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Hearing and seeing God in everyday lifeArchive for thanksgiving
Easier to Plan than Thank
It is my pleasure to be teaching the preschool Sunday School class these days. I remember back from my substitute teaching days half the high school class that walked out on me after discussing that being in school after age 16 was a choice and not an obligation. Rookie move. I remember the fourth graders trying to trick me by speaking Spanish, which I knew too much of. One time I had kindergartners and all they wanted to do was wipe their noses then hold my hand (shudder). But over the summer I was asked to help in the VBS with preschoolers. At one point, I had 17 little ones all listening to a story quietly. While I strongly forgo saying I have a “gift,” I will say at least I had their attention!
This Sunday I am bringing in a pumpkin and we are dissecting it and then gluing together paper pumpkins with “filling” (yarn and pumpkin seeds) as a Thanksgiving lesson. I like the International Children’s Bible’s take on the end of Psalm 63, which will be the Scripture to guide our lesson:
You take care of the land and water it.
You make it very fertile.
The rivers of God are full of water.
Grain grows because you make it grow.
10 You cause rain to fall on the plowed fields.
You soak them with water.
You soften the ground with rain.
And then you bless it.
11 You give the year a good harvest.
You load the wagons with many crops.
12 The desert is covered with grass.
The hills are covered with happiness.
13 The pastures are full of sheep.
The valleys are covered with grain.
Everything shouts and sings for joy.
Yesterday I did not sing and shout for joy. Actually, I think I know why so many Psalms have the dichotomy of moods all wrapped up on one psalm. It is like movie Inside Out — where the more mature emotions are complex, filled with joy, sadness, anger, anxiety, whatever – all in one memory or moment. I thought to myself, No wonder people chose to be busy this time of year — it keeps the haunts at bay. Quiet moments often unsettle the dust and bring tears to the eyes. And so it was for me yesterday. I found it easier to plan for Thanksgiving than be thankful for it.
Then I sat at my desk with Bible, pencil and journal, a favorite place and time in my house, and the sun shone on me at that moment. Quint, right? But true. These past days have been a bit more winter than fall and full of clouds and wind — except that moment yesterday morning when the sun broke through and joined me, gently dispelling the shadows in my soul. Yep, I was heart and mind thankful then, and softened, and blessed (verse 10).
Lord, May you bless the land, provide rain and make things grow; May my heart be likewise fertile soil; and May I thank and serve You always as Lord of the Harvest.
Happy Thanksgiving, people, the National Day of Thanks to God!
Where Thanks is Absent
Did you watch Little House on the Prairie? Did you read the books? Do you remember in The Long Winter how the girls had to stay under the covers all day just to stay warm (alive) in that harsh winter? I was very thankful for my goose down and chenille this morning — and equally thankful for the thermostat in my control.
As tomorrow is Thanksgiving, I easily go down the litany of things I am thankful for – health, home, family, friends, work — all the big ones. I have read the books, (tried to) keep the thanks journal, heard the sermons. I understand that lack of gratitude is in cahoots with entitlement. I also have a pretty good grasp on how little, it any I “deserve,” from blessing to salvation. So I should be thankful. Scripture in I Thessalonians tells me to give thanks in all circumstances. I get it. But I am not.
I cannot keep secrets from God; He knows. How many times have I said those words over the years? How much comfort they have given me when I could find no other words! But truth is, He knows also those areas where thanks is absent, surrounded in the assumption that I should have had it differently. I have sat, and a little uncomfortably, on this truth since I realized Thanksgiving was nearly here; but it was the first thing I said to myself, that which I was not thankful for, long before that which I was.
Again and again, though, since God is the faithful one, He shows me this and a way to stay malleable. I am, have been, like the inconsolable child. I did not get my way. But I have not seen a child remain that way indefinitely under the love of a parent. Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:3-4 NIV) Kids learn to trust their loving parents and rest in that, not needing to understand. They have a humble childlike faith — and to those Jesus commends.
“It can’t beat us!” Pa said.
“Can’t it, Pa?” Laura asked stupidly.
“No,” said Pa. “It’s got to quit sometime and we don’t. It can’t lick us. We won’t give up.”
Then Laura felt a warmth inside her. It was very small but it was strong. It was steady, like a tiny light in the dark, and it burned very low but no winds could make it flicker because it would not give up.”
― Laura Ingalls Wilder, The Long Winter
Thank you, Jesus, for your light in the dark parts of my soul, where you take a simple faith and grow it into full trust in You. Amen!
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