I have chapters and pages in my story that I don’t like. I wish that I could tear them out, shred them, and set fire to them.
How about you?
Have you considered that God can use the ugly and broken shards of your life to piece together beautiful and valuable artwork?
Continue reading When You Don’t Like Your Story … A Review
“I will remember the deeds of the LORD;
yes, I will remember your wonders of old.
I will ponder all your work,
and meditate on your mighty deeds.” Psalm 77:11-12
2020 was a very different year. It was filled with violence, protests, riots, COVID-19, loss, and great disappointments.
It was also filled with heroes, new ways of communicating, neighborhoods coming together, renewed volunteerism, and new ways of working, teaching, and living.
Continue reading Remembering 2020: What I Learned
“I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.” Philippians 1:3-5
What if we took time to thank God for our spouses, remembering their partnership in our marriages from the day we married until now? Take a few minutes each day to remember and write down something from the past that you remember about your husband or wife that you are thankful for. Before you write, ask God to refresh your memory.
Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Worship the Lord with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
3 Know that the Lord is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
5 For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations. Psalm 100
That first Thanksgiving celebration in America was a celebration of survival, a celebration of freedom, a celebration of worshipping God, and a celebration of new friends, the Native Americans who taught the Pilgrims and Puritans how to survive.
After a year of sickness and fleeting food, the Pilgrims and Puritans reaped a bountiful harvest. In 1621, an American tradition was born, a gratitude celebration.
Our God is a God of celebrations. He established the Passover and commanded the Israelites to celebrate the Passover to remember the time of their departure from Egypt and to point them to the future Messiah.
Another celebration God established was the Feast of Tabernacles:
13 Celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles for seven days after you have gathered the produce of your threshing floor and your winepress. 14 Be joyful at your festival—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites, the foreigners, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns. 15 For seven days celebrate the festival to the Lord your God at the place the Lord will choose. For the Lord your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete. Deuteronomy 16:13-15
A time of departure.
A time of harvest.
A time of work.
A time of joy.
All to be celebrated.
Father, we thank You for Your bountiful provision, for Your protection, for Your guidance, and for Your works. Thank You for establishing times to reflect upon the milestones in our lives and the life of America. May we live in gratitude and remember that it is You who bless us and provide for us. Thank You, Lord, that You love us. In Jesus’ holy name, we pray. Amen
