Tag Archives: thankfulness

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Day by Day

Today Phil and I are celebrating our 48th wedding anniversary.

My overwhelming sense is thankfulness –

  • first to God for bringing us together (it is truly a God ordained match)
  • to our families for supporting us throughout our marriage
  • for our Christian friends who have set an example in their own marriages
  • and…held us accountable

It is a choice day by day to maintain a loving, supportive relationship in marriage. The vows we pledged on that cold wintery day, November 29th,1975 in Wheaton, Illinois were just empty words if we did not make the choice each day to live them out.

I was talking with a dear family friend on Thanksgiving who has been free from alcohol addiction for many years now. I asked him if it was still hard at times. He said “Gayle, I make the choice every day not to drink. Once I make that choice it is easy.”

I realized that is exactly what commitment in marriage should look like. Every day I make the choice to

  • love
  • honor
  • respect
  • forgive
  • be faithful to
  • and ENJOY my spouse.

In Ephesians 5: 31-32 Paul quotes from Genesis – the beginning of the Bible

31 As the Scriptures say, “A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.” 32 This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one. 33 So again I say, each man must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

It is still a mystery to me after 48 years how God unites us into one. Anyone who knows Phil and I know how opposite we are in so many ways. Yet we are united in our desire to love one another and serve our Savior – Jesus Christ. That has been the day by day commitment that has held us together these many years.

Phil has been a wonderful, supportive husband and an outstanding father to Benjamin, Hannah, Salem, and Abigail. Our children are – and have been – a great source of joy in our lives. Now we are grandparents. How we love those grandchildren! Our family is far from perfect, we have disagreements, we argue, we see things differently. Yet we share a love for each other in spite of our shortcomings. I am so thankful for that.

Thank you, Phil, for your deep love and support low these 48 years! I am so blessed to be married to you.

May God bless us with many more years together. I love you.

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Thankful for Suffering?

Taking time to be thankful is an important task in maintaining spiritual health. I can choose to focus on all the terrible – even horrific situations in our world. Many of these situations I can do nothing about in my own strength. Yet praying about them, taking my concern to the God of the universe, shifts my focus to God’s ultimate plan of redeeming this broken, fallen world. Being thankful that God is with me in my times of suffering doesn’t take away the reality of that suffering, but it does give me HOPE!

Paul wrote from prison – Acts 16:22-25

22 A mob quickly formed against Paul and Silas, and the city officials ordered them stripped and beaten with wooden rods. 23 They were severely beaten, and then they were thrown into prison. The jailer was ordered to make sure they didn’t escape. 24 So the jailer put them into the inner dungeon and clamped their feet in the stocks.

25 Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening.

Paul’s response to his terrible suffering was prayer and singing hymns to God. I have never been beaten or thrown in prison, yet Christians in our current world are suffering that very way. In James 1: 2-4 James reminds us to view suffering as part of our life as followers of Jesus and something to be thankful for.

2 Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

So much of what has been given to me I haven’t earned and, truth be told, I don’t deserve. I think this is especially important in the climate of our current culture. So much of the discourse is negative, divisive, polarizing and unkind. The focus often seems to be on “what is best for ME”.

So how do I respond this Thanksgiving when I am so blessed to be with our family and friends….yet so many are suffering in our world?

I must respond with Thanksgiving. In Paul’s letter to the Philippians he says – 4:6-7

6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

As I gather with family and friends this Thanksgiving I will be praying for those who are suffering. I will also be thankful and enjoy the blessings that God, by his grace, has given.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Watch for Snakes in the Garden

I was weeding at our daughter’s home in Maryland last week and something moved just where I had pulled up a bunch of weeds. I looked closer and it was a small snake – the one pictured above. It was only about 8 inches long but I soon realized it was a copperhead because of the pattern and the shape of the head. I am not generally afraid of snakes, yet when I recognized that it was a poisonous snake my first reaction was thankfulness that I had not grabbed it.

Look how camouflaged the snake is among the dead leaves! I weed a lot and I rarely stop to think about snakes in the grass or garden. I am always on high alert for poison ivy because I am highly allergic and dislike the rash and blisters that form. Snakes are a different story. They move, seeming to appear out of nowhere when we are unaware. A fellow teacher once stepped on a copperhead that had evidently been sunning itself on her doorstep. It bit her and she ended up in the hospital for two weeks. Poisonous snakes must be taken seriously.

Temptation to sin is like that in our lives. When we notice it – like poison ivy – we can avoid it. If we aren’t expecting it – like a snake in the garden – it can overwhelm us before we realize what has happened. I can be tempted to envy what someone has that I don’t have. Knowing this I need to avoid comparing my belongings to someone else’s. Instead of coveting their possessions, I must cultivate an attitude of gratitude for what I possess and rejoice that others are blessed. It is hard to envy someone and be thankful that God has blessed them at the same time.

I Corinthians 10:13 says –

No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

If I spend hours scrolling on Pinterest it will usually cause me to covet or envy. God has provided a way out – turn it off. Just as I avoid places where snakes like to slither, I must recognize and avoid places of temptation. A grateful, thankful heart is the best protection for envy and covetousness. I need to cultivate those qualities in my heart.