::Thankful Because::

...It's Sunday! :)

 

I was glad when they said to me,

"Let us go to the house of the LORD!"

{Psalm 122:1}

::Thankful Yet Again::

Today is the start of Christmastime. Not that I haven't already been lstening to Christmas music...but today it's official, with the tree up and the decorations out. I know I've said it here before, but I love that Christmas is the beginning of the journey to Easter.

A new CD I've been listening to has the song "Mary's Boy Child" on it. This song has a fun, catchy tune, but I almost don't like to listen to it. Part of the chorus says, "Man can live forevermore because of Christmas Day." It's not because of Christmas Day, folks. "Man can live forevermore" because of Easter Morning. But it did all begin with a Baby in a manger...

I am thankful...

~for the Baby in a manger

~that the Baby grew up without sin, and ministered perfect among men

~that Jesus Christ died, and then rose again Easter Morning.

And I'm thankful it started with a Baby in a manger...because I love Christmas. :)

 

 

::Thankful Still::

{So that no one will think that I'm not, in light of past posts...}

Thankful...

~for bosses who are friends

~for fellow employees to laugh with

~to be {still} a part of this restaurant that I've known for over seven years

~to look back and be assured that God knew what He was doing seven years ago to bring me here; and, this fall, in allowing me to stay here one day a week.

~It was nothing I had asked for...but everyting I had desired and needed.

 Now to him who is able to do

far more abundantly

than all that we ask or think,

according to the power at work within us,
to him be glory in the church and in

Christ Jesus throughout all generations,

forever and ever.

Amen.

{Ephesians 3:20-21}

 

 

 

 

::Thankful Some More::

On Monday, my twins each gave me a "Happy Thanksgiving hug" as they said bye-bye. Those are the kind of moments where nothing else matters! :)

It's a reminder to me...

It was about this time last year--October and November--that I was really struggling. God didn't seem to be doing anything.

Be gracious to me, O LORD,

for I am languishing; heal me, O LORD,

for my bones are troubled.
My soul also is greatly troubled.

But you, O LORD--how long?

{Psalm 6:2-3}

How long? It wasn't just about my occupation at the time--although, true, the prior months had held many of those "not-so-good-memories" times. There was a lot of things going on. But this one seemed the most obvious.

But even if God didn't seem to be doing anything, He was not silent.

Trust Me, He said. Love Me. Serve Me. Glorify Me. Delight in Me. Worship Me. Hold Me high above all else in your life--dreams, desires, plans, people, activities, ministries, expectations...

Do I still ask "how long" about some things? Yes.

But my two little Thanksgiving hugs remind me that time ends. Nothing in time is eternal. Even if something continues for the rest of earthly life, it's still not forever.

It also reminds me that someday a harvest of tears will be reap another bounty.

The LORD has done great things for us;

we are glad.
Restore our fortunes, O LORD,

like streams in the Negeb!
Those who sow in tears

shall reap with shouts of joy!
He who goes out weeping,

bearing the seed for sowing,

shall come home with

shouts of joy,

bringing his sheaves with him.

{Psalm 126 3-6}

So today I am thankful.
~Thankful for the four little arms encircling my neck.
~Thankful for the reminder those two cute little voices are.

The weeping is hard. Painful. But it is not forever; rather, it is "preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison." {2 Corinthians 4:17}

::Thankful Again::

~Thankful for the relentless pursuit that is going on...regardless of what I do.

~Thankful that nothing, as a child of God, can separate me from the love of Christ.

~Thankful that within that pursuit is a call for another pursuit...me of Him.

I will never pursue so well, so faithfully, so wholeheartedly, but Lord willing, I will be in this pursuit for the rest of my life.

It is worth living for and dying for. It is worth sacrificing for and delighting in.

This my mind knows...
O Lord, let my heart know and experience it as well!

Seek the LORD and his strength;

seek his presence continually!

{Psalm 105:4}

 

::Thankful::

 

I am thankful...for I know that even if I had nothing else to be thankful for, there would still be one thing...

 

 

Though the fig tree should not blossom,

nor fruit be on the vines,

the produce of the olive fail

and the fields yield no food,

the flock be cut off from the fold

and there be no herd in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the LORD;

I will take joy

in the God of my salvation.

 

{Habbakkuk 3:17-18}

 

 

 

And yes, I do have a lot of things to be thankful for. But all those things point to the One...

 



Great are the Works of the Lord!

I’ve worked at the same restaurant for 7 ½ years. Good years…with a little stress and some not-so-good memories; but overall, good years.

But I’ve always known I wasn’t going to work in a restaurant forever. Even in the beginning. I never had a job besides babysitting in high school. Once I graduated, I was on to the working world…so I thought. What I didn’t know was that it was going to be a whole year of apply and wait, pray and wait, trust and wait. That was a tough year…and then my dad and I were driving past a local franchise that had a “now hiring” sign out front. My dad noticed and I responded with a definite “not working in a restaurant.” Long story short, I ended up applying, getting my first interview of the year, and being offered a job. Not exactly my first choice, but I saw God leading and so in I went. I loved it from the start. My bosses. The other employees. The guests. Even creating ice cream sundaes. J

None of that’s changed, really. I’ve just always known it was temporary…and seven years sort of pushes temporary in my book. Well, even six did. But as I prayed about it last year, God gently said “not yet.” I wanted to dig down deep with people…not just the in-and-out that comes with guests and even employees—we go in spurts where turnover is high and then not so much. We have regular guests, sometimes known by name, sometime known by nick-names—the Straw Hat Man. The Coffee Lady—and when they stop coming, we don’t know why…they got tired of us? get sick? move away? In reality, nothing on earth is permanent, yet I desired more permanency than what I was able to get. And a more set schedule wouldn’t hurt, either.

After a summer of being okay where I was, enjoying the people around me, God suddenly said, “yes.” And slowly the doors began to open.

I get to call myself a nanny now and get to play and cuddle babies. J Twin girls who are nearly 2. A family with a 3 year-old, 2 year-old, and almost 1 year-old (!). Another almost 1-year old occasionally. Full days for the former, half a day for the other, afternoons here and there for the third.

And I still work one day a week at my restaurant. It’s the best of both worlds, actually. And I have Fridays off. J Such a big schedule difference has been a big adjustment. I’m still not completely used to it yet!

It’s been a reminder to me, in the midst of this crazy past month, that God is working behind the yes’s, wait’s, and no’s. God knows what is best, and when it is best. On the other side we might understand…but that definitely doesn’t make things easy on this end. God remembers we are human and need reminders now and then. On the days that do not seem so bright, I only have to look back a few months and remember that yes, God is working.

Great are the works of the LORD,
studied by all who delight in them.

{Psalm 111:2}