Category Archives: Thankfulness

Glad to see you!

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Put a dog in front of a mirror and he has no interest in looking at himself. But put a 4 month old baby there, and she lights up with excitement.

Emerald can’t rejoice enough at her reflected duplicate. Somehow at this early age she’s figured out that the face in the mirror will change in response to her smile. She’ll grin and giggle at her grinning, giggling reflection until we get tired of holding her up to the mirror.

Noticing... Delighting... Committing!

This charming phenomenon seems to be universal with babies. They’re social beings from the very beginning, genuinely appreciating the responsive expressions of others. There’s only one source for this: the Creator himself. As he “knits them together in their mothers’ wombs” (Psalm 139:13), part of what he does is install a people-oriented piece that causes babies to relate to other faces.

Emerald has the sense to know that if you smile at someone, they’ll smile back at you. Daily she tests it in the mirror, and it works 100% of the time. The same thing happens when she smiles at us. We can’t help but smile back at her.

Why is that? Scripture gives us the answer: “A cheerful look brings joy to the heart.” (Proverbs 15:30) God wired each of us to respond to what we see. And if I would scowl at Emerald, she wouldn’t smile back but might look puzzled or even turn her lower lip down and start to cry.

God watches us closely, and that includes our facial expressions. He’s made our features unique, and the way we use them to express ourselves is probably of interest to him. Surely he’s pleased when we give smiles and “cheerful looks” to others, since it brings them joy as Proverbs says. And beyond all doubt he’s gratified when we turn toward him with a pleasant expression.

But we should check ourselves on that. As we approach Bible reading or church attendance or a prayer time, do we do it because we feel we should? Or because we feel guilty when we don’t? Or do we do it with joy, looking toward the Lord with an expectant smile? Our expressions reflect what’s in our hearts, and the question that should weigh heavily on all of us is, “What will God reflect back to me if I look toward him with dreary obligation or a sense of false guilt?”

Scripture tells us that just as Jesus was a reflection of his Father, we’re to reflect Jesus, not just in facial expressions but in what we do, where we go, who we’re with, what we wear, what we eat, what we think… all of it.

Reflected smile

If we can learn to do that, we can be sure he’ll smile back at us.

“Just as water mirrors your face, so your face mirrors your heart.” (Proverbs 27:19)

Wisdom from Dr. Seuss

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The Curington FamilyMy webmaster, son-in-law Adam, is an ongoing blessing to me, not just because he manages GettingThroughThis.com but because he’s a young man walking close to God and through that is a good example to everyone around him. He’s also a dedicated husband to my daughter Linnea and a committed father to Skylar, Micah, and Autumn, all-in on that big job.

Adam has served not only as webmaster but also as my stalwart encourager. Once in a while people mention “my advanced computer skills,” and I quickly deliver the truth. Each web site task has been painstakingly learned through trial and error (think error and more error) at the expense of Adam’s gentle supervision. He doesn’t lose patience with my re-asking the same questions but re-answers as if I’d never asked.

If it wasn’t for Adam, this blog wouldn’t exist, and for more reasons than one, I’m glad it does. If it didn’t, I’d be missing out on the wealth of blessing funneling back through readers. Emails and comments embedded with nuggets of gold go to my “Interesting things to file” folder, an ever-growing file of gems.

And here’s an example:

Linda, a cyber-acquaintance, is traveling through the painful “firsts” of new widowhood after losing her husband of 37 years. She wrote to me of her love for him and how he had put her needs ahead of his own, one of the most difficult tasks anyone can tackle. She misses him intensely but is determined to remain above negativity.

Dr. Seuss Logo

She wrote, “A quote by Dr. Seuss is my new mantra: ‘Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.’ I’m choosing not to be mad at God, and I’m thankful for the love I enjoyed for so long, choosing not to be ungrateful because it ended.”

 

Linda has the right idea: (1) choosing not to be mad at God, and (2) being thankful for her husband’s love.

Interestingly, Step 1 is what opens the door to Step 2. If we indulge in anger toward the Lord, thankfulness will elude us, but as we set aside our natural desire to blame someone, (especially God), gratitude no-matter-what becomes possible.

Each of us have daily opportunities to think and act like Linda. If we make up our minds to be thankful, that outlook empowers us toward additional good things, like giving our time to others, making sure the excluded are included, going out of our way to serve, and like Linda’s John, putting the needs of others ahead of our own.

I’ve got a long way to go to catch Linda, but her fine example proves it’s possible. So I’m starting right now, feeling thankful for:

  • Linda.
  • other widows who’ve shared their stories.
  • 40 years with Nate.
  • a God who has partnered with me through 3½ years of widowhood.
  • Adam, a son-in-law who kindheartedly taught me how to blog.

“Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable.” (Philippians 4:8)

Dull or Delightful?

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As a young girl I used to dislike sitting through church services. The sermons were always 45 minutes long, which seemed interminable. But Linnea and I talked recently about the “fun” of listening to sermons now, sometimes going online to hear one after another much like someone viewing a year’s worth of a favorite TV series in one weekend.

Abraham bows before the angels

Those childhood sermons were wasted on me because I hadn’t figured out how interesting the Bible could be. For example, yesterday’s sermon at my Michigan church was based on Genesis 18, the story of an elderly Abraham and Sarah receiving baby news from 3 angels. I’ve heard the story many times but know that each time I come to it, God can reveal something new. This time through, he showed me a whole bunch of new things:

1.   When the 3 angelic guests arrived, Abraham told Sarah to quickly make cakes using 3 seahs of flour. According to the notes, that’s 36 pounds! She had to do some major mixing and kneading, not to mention baking. Meanwhile, the 3 very honored guests had to wait quite a while for this “quick” lunch, including the time it took to kill, quarter, and roast a calf. It says: Abraham went quickly into the tent to Sarah and said, “Quick! Three seahs of fine flour! Knead it, and make cakes.” (Genesis 18:6)

2.   It’s also interesting the Lord didn’t say, “In 9 months you’ll have the baby.” He said, “A year from now.” He made them wait, no doubt testing their faith. It says: “The Lord said… about this time next year, Sarah shall have a son.” (Genesis 18:14)

3.   One of the angel-messengers (who was thought to actually be the Lord himself, looking like an angel) said, “I’ll be coming back to you in a year, when the baby is born.” Later he repeated it for emphasis: “I’ll be back here in a year.” If that really was the Lord, what a spectacular promise! When the baby finally came, he wanted to be part of the celebration, too! I love that. It says: “I will surely return to you about this time next year.” (Genesis 18:10)

4.   And something else: Sarah usually gets a bad rap for laughing from her hiding spot behind the tent door (laughing about their ages of 89 and 99). “Sarah laughed to herself…” (Genesis 18:12) But this time as I read the story, God showed me that Abraham had laughed, too, for the same reason (in the previous chapter). I’d never noticed that before. It says: “Abraham fell on his face and laughed…” (Genesis 17:17)

Old age motherhood

5.   And isn’t it delightful that God, who named Isaac himself, chose the name that means “laughter”? It’s as if he was saying, “I totally understand why both of you laughed at this outlandish turn of events. I know it sounds crazy, but isn’t it a happy kind of crazy?” It says: “God said… you shall call his name Isaac.” [laughter] (Genesis 17:19) Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me.” (Genesis 21:6)

I have to laugh, too, with satisfying delight at finding such wonderful detail nestled in the words of God.