Category Archives: Thankfulness

Thanksliving

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Tom and BettyAdjusting to the death of a spouse is always a challenge, but when there isn’t a minute of warning, it’s doubly difficult. That’s what happened to my neighbor and friend, Betty, when her husband Tom collapsed in an instant.

The two of them were on their way from Michigan to Chicago’s Loop for a couple of appointments and a night in a downtown hotel. But while walking from the train, their lives took an unexpected, unwelcome turn.

Tom said he needed to sit down for a moment, after which he put his head back and lost consciousness. Thankfully a policeman nearby was ready to help, and in just a few minutes Tom was on his way to a hospital. But God’s angels had already escorted him out of Chicago and into Paradise.

Because Tom was a vibrant man full of positive energy, his absence has left a big hole in the lives of many, especially Betty. But there’s great satisfaction in knowing his eternity was and is secure. That’s because decades ago he had entrusted his life (and his death) to God.

I attend the same church as Betty and Tom, and last fall our pastor preached a series called “Thanksliving,” emphasizing the importance of living with gratitude. One Sunday he handed out rubberized bracelets with “Thanksliving” written on them, and Tom was quick to put one on.

The braceletLong after the sermon series had ended and most people’s bracelets had been put away, the pastor asked Tom when he was going to take his off. He responded that he wasn’t… just like he wasn’t going to stop thanks-living.

When he died, he was still wearing the bracelet.

Tom had made up his mind to be a thankful person, despite the fact that his life had been plagued with trouble – beginning with a motorcycle accident in young adulthood that nearly killed him and then derailed his first-choice career. But through that and other close calls with death, Tom refused to feel sorry for himself. He never complained.

Why is God so firm about insisting we always be grateful, even in dire circumstances? It’s probably because he knows that as we search for blessings, what we’re going to find is him. And when we lay hold of him, we’ll be lifted from a problem-focus to a possibility-focus.

IMG_5400All things are possible with God. But the power he promises to put into our situations will be lost on us if we don’t look to him with appreciative hearts. And that’s not all. When we choose gratitude, it’s our golden opportunity to give blessing back to God.

Betty will miss Tom for a long time to come, but after 45 years of marriage, I have a hunch the two of them were probably in cahoots on this thanksliving thing. As a  matter of fact, Betty just might decide to wear his bracelet herself.

The Lord says… “The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me.” (Psalm 50:23)

God’s Etchings

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Today the sun is shining, and weather.com says we’re going to break 60 degrees. Spring’s brilliant green is everywhere, and even my reluctant hostas are reaching for the sky. It’s difficult to believe that only 3 weeks ago we had a hard frost, the kind that feels like late October.

God's etching.When I climbed into the car that day, the view out my windshield was stunning, like God had put an exclamation point at the end of winter. I sat and stared at what looked like etched glass, the artwork of our Creator, wishing I didn’t have to turn on the defroster.

Of course my windshield wasn’t actually etched or cut into. It just looked that way. As I waited for it to clear, I thought about the process of etching (or engraving), which is meant to leave a permanent mark on something.

For example, when we bought a two-wheeled bike for our first child on his 5th birthday, the village hall suggested we engrave an identifying mark onto it so that if it was ever stolen and then recovered, we’d have proof of ownership.

Etched signatureAn artist of glass or stone often etches his mark, signature, or number into his work when it’s completed so no one else can claim it’s theirs. I have several glass sculptures with etched identification on them, and there’s no way these marks could be removed without marring the piece.

In Scripture God makes mention of a significant marking he’s made on himself in reference to us. One translation reads, “I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.” (Isaiah 49:16) He may not want us to take this literally, but his point is surely that we are inseparable from him. Once we commit our lives to him, he makes it permanent. And if we ever doubt it, he’s given us the etching visual to depict our close relationship to him.

One other Bible verse makes reference to etching, but this time God wants us to do it. He instructs us to learn all we can from him and then protect that wisdom. We’re supposed to guard the truth he imparts and keep it as close to our hearts as an etched signature is to a sculpture.

God's etchingAs for my windshield etchings, in just a few minutes they had morphed into rivulets of water and were gone. But my thoughts about God’s willingness to etch me on his hand made we want to etch him on my heart as a sign that nothing can separate us.

“My teaching is as precious as your eyesight—guard it!…. Etch it on the chambers of your heart.” (Proverbs 7:2-3, The Message)

A Master Craftsman

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Over the weekend in our neighborhood, winter made one last powerful blast. After a day dotted with snow flurries, our thermometers dipped to a very unwelcome 12 degrees overnight.

In the morning, though, it was worth it, because God showed me a cold-weather wonder in an unlikely place. My dog Jack never likes to be without a drink, so when he goes “out to play” on my deck, I leave a bowl of water near the door.

Jack's water-iceAfter our night in the deep-freeze, I knew his water would be frozen and need refreshing, which is when God amazed me. As the round ice slipped from the bowl into the kitchen sink, its bubbles caught the morning sun and flashed like so many diamonds. The only thing to do was stop and study it, acknowledging the extraordinary beauty God had put in this ordinary place.

Some would laugh at me for saying God was responsible for the artwork inside that ice. But freezing and thawing, along with a zillion other natural processes, were first established by him back at creation. And since the laws of nature are all subject to his control, he is, indeed, responsible for what I saw.

As I admired the circular hunk of ice, turning it around in the sun, I decided to investigate whether it’s easy or difficult to put bubbles into ice…. or into its visual equivalent, glass.

Glass blobIf glass-blowers want to insert bubbles or lines into their artwork to make it look like Jack’s water-bowl ice, they have to learn how to handle blobs of gooey, red-hot glass while carefully regulating its rate of cooling. Then they have to add new layers of glass, trapping bubbles between them, hoping they won’t pop. And throughout the process, they must be careful not to let the glass droop or drop. Only seasoned craftsmen can accomplish this.

I have a bubble-infused glass paper weight, and once in a while I study it, amazed by its beauty.

Paper weight..Yet staring into the ice from Jack’s water bowl flooded me with the same sense of wonder as looking at my paperweight. My admiration for the two artists, however, (a glassblower or God himself) is quite different.

A glassblower is probably not equally skilled with wood, metal, stone, oil paint, or any other medium. But God is a master-craftsman in all categories, from atoms to atmospheres.

He can make everything from glittering bubbles to glittering stars.

All of it causes me to appreciate his astonishing abilities, even if some of what he makes is either too tiny or too massive to understand. Just seeing what he can do in a dog’s water bowl is enough to convince me he is an Artisan like no other.

“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things…” (Revelation 4:11)