30+ Days of Giving Thanks, Day 36: The Lord Jesus Christ

Some who may be reading these posts will ask, “Dennis, why did you wait so long to get to thanking God for Jesus?” I don’t have a good answer. Please understand that I am not thankful for only one "thing"each day; I am only writing about one thing each day! What’s important to me is that today I am thanking God that He loved me (you, us, everyone!) so much that He gave His Only Begotten Son, so that by believing in Him, I (you, we, everyone) will not perish, but have everlasting life. (You’ll recognize John 3:16, I’m confident.)

Another one of  my favorite Bible verses is Titus 2:13-14, which says “…we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for Himself a people that are His very own, eager to do what is good.”

(For a previous entry on the “Blessed Hope” click here. )

One of my favorite singing groups is a quartet called “GoodNews.” (By happy fortune, GoodNews is singing in our church this coming Sunday morning! Come and join us there!) One of the members, Russ Sears, wrote a song that the group sings called “Thank You for the Blood.” With credit to GoodNews and Russ Sears, the lyrics of that song are reproduced here:

Many times I’ve thanked You for the food I’ve eaten
I have often thanked You for blessings from above
But if I’ve forgotten to tell You that I’m thankful,
This is what I’d say to You
For Your perfect gift of love.

Thank You for the blood shed on Calvary;
Thank You for the blood poured out just for me.
Pure redeeming grace; flowing, cleansing flood.
Jesus, let me tell You thank You for the blood.

Written in the Bible is the blood atonement
Of the sacrificial lamb that covered people’s sin
The Father had a plan to pay sin’s price forever.
I want to show my love for Him,
This is where I will begin.

Thank You for the blood shed on Calvary;
Thank You for the blood poured out just for me.
Pure redeeming grace; flowing, cleansing flood.
Jesus, let me tell You thank You for the blood.

Oh precious is the flow that makes me white as snow;

Jesus, let me tell You thank You for the blood.
Jesus, let me tell You thank You for the blood.

30(+) Days of Thanksgiving, Day 35: Christmas Decorating…sort of

In our family customs and traditions, we have postponed the sights and sounds of Christmas until AFTER Thanksgiving in this way:

1. NO CHRISTMAS MUSIC in the house, offices, or cars until AFTER Thanksgiving dinner has been served and cleaned up. (We made one (1) EXCEPTION TO POLICY this year when the Thanksgiving Turkey Chef—Doug—requested his favorite Christmas carol while preparing the turkey & fixings in the kitchen. We played one version only of the carol.)

2. NO CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS until the First Saturday in December.

After that, Kelly goes into a Christmas decorating frenzy. My chores:

• help put the Thanksgiving/Fall decorations away in the attic,
• carry the Christmas decorations down from the attic—a seemingly never-ending freight train load of large plastic totes carefully labeled “Christmas Decorations”,
• assemble our Christmas tree and string the lights on the tree, and then,
• optionally, string lights on the outside of the house.

In recent years, the boys (especially Matt) have pitched in to help me complete my list.
Meanwhile, Kelly is:

• rearranging the strands of lights on the tree
• puts the garlands and ornaments on the tree
• places the various other Christmas crafts and decorations strategically around the house
• puts the garland and lights on the stairway bannister
• lights the scented candles and scented wax burners
• puts the garland and lights around the front door
• packs away the packing materials and debris from the decorating blitzkrieg
• throwing away the Christmas lights from last year that don’t work any more. (What happens to them in the attic between January and November?)
• shopping for replacement and additional strands of Christmas lights
• and etc.

Photo 1: Berlin, Germany, 1990

Photo 2: Walden, NY, 2011

This process usually takes 2-3 days to complete, though Kelly will continue for a couple of weeks to adjust, move, add and take away from her collection. The crafts and tree ornaments are, I think, her favorite part. Each one of them is a unique treasure, valued not for their appraised worth, but rather for the memory each evokes. Some have weathered the years with us—29 Christmases as a family now—and some remind us of places we’ve been. The small framed portrait of the three boys with Father Christmas, taken in Berlin, Germany, around 1990, (see photo 1) is especially dear. The little stuffed Christmas bear clothed in the red suit labeled “Baby’s First Christmas” goes back to 1984 and the Baby Derrin’s first Christmas. The bear for years moved continuously in and out of the tree; I put it in, then Kelly would take it out and put it on the floor under the tree, or in the little wooden rocking chair. Finally, a few years ago, Kelly gave in to my whining and now is resigned to leaving it in the tree (see photo 2).

  Each year it seems new decorations appear: an ornament here, a craft there. Part of our tradition is for Kelly to wait to see how long it takes for me to notice the new addition. (As detectives go, Kelly is the keen, sharp-eyed observer like Sherlock Holmes, while I am more the disheveled, clumsy oaf like Columbo, who seems to fall into my discoveries accidentally.)

It is a wonder to behold, as Kelly gradually (but remarkably quickly) transforms our home into a Christmas fairy tale set. The result—a welcoming, festive and comfortable place in which we cherish the message and the memories of Christmases past, present and yet to come.

I expect that this will not be the only entry I compose here this month that references our Christmas customs and traditions. Since Kelly is home today working on the Christmas-ing of our home, it is foremost in my thoughts of thankfulness today.

Thank You, Heavenly Father, for giving us so much to celebrate as we anticipate our renewed joy at the Birth of our Savior, Christ the Lord. Thank you for the beauty of the lights and colors, the aromatic fragrances, and the cheerful memories that attend this custom of decorating our home.

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30 Days of Thanksgiving, Day 34: Peace

Today, on the second Sunday in Advent, I am thankful for peace—peace WITH God, the peace OF God, peace with human beings, and peace on earth.

Since I have been reconciled to God through the work of Jesus Christ, I am at peace WITH God. Our war is over. He won, and I have surrendered unconditionally. In the terms of my surrender, God has agreed to rebuild and repair the damages caused to me, by me, as a result of my sin. Good deal for me!

Now, because I am at peace with God, I am learning how trusting Him and turning things over to Him leaves me with a sense of inner peace/peacefulness as I release my anxieties about things beyond my ability to control. I call that the peace OF God.

As I learn what it means to be reconciled to God, He is teaching me to be reconciled to the people in my life with whom I have had conflict. I am learning to live at peace with my fellow human beings.

And finally, I can look forward to the day when ALL of God’s creation comes together in a restored Kingdom of God when He reigns on earth as the acknowledged King of Kings and Lord of Lords—the peace on earth that the angel proclaimed to the shepherds outside Bethlehem on that night when Christ was born.

Thank you, Heavenly Father, for this Peace that I am coming to realize in my life.

30 Days of Thanksgiving, Day 33: A Day With My Aunts Marty, Phyllis and Eileene

I am writing this post a couple of hours early (still Friday night right now) because I will be leaving early on Saturday morning to drive to Schoharie, NY, where I will meet my mother’s sisters, my Aunts Marty and Eileene, and my cousin Judy. We’ll then drive on to Wallingford, Vermont, where we will see my mother’s third sister, my Aunt Phyllis, and spend much of the day with her as she lays her late husband to rest.

Yes, these days, it’s mostly funerals and weddings that bring this family together—as is probably the case with most growing families. Even so, I’m glad for the opportunity to spend the day with these three remarkable sisters, who each will remind me of their other sister, my mother, Shirley, who has been in the presence of our Lord since the spring of 1984.

I expect that we will laugh together plenty during the day. We’ll swap stories, and I will show them pictures of my grandson, Eli, who is now 6 weeks old. They’ll fuss over the pictures and tell me who they think he resembles. I’ll nod in agreement (though I won’t see what they see!) and we’ll enjoy the day together.

These opportunities don’t come along often, and can’t be predicted with any reliability. I’m also thankful that I was able to clear my calendar for the day (others will decorate the church for Christmas without my pretty much useless help tomorrow) so that I can spend the day with them. Life is short, and these opportunities are too rare to pass up.

Thank You, heavenly Father, for allowing me to spend this day with my mother’s sisters. And, if it’s permitted, would you allow Shirley to peek in on us? Thanks.

30 Days of Thanksgiving, Day 32: Answered Prayer

Yesterday I wrote about Prayer (click on the word to read yesterday’s entry). Today I want to expand and isolate the topic and give thanks for the prayers that have been answered already.

My brother, a pastor and a computer software developer (click here to go to his website) some years ago developed a program for accountability in prayer called Prayer Watchman. He used it to track prayer requests, aid him in remembering to pray for the different requests for which he had been asked to pray, and to track the prayers that had been answered. He differentiated answered prayer into two distinct categories: prayers that have been answered in the way that I had hoped and prayers that have been answered, though not in the way that I had hoped.

Just identifying answered prayers in that way and realizing that God may answer my prayers, but not in the way that I had hoped, helped me to open my eyes and realize just how often God had been answering my prayers! God really does answer our prayers! And when He does, I want to remember always to say “thank You, God, for Your response.” Even when He chooses to answer me with an answer that I am hoping NOT to hear. So today, Heavenly Father, I am remembering to say “thank You” for Your answers to my prayers.

30 Days of Thanksgiving, Day…31! Prayer

I still have many things to give thanks for, so I’m extending the original 30 days of November into December.

Today, I give thanks to God for the gift and privilege of prayer. That God leaves the line open on His end is amazing to me! The Bible is full to overflowing with references about prayer and invitations to pray. Eyes open, eyes closed. Out loud or just in thought. Standing, sitting, kneeling, lying down. In church. In the car. At home. Sitting at a computer, typing on a keyboard. In the middle of the night or the middle of the day. Pray.

If I was just a little more ambitious and creative, I might try to compose a poem--a la Dr. Suess and Green Eggs and Ham--about prayer. Maybe someone who reads this might do just that. If so, I hope I get to read it.

Thank You, Heavenly Father, for giving us a communication device that is wireless, with an ever-renewable Power Source, having a signal that does not drop calls nor ever goes out of range. In fact, its range is unlimited! The technology is not new—it is ancient—but nothing has been invented that even comes close. It does not depend on electricity or batteries, towers or satellites. It works even under water!The only time the mechanism does not work is when we block the signal ourselves because of our sin (Psalm 66:18).

"Over." (see "Not 'Amen' But 'Over'" )

LET US PRAY!

30 Days of Thanksgiving, Day 30: Influencers

Today, on this last day of the original challenge/exercise, I am expressing my thanks to God for all of the men and women that He has used in my life to influence me over the past 50 years. Some have been in my life the entire time, and others have passed through more quickly. Still others simply brushed past me and jostled me as we passed.

I have in mind today those who were, have been, and are “live” players in my life, including mentors, teachers, leaders, and friends whose voice I have heard and whose touch I have felt. I am also thinking, however, of those who have stirred me without knowing it. Some, even, have influenced me even after they have departed this life. Not in some eerie, ghostlike phantasm but in the form of the words that they left behind, written down on pages for anyone to read.

“No man is an island,” John Donne said. The man that I am today, and the man that I shall become, has been and is being shaped and fashioned by a host of influencers. It is quite likely that, if you are reading this, to have been, you are, and/or you will be one of the influencers in my life. Thank you, and thanks be to God for you.

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