So, it has been awhile since I have written a post.  This last week and a half has been filled with struggles, thoughts, joys, exhaustion, friends, ministry, etc, etc.  

      Daniel’s funeral was very sobering for me.  It was surreal to see so many friends from college in such a hard setting.  We all loved Daniel, and many had the opportunity to do life with him in Nashville over these past years after college.   We celebrated his life and the hope of the gospel together.  Please continue to pray for his family and dear friends–pray that in the pain and rawness of loss that they cling to their hope, Christ.  

     Human emotions and processing are crazy.  At the funeral I was pretty calm and did not express much emotion, but the day after, I was numb and overcome at the same time.  That grief was also a catalyst for the other stressors and sadness in my life.  I hit a wall for several days, and I did not have words to post.  Sometimes I realize the craziness of the last eight months of life–Greg’s diagnosis of RA (learning to love him, care for him and cope with a different trajectory), starting a non-profit ministry (all the continued leading, fundraising, writing, meetings), struggling with getting pregnant, and trying to balance loving those well in my life, etc.  Many times, I do not have time to think about the realities of all of these things, but at times I see myself emotionally drained when I am running without fuel at times.  These are small things on the whole of what people deal with in life, but I have been rendered tired and ineffective for a few days.  

      Yet I am reminded of God’s sovereignty in all of these things…all of them are to bring good–making me more like Christ and knowing him more.   All of them are bigger than my comfort.  It is so easy to look to the left and right and compare with others instead of trusting God.  EVERYDAY I must bring my mind and heart under his truth–being transformed by the renewing of my mind (Romans 12:2).  Otherwise, I live for much less than I was created and redeemed to live.  I trash the treasure that life in Christ is–and I have to be reminded that he died for my forgetting, for my treasuring other things over him.  He is SO good.  The fact he gives me life and relationship to call him Father is more than I can grasp, and I hate that I so easily forget the beauty of him while worshipping myself as the center of this universe.

    Around Daniel’s funeral, a thought was in my heart.  Daniel never married or had children…he was 34 years old when he died.  Yet, he touched so many people and left such a legacy.  I was thinking that he left a legacy that counted for the kingdom.  I will go out on a limb and say a greater legacy than having children.  He had many spiritual children.  Many people go through life about themselves–building their own kingdom.  I frame this by saying that there are believers that have children and spiritual children at the same time–some one in the same and some not.  The thoughts resonating in my head are to live life well for the gospel–sharing it, cultivating it in people’s lives, loving others in the truth of the gospel, investing well in others for the sake of the gospel.  God’s economy is so distinct from the economy of this world.  This world says marry, have children, climb the corporate ladder, live for status and comfort.  God’s economy rescues us from these lesser treasures to know Him, to live life treasuring Him, and to make Him known.  His mercy and love are greater treasures than we can comprehend.  I believe Daniel got that and shared it.  May my life be about the greatest treasures and not getting tripped up for the momentary “treasures” of this earth (Matthew 6).

   To add a random things to catch up…Women’s Discipleship Concepts first fundraiser is this weekend.  It is a baby-sitting fundraiser where young adults are volunteering their time to baby-sit for families who will then donate the baby-sitting fee to WDC.  Please pray.  Doing something for the first time is always a challenge!  I also got the privilege of being with my niece Saturday as she chose her wedding dress.  I am happy to be serving as her Matron of Honor in May.  That is exciting!  Oh yeah…and I hope that you take the opportunity to vote–it is a privilege.