Don't Skip Thanksgiving...

The transition from hot summer days to cool autumn mornings and nights is magical. I always look forward to a couple months of pumpkins, apples being baked into tasty treats, and waking the fireplace from its summer slumber. November brings Thanksgiving, which is a grand holiday tradition in my family. We look forward to Thanksgiving all year long. We prepare for days for all the cousins to barrel through our door, eat too much and sit by the fire. My husband's grandmother-our Mamanon- taught me that a cousin is a "first friend" a " forever friend." I have worked to instill this into my own children.

But...if you haven't noticed during your Thanksgiving grocery shopping at the local super center, the Christmas aisles have already choked out the pumpkins and scarecrows. However, this is right on schedule because the Thanksgiving decor was already on display in July. You can't blink your eyes too many times or you may forget what month it actually is. You may already have your house decorated for Christmas (confession: I do too). The advent season is a beautiful time of year to proclaim the birth of our Savior; however, I have found myself silently screaming in the aisles, “What about giving thanks?”  “We can’t skip Thanksgiving!”

Our culture is driven by the holidays marked on our calendars. As Christians we fall victim to this as well and must be intentional to celebrate the birth of Christ, his death and resurrection and give thanks to God throughout the entire year. Years ago, I began to see this holiday driven mindset as a means and opportunity to share the Gospel of Christ with everyone around me.  Thanksgiving, for example, opens the door to tell others what I am most thankful for boldly and unapologetically. Often, people ask me what I have to be thankful for and they begin the conversation. Our friends and neighbors are hungry at Thanksgiving, not for turkey and dressing, but for a peace and purpose that only God can give.  In the midst of the suffering, hurt, and darkness that surrounds us, Christians can be a light that says, I am thankful. What an opportunity and calling we have to take advantage of those moments when we can proclaim God’s goodness and provision with friends, family, strangers and cousins! 

Psalm 107:8

” Let us give thanks to the Lord for His unfailing love and His wonderful deeds for man.”

Psalm 118:21

“I will give you thanks for You answered me; You have become my salvation.”

I Chronicles 16:34

“Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever.”

Psalm 68:19

“Thanks be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens.”

These verses show us the many reasons we have to be thankful to God. I invite you to reflect on the ways God has showed His love, carried your burdens, saved you, done wonderful deeds and showed you His goodness.  This year, I appeal to you, Don’t Skip Thanksgiving. Take the time and opportunities God gives you and be a witness to His goodness in all of life, whether that be in triumphs or tragedies.  Paul tells us in I Thessalonians 5:18 “Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.” When we are asked to share what we are thankful for this year, I pray we will use that moment to mirror the image of Christ and be a witness to what a heart of thankfulness looks like.  

Happy Thanksgiving.

17 Broken Shells

My wedding anniversary is on May 20. This year we celebrate 17 years of fun, love and survival!  For the past several years our tradition is to go to Tybee Island for the day on our anniversary.....and sit!  We are beach lovers and soak up every minute. However, for almost 12 years now our beach trips consist of wagons, toys, buckets, diaper bags, Capri suns, goldfish, sand castles, boogie boards and every other kid paraphernalia you can buy to take to the beach. Remember John Candy from the movie Summer Rental- that's Tony every summer!

 One day a year we get to sit together with our toes in the ocean and talk, read and sleep and not once do we have to yell stop throwing sand at your sister or brother! I'm telling you its magical. We also walk away at the end of the day with a shell for each year. This year the mission was to collect 17 new shells to add to the collection.  As we looked for the perfect shells to mark each year of this journey, we realized we were not finding very many perfect shells. It seemed like every shell we picked up was broken.  These treasures from the sea had been tossed and turned in the tides and thrown to shore as only half or a part of what it once was.  As we collected our broken bounty the theologian in both of us couldn't resist preaching the illustration that was unfolding in our sandy hands. Broken...what a perfect word to describe our last year. The last year we have seen so much brokenness. Broken people, broken bodies, broken families, broken relationships, broken marriages, broken churches, broken communities, broken leaders, broken trust...brokenness is everywhere. For us, our home was literally broken.

Before we began our shell search I had been reading a new book by Ann Voskamp, The Broken Way. Out of the ten books I wanted to read on the beach that day, this one made its way to the top of the beach bag. I suppose I have been wrestling with my search for understanding brokenness long before picking up a busted conk shell. When the weight of brokenness is surrounding me, I want to know why. I want to know who or what is to blame so that I can fix it and stop the breaking. It might be a life changing circumstance or it might be that one individual day that falls apart with every move I make or conversation that is spoken. Regardless, feeling the brokenness is at times too much to bear. Seeing others in their brokenness is even more painful than feeling my own. Out my bedroom doors the hand crafted, glass green house my father built many moons ago is still a pile of rubble 7 months later.  I continually search for God's purpose in the shards of glass.
Ann Voskamp says, "There's a brokenness that's not about blame. There's brokenness that makes a canvas for God's light. There's brokenness that makes windows straight into souls. Brokenness happens in a soul so the power of God can happen in a soul."  

The creator of the world and humanity did not form us for brokenness. It was not intended for nature and man to experience the great losses we do each day. Yet, in God's great mercy, this parasite that attaches itself to every man and beast and creates deep wounds to the mind, body and spirit is still used by God to be a light of goodness and glory. Doesn't our brokenness point us to the One that is whole? Don't you think when we accept our own brokenness and other's brokenness we then find wholeness?

"Maybe the deepest wounds birth deepest wisdom. We are made in the image of God. And wasn't God's heart made to be broken too? Wounds can be openings to the beauty in us. And our weaknesses can be a container for God's glory." Ann Voskamp

I naively stroll the beach on the edge of the water thinking I might find that huge, perfect conk shell. Maybe this will be the moment the tide brings one my way. Until then, my toes dig up the broken pieces of oysters and clams. I am not disappointed. I am not running away from the brokenness under my feet. I simply embrace it and wait to see what God will make out of this broken mess. With each non-perfect shell Tony and I collected this year, I am gently reminded that all these halves and parts and this brokenness is what makes our marriage perfect. All the brokenness leads me to the One that is perfect.

Strawberries with a side of Joy please...

I am that mom that packs fruit of all kinds in my children's lunchboxes even though I am positive they will not eat it. They each have about two fruit choices that stand a chance of being eaten when not being coaxed after each bite. Why would I do something so foolish or wasteful you ask?  In some insane way it helps soothe my need for the kids to eat healthy, whole food, non-processed, non-GMO, non-hydrogenated, whole grain, organic, and everything else free foods. Basically, it makes me feel like that trendy mom on the cover of parenting magazines handing out kale smoothies for her children's after school snack. Occasionally, I face the truth and accept that my children can be picky. Often the pickiness is for no other reason than they do not want to work at trying something new or it leaves a bad taste in their mouth. Girl one says "watermelon." Girl two says "strawberries." Baby boy says "what do you have in chocolate?"

Today, I concluded a three month study on the Fruit of the Spirit in Marriage. This group of women, lovingly called REJOICE, has encouraged, enlightened, and challenged me each time we have met together. I am very thankful for each of them.  For weeks now I have invested my reading and thoughts on the Fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5. One would think I  should now have some answers to life and faith in regards to the subject, but like always I find myself asking more questions and wanting to study more. In the past 17 years of marriage and 4 years of dating I have read countless books on marriage and relationships. Each has its benefits and practical wisdom. However, my heart longs to understand what it means to have "Holy Matrimony." A marriage that is set apart, unique, and not ordinary. I have learned that what happens as we desire and search for the meaning of holiness is we find ourselves in the vineyard of the Fruit of the Spirit. I think that often we try to grasp an understanding of peace, patience, goodness, self control, gentleness, and faithfulness by trying to juggle apples, oranges, grapes, and blueberries.  We separate them into separate fruits and then choose the ones we will allow the Holy Spirit to work within us. "Yes, I will have the goodness and peace, but I'm allergic to kindness and self control has a bitter taste."  God packs them in our lunches but we refuse to eat them.

Imagine if we, as God's holy, chosen people let the Holy Spirit change and transform us, thus changing our marriage relationships. If self control was part of our character think how much better we would handle conflict. If gentleness was growing within our bones I am sure we would not speak harshly or hurtfully. What if we allowed patience to come and rest within us so that God could show us his power. Imagine our marriages if kindness and mercy were our default, not selfishness and ungratefulness. Paul says it is The Fruit, not many fruits. We do not have the luxury of picking the ones we like and refusing the ones that are hard to swallow. How can I possess joy in all seasons and circumstances in my marriage yet lack patience? It is not possible. I imagine a whole new fruit. One that only the Holy Spirit could produce.  One that has the sweetness of a Georgia peach, the texture of a Gala apple, and the tang of a mango. The fruit that looks like "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control." This fruit is perfect for everybody.  This girl says, "I want that one!"