Yes, I know. Thanksgiving isn't until tomorrow. But, since tomorrow will be busy and I was inspired by our pastor's post, I thought I'd post today.
I'm thankful for this year. It's been really tough. Had I known what I was headed for on New Year's Eve, I probably would have begged God to change His mind and felt sure that I could never make it to Thanksgiving. But...here I am. And I'm grateful. I've grown so much this year, and I've made it through lots of things I didn't think I could, by His grace. I'm struck down, but not destroyed, persecuted, not abandoned. Tomorrow, I will be able to enjoy some turkey, a little mashed potatoes, some gluten-free stuffing (we'll see how that turns out...), and a gluten-free pumpkin pie that will form its own crust, of sorts. I can even have some cool whip on it! It's the little things in life, you know? These are things that I never thought I'd be thankful for, or that I'd HAVE to be thankful for, but God's taken me on a surprise trip this year. And it's okay. I won't have to worry about holiday weight gain, and I'll be able to truly understand what it means to be grateful with less. And you know what? I have more than I need. "He is in covenant with us through His Son to never stop doing us good, and showering us with mercy, and overwhelming us with faithful care, and working out all things for our good. God is good and his steadfast love endures forever!" (SGC pastor's blog).
Tomorrow, we're spending Thanksgiving with some family friends that we haven't seen in a while. I'm excited to serve them and catch up on our lives. Thank you, Lord, for my family, for good friends, for food, and for chances to relax and reflect on all you've done for us.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Thankful
I guess, since I now have a blog to keep people posted, it's only fitting that I should update people on the health issues they're praying about. Today's been rough.
For those of you who don't know, I have gastroparesis. That means that my stomach muscles don't pass food along like they should, so food just sits there and, at times, comes back up. So I feel sick all the time, to some degree. My diet has been drastically changed because of this, which I'm getting used to. If I have more than 20 grams of fat per day my system shuts down to take care of it, which gives a whole new meaning to pain. So that's the main problem. I won't get into the others. The next step for me is a feeding tube, but I'm praying against that. I wasn't planning on making this my blog post, but after reading the blog of an acquaintance who's also finding "beauty in ashes," I thought I might as well.
I wanted to write about this tonight because I'm grateful for it. Yes, it's difficult. Honestly, I hate it.
BUT...
I have no regrets. I'm actually getting tearful now, thinking about how amazing God's been through it. It's not easy, but God's never left me. By taking away my physical strength, He's given me His. He's encouraged me, and surrounded me with friends to walk with me and care for me in ways I've never experienced before. I'm so, so grateful. God is SO good. I am clinging to the hope and promise He's given me; one day, He'll dry my tears. One day, I won't be in pain. One day, I'll sit at a banquet in heaven with Him and eat anything, without getting sick, or worrying that I will. I'll be healed.
"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor,
and the day of vengeance of our God;
to comfort all who mourn;
to grant to those who mourn in Zion—
to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;
that they may be called oaks of righteousness,
the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified." Isaiah 61:1-3
Amen, Lord. Thank you. If this is how you want to be glorified in me, thank you. I'm honored, and I'm grateful. Help me in my weakness to serve and honor you. Thank you for comforting me, and for your promise to give me beauty for ashes, gladness instead of mourning, and praise instead of a faint spirit. I love you.
For those of you who don't know, I have gastroparesis. That means that my stomach muscles don't pass food along like they should, so food just sits there and, at times, comes back up. So I feel sick all the time, to some degree. My diet has been drastically changed because of this, which I'm getting used to. If I have more than 20 grams of fat per day my system shuts down to take care of it, which gives a whole new meaning to pain. So that's the main problem. I won't get into the others. The next step for me is a feeding tube, but I'm praying against that. I wasn't planning on making this my blog post, but after reading the blog of an acquaintance who's also finding "beauty in ashes," I thought I might as well.
I wanted to write about this tonight because I'm grateful for it. Yes, it's difficult. Honestly, I hate it.
BUT...
I have no regrets. I'm actually getting tearful now, thinking about how amazing God's been through it. It's not easy, but God's never left me. By taking away my physical strength, He's given me His. He's encouraged me, and surrounded me with friends to walk with me and care for me in ways I've never experienced before. I'm so, so grateful. God is SO good. I am clinging to the hope and promise He's given me; one day, He'll dry my tears. One day, I won't be in pain. One day, I'll sit at a banquet in heaven with Him and eat anything, without getting sick, or worrying that I will. I'll be healed.
"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor,
and the day of vengeance of our God;
to comfort all who mourn;
to grant to those who mourn in Zion—
to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;
that they may be called oaks of righteousness,
the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified." Isaiah 61:1-3
Amen, Lord. Thank you. If this is how you want to be glorified in me, thank you. I'm honored, and I'm grateful. Help me in my weakness to serve and honor you. Thank you for comforting me, and for your promise to give me beauty for ashes, gladness instead of mourning, and praise instead of a faint spirit. I love you.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Reflections...
This may sound odd coming from a woman who's about to head to grad school, but...is it possible that school makes us over-think things?
I understand analysis when it comes to Theatre. You really do have to break everything down there. But in English it can seem overdone. Today in my English Theory and Criticism class (which, believe me, is even worse than it sounds) we psychoanalyzed a dream written by James Joyce. I understand that psychoanalysis has its uses. I use it on myself quite a lot, actually. But, as a writer, I would hate to have someone a hundred years from now dissect my writing and say I had some sort of problem or opinion that I don't. Isn't it possible that Joyce simply had a weird dream? And no matter what it was, does it really have any bearing on life in 2010? No matter how you look at it, there aren't huge ramifications that could come from it. Joyce died long ago, and so did everyone else of his generation. Society has changed quite a bit. To psychoanalyze his dream would only serve a few, limited areas. That's not really fair to a writer, is it? I, for one, enjoy a good story. That's it. Period. Yes, psychoanalyzing it can be interesting and even insightful, but it's not conclusive, and it can easily do a disservice to the author.
But that's what schools train us to do: over-think things. They intellectualize everything, so they make it sound like they are so advanced mentally that they can never just accept things. Like the Gospel, for example. There's no room for the supernatural in their narrow little minds that they consider so open. They don't really do their research to find out how shallow their arguments are and how the facts really do prove Christianity. Instead, they just "think" and"reason." Taking things as they are is never an option for them. Can Christianity hold up to intellectual arguments? Absolutely. But they don't even take it that far. They are "wise in their own eyes," I suppose. Which is a shame.
But enough of that!
I'm grateful for the truth. I have a heavenly Father who is more real than anything. He created everything and everyone, and He holds it all together.
"For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens (He is God!), who formed the earth and made it (He established it; He did not create it empty, He formed it to be inhabited!): "I am the Lord, and there is no other. I did not speak in secret, in a land of darkness; I did not say to the offspring of Jacob, 'Seek me in vain.' I the Lord speak the truth; I declare what is right. "Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, you survivors of the nations! They have no knowledge who carry about their wooden idols, and keep on praying to a god that cannot save. Declare and present your case; let them take counsel together! Who told this long ago? Who declared it of old? Was it not I, the Lord? And there is no other god besides me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none besides me. "Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. By myself I have sworn; from my mouth has gone out in righteousness a word that shall not return: 'To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear allegiance.'" Isaiah 45:18-23
Thank you, Lord, for being a sovereign God who saves!!! Who is the very source of truth, and therefore swears by Himself! He is always right, He is always good, and He is always kind. We serve a loving King.
It's helpful to remember that I'm only in this world, not of it. Someday, I'll be home.
I understand analysis when it comes to Theatre. You really do have to break everything down there. But in English it can seem overdone. Today in my English Theory and Criticism class (which, believe me, is even worse than it sounds) we psychoanalyzed a dream written by James Joyce. I understand that psychoanalysis has its uses. I use it on myself quite a lot, actually. But, as a writer, I would hate to have someone a hundred years from now dissect my writing and say I had some sort of problem or opinion that I don't. Isn't it possible that Joyce simply had a weird dream? And no matter what it was, does it really have any bearing on life in 2010? No matter how you look at it, there aren't huge ramifications that could come from it. Joyce died long ago, and so did everyone else of his generation. Society has changed quite a bit. To psychoanalyze his dream would only serve a few, limited areas. That's not really fair to a writer, is it? I, for one, enjoy a good story. That's it. Period. Yes, psychoanalyzing it can be interesting and even insightful, but it's not conclusive, and it can easily do a disservice to the author.
But that's what schools train us to do: over-think things. They intellectualize everything, so they make it sound like they are so advanced mentally that they can never just accept things. Like the Gospel, for example. There's no room for the supernatural in their narrow little minds that they consider so open. They don't really do their research to find out how shallow their arguments are and how the facts really do prove Christianity. Instead, they just "think" and"reason." Taking things as they are is never an option for them. Can Christianity hold up to intellectual arguments? Absolutely. But they don't even take it that far. They are "wise in their own eyes," I suppose. Which is a shame.
But enough of that!
I'm grateful for the truth. I have a heavenly Father who is more real than anything. He created everything and everyone, and He holds it all together.
"For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens (He is God!), who formed the earth and made it (He established it; He did not create it empty, He formed it to be inhabited!): "I am the Lord, and there is no other. I did not speak in secret, in a land of darkness; I did not say to the offspring of Jacob, 'Seek me in vain.' I the Lord speak the truth; I declare what is right. "Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, you survivors of the nations! They have no knowledge who carry about their wooden idols, and keep on praying to a god that cannot save. Declare and present your case; let them take counsel together! Who told this long ago? Who declared it of old? Was it not I, the Lord? And there is no other god besides me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none besides me. "Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. By myself I have sworn; from my mouth has gone out in righteousness a word that shall not return: 'To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear allegiance.'" Isaiah 45:18-23
Thank you, Lord, for being a sovereign God who saves!!! Who is the very source of truth, and therefore swears by Himself! He is always right, He is always good, and He is always kind. We serve a loving King.
It's helpful to remember that I'm only in this world, not of it. Someday, I'll be home.
Monday, November 15, 2010
My First Attempt...
Well, here it is. Here I am. After vowing to never create a blog just to talk about life, here I am.
I gave it some serious thought first, of course. This wasn't an easy decision. You see, to me, creating a blog would be saying to the world:
"Here! Listen to me! I'm really important, so you should spend time reading my worthless ramblings!"
And to some extent, I suppose that's true. At least, for most of the world. I hope to do something different with mine, however. Yes, it will be about some random facts of life. There will probably be no rhyme or reason to most of my posts. It will probably be about what affected me that day, or something I've been mulling over. But I would always like the focus to return to Christ. I realized, after viewing several of my friends' blogs, that they could be used to encourage and challenge others. If I can make you stop and reflect every once in a while, then this will be worth it.
And if nothing else, it'll be fun. ;-)
I gave it some serious thought first, of course. This wasn't an easy decision. You see, to me, creating a blog would be saying to the world:
"Here! Listen to me! I'm really important, so you should spend time reading my worthless ramblings!"
And to some extent, I suppose that's true. At least, for most of the world. I hope to do something different with mine, however. Yes, it will be about some random facts of life. There will probably be no rhyme or reason to most of my posts. It will probably be about what affected me that day, or something I've been mulling over. But I would always like the focus to return to Christ. I realized, after viewing several of my friends' blogs, that they could be used to encourage and challenge others. If I can make you stop and reflect every once in a while, then this will be worth it.
And if nothing else, it'll be fun. ;-)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)