Simple Pleasures

Thanksgiving Reflection

“Christian thanksgiving is the life of Christ in the heart —  transforming the disposition and the whole character.

Thanksgiving must be wrought into the life as a habit—before it can become a fixed and permanent quality.

An occasional burst of praise, in the midst of years of complaining, is not what is required. Songs on rare, sunshiny days; and no songs when skies are cloudy—will not make a life of gratitude. The heart must learn to sing always.

This lesson is learned only when it becomes a habit which nothing can weaken. We must persist in being thankful.

When we can see no reason for praise—we must believe in the divine love and goodness, and sing in the darkness.

Thanksgiving has attained its rightful place in us, only when it is part of all our days and dominates all our experiences.”

J. R. Miller, 1912

Excerpt found here

Cute

 

 

Glimpses of Grace

I don't think we can ever truly fathom God's 'amazing grace.' It's too big. Too wonderful to fully understand. We sing the song, we hear about it at church, and it resonates with us. It feels right, and the magnitude of the words and the concept of grace itself held up against our own imperfect lives proves grace true in itself. I do think God wants us to understand it as much as humanly possible, so he provides us with glimpses. It ranges from beautiful sunsets, having green traffic lights all the way to work when running late, to salvation itself.

I remember one of my first glimpses of grace. I was a perfectionistic, anxiety prone 8 year old. I wanted to get it right. All. the. time. I was sitting in my 2nd grade classroom taking a math test. Gross. I happened to look up and catch sight of the kid's answer in front of me. I still remember the answer he had written down. It was 52. I didn't mean to look. I glanced down at my own test and discovered I had written down a different answer. I changed it. To that boy's answer. He had the answer wrong, by the way.

I mentally agonized over changing my answer ALL DAY. I got home from school, and agonized all afternoon. Everyone was preparing to go to our favorite restaurant: the Country Club Steakhouse. We didn't eat out often, so this was a BIG deal. I was obsessed with that restaurant! Finally, I couldn't take it anymore. I had to confess. I ran downstairs, crying my little eyes out, and plopped on to my dad's lap. He was trying to figure out what was wrong, and I was trying to tell him. I just couldn't bring myself to say the word "CHEATED." So I tried to spell it. C-H-E-A-T-E-D. Y'all, I spelled it, because the real word elicited too much SHAME. After several attmepts through my sobs, my dad finally got it.

He thought about it for a few minutes. And then he spoke. As he lovingly held me, he said, "Well, you have 2 choices. You can tell Ms. Betterton (my teacher) what happened, or not go out to eat that night. I looked at him as if he had asked me to burn my entire collection of Barbies! I remember thinking, I just can't tell Ms. Betterton, and I will just die if we don't go out to eat! 

A few more minutes passed, and I'm sure my dad could tell the inner turmoil I was experiencing. I just kept saying, "I can't decide!!" And then grace showed up. He let me off the hook. My own personal guilt had been punishment enough. I remember feeling like a huge load had been lifted off my shoulders. I felt free. Released from shame. That is grace, y'all. And as followers of Christ, we get to experience that everyday. So undeserved. So sweet. So Jesus.

So, let yourself or someone you love off the hook today. Be that glimpse of grace. It's powerful stuff.

Just uploaded this to Chatting at the Sky's Tuesday's Unwrapped!