The Benefits of Thankfulness, part 2

My heart overflows

Thankfulness Produces Satisfaction

by Jeana Gladstone

If I don’t focus on the things God has given and pause to express my thanks to him, then not only do I miss many of his blessings, but I put myself into a constant state of wanting.  Always asking, always desiring, always wanting, but never being satisfied with what he gives; never recognizing every good and perfect gift that comes from the Father.  

If I’m always asking, but never thankful, then I am not receiving from him.  There is so much he wants to give, but it’s not always the same as what I would ask for - his ways are not our ways.  How arrogant of me to think I know better what I need than the One who created my inmost being.  

If I’m always asking, not only am I not receiving from him, but neither am I giving to him.  My gratitude feeds him.  It satisfies him deeply.  He breathes in my praise; he drinks my expressions of thanks, and he is fulfilled.  Something in the heart of God is touched and made content.  

It’s like fruit to him.  The fruit of my lips becomes his food.  Mind boggling.  

At some point in our lives we’ve probably all been told to slow down and chew our food -  receive it with thanksgiving; savor it, carefully chew and swallow receiving nourishment - not just scarf it down.  In the same way we must learn to savor and carefully chew life’s blessings.  This is the only way we can receive fulfillment and satisfaction.  

Hebrews 13:15-16

Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name.  And do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

Proverbs 15:15

A cheerful heart has a continual feast 

Why spend money on what is not bread and your labor on what does not satisfy?  Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.  Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live.  Isaiah 55:2-3

At the beginning of this verse instead of first instructing us, he opens with a question - why?  The answer is implied.  Why would you do this; it doesn't make sense.  Why would you spend your time, energy, money, and labor on something that will not bring you fulfillment?  The human heart naturally seeks satisfaction.  He doesn't say there is something wrong with that.  In fact the implication is that the heart should be satisfied.  Interestingly he does not say: "You should not seek satisfaction and fulfillment - those things are wrong.  You should be a stoic, never experiencing pleasure."  No, instead he wants our souls to delight, to live, to be satiated.  The main point here is made by implication - you're wasting your time if you try to find that satisfaction somewhere besides what he offers us.  People seek satisfaction in all kinds of things - money, power, position, family, entertainment, as well as drugs and riotous living.  But the Lord is asking us to evaluate these things based on whether or not they truly nourish and feed the soul.  Does this cause my soul to delight; will this cause my soul to live?  

Listen, eat, delight.  Now he gives us direct commands.  Listen to me.  He has words that will cause our souls to delight.  The word of God in and of itself has power to give us life.  He again draws the analogy to eating actual food.  He says - eat what is good.  His words are truly good and good for us.  They are the "superfood" of spiritual nutrition.  And he says not only are they good for us, but, if we eat them, we will delight in them as in the richest of foods.  What he offers is a gourmet feast.  Why would you go anywhere else?

Again he implores: give ear and come to me; hear me - that your soul may live.  He is concerned for our well being.  He wants us to be healthy and to thrive, not just get by.  And right here, more than once, he tells us the secret, the key, the formula, the pattern, the way to abundant, prosperous, fulfilling soul life - Come to ME.  He is the way.  

So what would you rather?  Waste your time striving, working, and laboring for something that ultimately will not satisfy your hunger; or come to him and allow him, as only he can, to feed your soul with delightful, delectable delicacies that will cause you to flourish and be fulfilled?  

Eat what is good.  Your soul will live.

Table Makeover

Some of you have asked about my recent table project, so I thought I’d let you in on how I did it.  

First of all, I looked online here and here for ideas and inspiration on turning my drab table into a thing of beauty.  

I began by sanding with a medium grade sanding block.  Then the first coat went on.

Hope even got in on the fun.

I used Valspar Aqua Ocean 5005-10A.  Two coats with sanding in between.  

  

After the paint had dried, I distressed around the edges and select spots until I was happy.

When all that was finished, I took a cloth dipped in Minwax English Chestnut and wiped it on in small sections, then used the other damp end of the cloth and mostly wiped the stain off.  It gave it a beautiful, rich color.

I ended up doing more distressing before adding three coats of Minwax Water Based Polycrylic.

Love the finished product!  :-)

The Benefits of Thankfulness, part 1

Thanksgiving Releases and Awareness of God’s Presence...

When I am mindful of what he gives and thoughtful enough to pay attention and say thank you, it positions my heart in a place of looking for him.  

My eyes are open to the next thing he might do, the next gift he might quietly leave - while he gazes intently to see if I’ll notice.

As I find these gifts and unwrap them, I feel his nearness, and I realize - he’s here now.

These little gifts are his signature, his “I was here” graffiti.  As I pass throughout the day looking for those trail marks, I find that I’m really looking for him.  And with each one that I take into my heart and return a nod, a prayer, or a sigh of thanksgiving, I think I hear him; the crunch of his stepping on a nearby fallen twig gives him away.  He’s very close.  He’s watching me.  He’s trying to see if I’ll discover all those love notes he posted along the path.  

Below is a song I wrote while pondering these truths...

You Put it There for Me

Something, something’s pulling me forward

Giving me an expectancy

Something, something’s pulling me closer

Opening my eyes to see

Maybe it was just the song of a thousand birds in the trees

Maybe it was just the sun lighting up the sky at sunset

Maybe it was just the voice of child singing so purely

But I know whatever it was

You put it there for me

You put it there for me to see

A gift for me to hold

You did it so that I would know

You’re just that close

And I see your beauty

And I hear your voice

And I feel your presence

All around, all around me

~ Jeana

Jesus Is Lord

The Lordship of Christ is not just a creed, not just a cute little phrase to tack onto the end of a lull.  What are the implications of these words for my life?  What does it mean that Jesus is Lord?  What is the significance of this truth?

If He is Lord, who, therefore am I?  I am his subject.  I am his servant.  I am his steward.   And yet, at the same time, He has made me a co-heir with him.

I bow.  I confess. I give him precedence in all things.  I honor.  I worship.

When the disciples encountered his authority over nature, they cried out in amazement - who IS this man?  And Peter begged him - depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.  

Everywhere Jesus went he changed the equation.  And yet he did not rule by force.  The One Being in all the universe truly deserving the service of mankind came instead declaring: I did not come to be served, but to serve...

Meekness and majesty.  

God in humility.

The King becomes a servant, thereby empowering his subjects and giving them a life they never could have obtained without him.  

His Lordship is a quality he possesses with or without the acknowledgement of humans.   He doesn't need us to recognize him as such for it to be so.  He is secure in being who he is.  If we submit to him as Lord, then we ourselves benefit.  But even if we don't, he won't force himself upon us.  He'll just go on being the Lord until the Day of reckoning.  Then, on that Day, the acknowledgment of his Lordship will come from each one who has borrowed breath from him, but the benefits will no longer be available.  

I choose to bow now.

God as God

"We want to know Him as He reveals Himself, not as our unassisted human hearts or the world define Him." - Bob Gladstone

Reflections on a Revelation of God as God...

I need to know God as He really is, not as I imagine him to be.  Not as someone else has told me he is.  Whose word could I trust?  Whose experience could be an infallible witness explaining him perfectly?  

And yet... God is perfectly revealed in Christ.  He is the exact representation of him.  That which is unseen is seen in Christ.  

Don't you know me, Jesus asked Philip, have I been with you all this time and you still don't know who I am?  This his response after Philip exclaimed, "Show us the Father!  And it will be enough for us."  Seems like an admirable request, one coming from the depths of Philip's captured heart.  But Jesus gives him a mild rebuke - how could you ask that, don't you know who I am?  When you've seen me, you've seen the Father.

So getting to know Jesus = getting to know the Father.   He has declared him.  This is the mystery and the significance of the incarnation.  

God is revealed in his word.  When we read the word of God, divinely inspired by him, we are beholding a true reflection of who he is.  This is our standard of measurement for every other revelation.  If we think we receive something about God and it doesn't square with what he has already said, then we know that our "revelation" is somehow flawed.  God doesn't contradict himself nor does he change like shadows that dance around in the dark.  

God desires to reveal himself to me.  He longs for me to know him.  He wants to pull back the curtain and show me a little more of his goodness, his mercy, his compassion, his glory.  He knows I'm weak and can't absorb more than a small fraction of it at once, but still he desires fellowship with me.  He wants to break into my world and have me recognize him.  He wants me to learn to hear his voice.  He wants me to be searching the Scriptures for words to live by, lifting my voice in worship throughout the day, sitting at his feet pouring out my worship perfume.  

I want to know him as he is.  So many images have been created in the name of God, so many icons, so many avatars impersonating him.  People, ideas, false gods, fantasies, theories, all pretending to be THE God of the universe.  Yet there is only One true and living God, One way to eternal life, One Creator of all things.  Who is this God and what does he say about himself?

Gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.  

The only way I can truly experience God is by revelation.  My heart has to be drawn and he has to open my eyes.  Otherwise I cannot know who he really is.  Jesus said no one could come to him unless the Father would draw him. So I need God to have God.  I need God to even begin to desire God.  Everything begins with him.  From him, to him, and through him are all things - to him be the glory forever.

   

Appetizers

Even with all the amazing gifts of love each day, they are actually reminders of greater things to come. 

It's as if we're on an expedition finding gold. But all the flecks we uncover - as wonderful, beautiful and exhilarating as they may be - are indications that the Mother-load is out there still unrealized. 

“Open my eyes to see the wonderful mystery of love” - when I receive a gift of your love here, help me to lift my eyes to the Giver who is smiling at me with love whispering, "There's more where that came from; indeed, much more than you can imagine... Just wait till you get here."

 ...you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven. Hebrews 10:34

#53 New beginnings with new mercies for each new day.

#54 Chocolate covered pretzels

Becoming More of a Child

How would I know Christ as my deliverer unless I had been in a pit?

How would I know him as my Savior unless I had been lost?

How would I know him as the One who calms the storm 

unless I had been in the midst of a tempest?

How would I know him as my provider if I had never been in need?

How would I learn to depend on him if I were never destitute?

How would I know him as my healer if I had never been sick?

So I can give thanks even if I don’t have a lot, even if I’m being tossed by life’s storms, even I’m struggling with illness, even if I am at the end of all my natural resources... 

indeed “he THEN is all my hope and stay.”

It’s during those times when I learn who he really is.  

If I don’t truly experience HIM during adversity, drought, famine, or trials, then do I really KNOW him at all?  Am I only thankful during times of prosperity - those rare moments when “everything is going great”?  

I have to find GOD no matter the situation.  I think he set it up this way.  He’s there pulling for me saying, “Come on, you can do it.  Just trust me this time.  Keep praising, keep rejoicing.  Watch what I will do.  Watch who you’ll become...”

The Year of the Launch

The approaching year is looming out there in the near distance like the moon on a cloudless night.  But instead of getting smaller as the night rolls in, it’s getting larger.  Still a bit mysterious.  Still undiscovered.  We know what it is in general, but we don’t know exactly what it will look like.  We are indeed seeing through a glass darkly.  

It’s like a large ship getting ready to launch out into uncharted waters.  We know he’s commissioned us; we know he’s spoken.  We know he’s given us the command, “Launch out into the deep waters.”  And we, like Peter, take a deep breath and try not to say, “But we’ve fished all night,” but rather to join in with the latter part of his statement: “Nevertheless, at your word, Lord, we will do it.”  We don’t know exactly how it will look, what storms we will encounter, what he will consider success for us in this new phase of our journey.  

Nevertheless we prepare to launch.  We gather our family, our belongings, and provision for the journey as best we know how, and move onto the ship.  Then we wait.  When the wind begins to blow, the sails will lift and the boat will embark.  Until then we remain in position, anticipating that powerful force to fully launch us into those deeper waters.  

We have no idea how many other boats are waiting in the wings ready to follow, just needing someone to go first.  Could there be two, three, or several thousand?  

Could Columbus have foreseen modern-day America when he climbed on board the Santa Maria?  DId Amerigo Vespucci know that two continents would eventually bear his name  when he began his voyage?

So it is with trembling knees we prepare for our launch and with our ears leaned in closely to the master’s heart.

Beginning the List

I've been challenged by Ann's 1000 gift list to begin one of my own.  

So I started the day after Christmas.  As I began listing things I was thankful for, something started happening way deep down.  As I was drifting off to sleep that night, I realized that thanksgiving is a feast for the soul.  The gratitude was changing me.  Changing my perspective, changing my outlook.  I am grateful for this experience, for this new-found joy. 

“Gratitude bestows reverence, allowing us to encounter everyday epiphanies, those transcendent moments of awe that change forever how we experience life and the world.” John Milton

A snippet and commentary from my 1000 gift list:

# 14 Driving by a snowy hill - so thankful that I grew up with an appreciation for the beauty of nature.  My mom and dad gave me that.

I can still hear my mom squealing “It’s snowing!” in my inner ear.  Probably because she still does it every time it snows.  And every beautiful sunset that graces the sky, I hear her exclaim, “Look at that!  Look at that!  Look at that!”  

My dad’s quiet wonder at the beauty of Lake Tahoe.  His silent breathing in of the majesty of the mountains, lakes, trees, hills.  This brings healing  to my soul.  

New Year

Hey Everyone! Since it's January, I thought I would update my blog that I started in August! LOL. At least I warned you that I may not be able to keep up with it. To tell you the truth, I couldn't remember where the blog was located, the url, the password - nothing. But I finally found it again, so I think I'm could to go. At least for today. I didn't realize people were actually reading my blog and making comments. So... sorry for ignoring all of you all this time.

Lately however, I have been trying to write more. I find that when I write I can think through things. Sometimes I just end up with more questions, but at least I have narrowed down the issues to a few choice questions instead of random, crazy thoughts.

This has been a year of changes so far. Jana graduated from high school in December and is now in community college full time. She's only 17 and doesn't have her license quite yet, so that means I have a new job - taxi driver. :-) Not something I always aspired to be, but I am happy to facilitate her getting an associates degree for much less $$ than going to a "regular" school. She plans on going to Regent eventually. Does anyone have any great ideas for navigating through the fafsa website without losing your mind? Joanne Cava told me, "Just one question at a time." I guess that's the best advice so far.

We've been working through the book, The Heart of Anger lately. Let me tell you, this is an awesome book. I started reading it and decided it would great to use it as a springboard for family devotions. So we have discussed chapters 4 and 5 I think together and started putting into practice some of the suggestions in these chapters as family. It's a great tool and learning how to deal with situations in a Christ-like way - whether or not you think you have a problem with anger. One of the challenging things the author says is that Christians should be experts in biblical communication. Right away I agreed and thought, Ok, I need to work on this. So I decided to make my new years' goal to get better at biblical communication. How bout taking the challenge with me? Instead of aiming to lose 10 pounds or some other great feat, why not make a character goal this year? Getting better at being kind. Or improving your thoughtfulness skills. Something like that. What do you say? Anybody got any great ideas??

Questions About Homeschooling

Hey Everyone, I'm trying out the new blog. I have other blogs, but I haven't kept up with them. Maybe this one will be different. Maybe not.

As the new school is looming around the corner, I've been asked by a few of you about homeschooling. Aahh yes, I do that too. :-) Homeschooling is like eating meal. Sometimes it is the most satisfying experience and you feel great. Other times, it just doesn't set right and you have indigestion. But is all good in the end; children are nurtured and trained, and you will receive a vast reward - if you do it as unto the Lord.

Below I will tell you specifically what I am doing this year with my kids:

Jana is doing mostly college classes now either through local colleges or CLEP tests. There's a great book I've read called College Without Compromise that explains in detail how to do this. Also a great website resource is http://www.clepprep.tripod.com/ There you will find lesson plans and recommended resources for specific clep tests. Jana just got accepted into the Symphony Orchestra at UNCC. We are thrilled with this opportunity as it will be a whole new experience for her on violin.

Abbi is entering high school this year. She did Teaching Textbooks Algebra I last year (I highly recommend Teaching Textbooks for Math), and we're not sure if she will do Algebra II, Geometry, or Business Math this year. She will also do LLATL, Apologia Biology, and review all the Famous Men series history books.

I like to alternate Easy Grammar with LLATL. We've used Math U See and Teaching Textbooks. We flop around with history and science. I probably have just about every program out there. I use the Christian Liberty Nature Readers as well as various other resources. I have stuck with Apologia in the upper grades, and I am happy with that. We are currently working on All American History published by Bright Ideas press. I'm not thrilled with the textbook, but we're trying to get through it. I like Beautiful Feet's approach also, and my kids have always liked Our Island Story and books like that. I have an eclectic approach to homeschooling so I've used a lot of things. I've gotten a lot of resources from http://www.amblesideonline.com/ a wonderful site for Charlotte Mason style educating.

We have a first grader again this year! She will do Math U See and Sing, Spell, Read and Write as her core. I will probably also use some of Five in a Row and a new spelling program that I can't remember.

I try to get the older kids on a mostly independent study program for their main subjects so that I can work with the younger ones on reading and math. I like to read to them living history books, good literature and Bible. We are still working on the Genesis Commentary for Children by Nancy Ganz. Excellent book, by the way. It's just taking us a while to get through it. I also have enjoyed the Greenway Press Old Testament History book for Bible.

Curriculum choices are so varied, and there is no one program that will work for everyone. The great thing about homeschooling is that if something is not working, you can always change it. I think it's important to know your child's learning style and interests and also your style as a teacher. You can tailor your program to fit your and your child's needs.