Elk Refuge

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My Dad keeps plenty busy as a volunteer for the National Elk Refuge

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View from the car — my dad’s trusty companion, Patti

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Daddy’s goofy shades, which he loaned to me for the moment

My Children in Haiti

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Josue — completed his sponsorship in 2002 — was in Port-au-Prince the last I heard.

Please pray for Josue and his family.  I’m grateful for ministries like Compassion that will be doing all they can to help the survivors, treat the injured, and raise up leaders to make decisions for the future.

Josue & Juli in 2002

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Enold — the young man I currently sponsor in Haiti — and Josue’s little brother.  These boys’ father is a pastor, and he walks 4 1/2 hours every Saturday to get to his church on the island of La Gonave.

Enold

Miscellaneous

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Artwork by a sponsored Compassion child

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Learning to quilt!

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Babies are so sweet!

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Meaningful artwork on the carillon at Kansas University

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The bell tower at my Alma Mater that I used to play

Scenes From the Past

I had the opportunity to return to my home town of Raytown, MO, recently.  It sure stirred up a lot of memories and thankfulness.

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It’s always fun to get together with high school friends

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Donna, a childhood friend I hadn’t seen for 35 years or so — we still remembered and giggled about all the goofy things we used to do.

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Blue Ridge Elementary School — I received a good education here

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My other grade school, Westridge Elementary School — also excellent

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Paul and I were married here 34 years ago this month

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Sanctuary

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This is my childhood home, which unfortunately has seen better days

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I’m thankful for my childhood town of Raytown, MO

Little Things

In keeping with Brad’s suggestion that we remember to thank God for the little things, I want to add to my list the following things.  These are considered the “little” (or normal) things in life — but actually, they’re huge.  Ask someone living in poverty if shoes are necessary, or food, shelter, clothing and medications.

Enold

Brad pointed out that his Compassion child, Sabato, needed a new pair of shoes, which Brad’s family supplied.  It caused me to get up out of my chair and go look at the photos of our Compassion children, and I discovered that Enold, of Haiti, did not have very good shoes on either.  I’m sending money to Compassion with a request that it be used for shoes for him.  How many “little” blessings around us do we take for granted?  We have such an abundance of them!  But many involve issues of life and death — food, shelter, clothing, medications.  I’m thankful I can help supply these needs for children in poverty through a company that I trust implicitly — Compassion International.

In the meantime, regarding my needs being supplied –

Thank You Lord; Thank You.

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Medications for all our health needs

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More clothes than we need

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More than adequate shelter

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An abundance of food

Also — a big thanks to Ann for starting this Gratitude Community, for sharing her tears and thanks with me (I’ve shared many over her beautiful blog), and for the warm welcome!

Endless Thanks

I’m so ready, finally, to join this group — the Gratitude Community!  The challenge began with Ann Voskamp, and was a challenge (to herself) to come up with One Thousand Gifts from God for which she was thankful.  True to gratitude, it didn’t stop at one thousand, but became a list of Endless Gifts.  

 

And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body.  And be thankful.  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.  And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.                                       — Colossians 3:15-17 (ESV)

And so, I begin my list of Endless Thanks in the form of this blog.  Take a closer look at the verses above.  I love them.  We even had them read at our wedding.  Our Pastor, Tom,  just reminded us Sunday of the solid advice they contain:

1. Let the Peace of Christ Rule in Your Hearts.  I think the word “let” is a huge word in these first two points.  We can LET peace rule (control) us in the midst of the conflict, during the trials, not just at the end.  In all things, we can let peace rule rather than anxiety, fear and despair.  Tom compared this to the control of a baseball umpire:  ”Let this peace rule — let it be the thing that rules and controls you and keeps you on track.”
2. Let the Word of Christ Dwell in You Richly.  We can let God’s Word come into our minds and affect how we think.  We don’t have to be controlled by thoughts of rejection, inadequacy or concerns about what others think about us.  Instead, we can fill our minds with the truths of God’s Word.  We can sing songs of gratitude — in fact, psalms, hymns and spiritual songs are one of the best ways to memorize God’s truths, and to express what you’re feeling.  He suggested we sing what we’re experiencing — blues, for instance, came out of tragedy and pain.  It’s interesting to see the words of hymns that came out of the Protestant Reformation.  Spirituals came out of slavery.
3. Whatever You Do, in Word or Deed, Do Everything in the Name of the Lord Jesus.  It’s not all about us; it’s all about Him!  To quote Tom again, “What is not included in this word, ‘Everything?’”  That made me stop and think!  He also spoke truth to my heart when he said, “Maybe the purpose of your life is not about making you happy, but about making others happy — loving and serving them.”    We live to glorify Him, and that includes thinking of others besides ourselves.   And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.”  –2 Corinthians 5:15 (NIV)
4. And Be Thankful…With Thankfulness in Your Hearts to God…Giving Thanks to God the Father Through Him.  Tom rightly pointed out that thankfulness is the common thread in all of this — notice how it weaves through all these verses.  He said, “Thankfulness is learning to tie every event in life to God, even the things that hurt the most.  Allow the peace of God to give direction, to impact your life and to overflow to others.”     

As these fall in place — Peace, God’s Word, Purpose, Thankfulness — we will find that everything in our lives points to Christ.  He is central; He rules and controls our very thoughts.  We can then realize that illusive dream — abundant life — and certainly a peaceful and joyful life of Endless Thanks.  Finally, I need to mention that Tom has been battling a mysterious fever and fatigue that has been holding him in illness for over 45 days, since he returned from ministry in Asia, so he knows what he’s talking about.  This is what has come out of that pain, and these scriptures have given Tom the courage he needed to experience peace in the midst of the trials.