A WOMAN'S VIEW ~ Lenore Buth

Can we thank God in our hard times?

Sooner or later we discover that life is a series of highs and lows.

Each of us would choose the highs and toss out the lows. If we could.

Everything reminds us it's the season to rejoice, but perhaps right now it takes all we've got just to get through the day.  

Looking back brings sadness.

Looking ahead brings fear.

Some may be waiting out results of medical tests, our own or someone we love. Or we know what the tests reveal--and wish we didn't.

Or it could be job loss. Marriage problems. Strained relationships with family members. The uncertainties of aging. The anxiety that rises in our throat every month as we total up expenses.  

Hardest of all is the grief after a loved one dies. People talk about "closure," as if one shuts the door and that's it. Not true. Hearts thankful for happy memories can still ache, still feel empty. Even for Christians.

Silence is not always golden.

Whatever the cause we ache to feel joy once again

Despite what we see around us, some of us may not feel much like giving thanks or singing "Joy to the world."

Yes, we know hard times come to all of us,. Knowing that doesn't help much.

Perhaps we blush to remember times we told others in pain that the Lord helps those who help themselves. Now it's our turn--and we've tried. We may have prayed until our throat went dry and scratchy.

Maybe we've given up because nothing changes. 

Ever since Eden we live in a messed-up world 

That's plain to see, yet God in the Bible assures us that trouble does not mean God stopped loving us. He never will.

The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness."    Jeremiah 31:3-4  NIV

"Everlasting." Love that has no beginning and no end. 

Another verse well-loved by many promises everything that happens to us has a purpose, one way or another.

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose.    Romans 8:28  ESV

What could be "good" about a hard time?

Try these, for starters:

• We may not know the answer to that question for awhile, but God does.
• It may be good, even though it does not feel good to us.
• Without a doubt every challenging experience will stretch us and change us.

Do I like this process? Not at all. I want my life to be smooth as a mountain lake at dawn.

Over the years I've learned not to blame God for causing my problems. Does He allow them? It seems so, but always to teach and grow me, not to beat me up and then walk away. 

This leaves us with the obvious question to ask ourselves: How will I handle this?

We can fight the situation and complain and grow bitter. Or we can grow stronger. We can become a person with more empathy and understanding for the pain of others.

Always, the choice is ours.

The Pilgrims show us how to live

Paintings of that first Thanksgiving show the artists' concepts of the scene, but none can depict the emotions of that day.

When we look on happy settlers and friendly Native Americans gathered around a huge table loaded with food we assume joy ruled the day. After all, the year's bountiful food supply was safely stored away for winter so they could rejoice and be glad.  

What isn't shown is the deep grief that shadowed that first Thanksgiving gathering.  

The Mayflower left Britain loaded with 110 passengers and crew. By that first Thanksgiving about a year later, only 50 people survived. Only three families that boarded that ship remained intact.

And yet they thanked God.

Instead of getting stuck in mourning what and whom they lost, they turned their eyes and their hearts to what remained--and gave thanks to God.

What if we took our cues from them?

Whatever our situation may be, we, too, can entrust our lives to our Father's loving care and be at peace. 

We can rejoice and celebrate what is.

How do we do that if at the moment, our joy has dwindled and our hope has dried up? Still we can wrap ourselves in the unfailing warmth of God's love for us and be comforted. 

This is real love. It is not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.  Psalm 107:1  KJV                     

Inward peace and joy do not depend on things going right for us. They flow out of knowing for certain that Jesus loves us. His Spirit is with us, every moment of every day.

Jesus answered him, "If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him."    John 14:23  ESV

As the old advertising slogan told us, "It's what's inside that counts" 

My friend, you have all you need to deal with whatever comes. Today. Tomorrow. Always.  

How do we get through the weeks ahead?

• Breathe--and rejoice that you are able to  
• Refuse to keep reciting that familiar list of "What ifs" 
• Let yourself feel joy because you know who's really in control

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.   Philippians 4:7  ESV

For each of us, lasting joy and peace that come from trusting Jesus is the gift that we can rely on. Whatever the day brings.  

So let us give thanks to the Giver. Let us rejoice and be glad!

Lenore

How sticky notes can raise your happiness level

Another Thanksgiving Day is upon us, a day to count our blessings and thank the Giver.

Yet the news is filled with terrorist acts. We're more likely to be counting our reasons to feel anxious than reasons to celebrate what's good.

As always, it's all about our perspective.

Picture that first Thanksgiving in 1621. Late the previous autumn the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, MA, with 102 people. Now only 50 adults remained alive. The original group included 18 adult women, but only four lived to see that first Thanksgiving.

Yet those survivors set aside a day to give thanks to God.

It's the same today as at that first Thanksgiving. Having a thankful heart has nothing to do with abundance. Or with everything going just right in our lives.

The Pilgrims knew the real "why" for giving thanks and we can, too.  

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
For His lovingkindness is everlasting. --Psalm 118:29 (NASB)

Gratitude flows from remembering the Giver

Here's a new twist on how to keep track of our blessings.

I heard an interview with a man who works with recovering alcoholics and their families. He passed on one practice that has worked well with his clients. It can benefit you and me, too. 

It's a simple process: Keep gratitude lists for our lives.

Keep one for each family member, one for work, one for school, etc. Use regular paper or sticky notes. 

• Look for things to be thankful for in each person and in each situation
  
  
• Add to our list(s) whenever we notice something more
  
  
• Reread our lists (or notes) frequently
  
  
• Notice how our awareness and sense of gratitude grows
  

The counselor said even troubled people in hard circumstances found their point-of-view changed. Although everything in their lives might stay the same, these individuals became happier and more contented. 

He said writing down how we're blessed is effective it helps us learn that rich or poor, married or single, our happiness is our own responsibility.

Using sticky notes to affirm others

We can help each other along by being encouragers. Sometimes we find it easier to compliment "outsiders" than our own family members.

No flowery speeches needed. Just a few words on a sticky note can break down barriers: 

• "Thanks for making your bed."
• "I'm so glad I'm married to you!"
• "Thanks for letting your brother go first."
• "Great report card!"

You get the picture.

Taking it one step further

Another speaker suggested sticky notes can help break bad habits and form new ones. She wrote reminders to herself and placed them around the house. Like "Remember your diet!" on her stash of chocolates.

Because she wanted to start being a more positive person, she wrote, "Smile!" on sticky notes. She stuck the little reminders on her bathroom mirror, on her computer screen, over the stove, in her car, etc.

Later she began writing favorite Bible passages on pieces of paper and Scotch-taping them around the house, every day a new one. She found it made a dramatic difference in her perspective on life. 

I've done that, too, in a sort of disorganized fashion. Here are some of my favorite reassuring verses:

The joy of the LORD is your strength. --Nehemiah 8:10 

As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed. He remembers that we are dust.                                                                                              --Psalm 103 :13-14   

God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea.                                                                                                 --Psalm 46:1-2

The reason for thanks is because God is good 

So good He offers us salvation through Jesus Christ:

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.     --John 3:16

Happy Thanks-giving--every day!

By the way, I give thanks for each of you who stop by for a visit now and then. Truly, I do.  

Love,

Lenore    

 

 

 

Learning about life from our friends

Sometimes a chance conversation teaches us a lot. Like the day a friend talked about her childhood.

"Our family was poor when I was growing up," she said, "but I never knew it.  

"I remember the year Dad was out of work. Mom suddenly announced she was really tired of fixing turkey every Thanksgiving and announced our First Annual Rice and Beans Festival.

"We kids made silly paper hats out of grocery bags. Mom dug up some old candles and sent us out to pick up pretty leaves to decorate the table. Before we ate we went around the table and each of us, even my bratty brother, said our own thank-you prayer.

"Guess we kids forgot we didn't much like rice and beans because we stuffed ourselves. After dinner we had a contest to see how many blessings we could name, then played games.

"We all still talk of that as the best Thanksgiving ever.

"Friday nights were special, too. We always had popcorn and Kool-Aid. Then we'd sit around and watch TV together or play games. I know now that's all we could afford, but as a child it felt like a party every week.

"Whenever the power went out, Dad would clap his hands and say, 'Let's celebrate!'

"He'd light candles while Mom made peanut butter sandwiches. Then he'd spread out an old blanket and we'd sit in a circle, like around a campfire. We'd sing camp songs and one of us would make up a funny story, then the next one in the circle would have to keep it going.

"We had so many good times, so much laughing--small wonder I thought we must be rich. My parents simply knew how to make the most of every little thing.

"I hate to admit it, but my husband and I and our kids have a lot more stuff now than my parents ever did and we never celebrate any of it."

+++++++

That conversation stayed in my mind for a long time. Obviously, her parents were super-gifted with a thankful spirit. They have a lot to teach . . . me. 

A lovely old hymn speaks truth to my heart. How about yours?

For The Beauty Of The Earth 

For the beauty of the earth,

For the beauty of the skies,

For the love which from our birth

Over and around us lies,

Lord of all, to thee we raise

This our grateful hymn of praise.

For the beauty of each hour

Of the day and of the night,

Hill and vale, and tree and flower,

Sun and moon and stars of light,

Lord of all, to thee we raise

This our grateful hymn of praise.

For the joy of human love,

Brother, sister, parent, child,

Friends on earth, and friends above,

Pleasures pure and undefiled,

Lord of all, to thee we raise

This our grateful hymn of praise.

Blessings to you, my friend, at Thanksgiving and every day,

Lenore 

  

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Why being a mom is a privilege, from start to finish

Finding joy in the midst of . . . whatever

How do we stay strong in shaky times?

How sticky notes can raise your happiness level

Looking at our roots reminds us who we are

It's the season again to think about the roots of this country.

Most of us have at least a hazy idea of that time. 

The Colonies seethed with unrest. People hated the ever-increasing taxes and the heavy hand of  British occupying forces. Yet to act and speak against the King was a treasonable act, punishable by hanging.

More and more the Colonists carried out acts of resistance under cover of darkness.

To openly rebel would risk their lives. To band together as a group and publicly state their united resolve to be free would carry a heavy price tag. Nevertheless, they considered liberty worth fighting for. 

Remember that unforgettable first paragraph of the Declaration of Independence? 

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

This is how it ends.

"And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor."

Many of them did pay with their lives and their fortunes, or other family members did. As for their "sacred honor," many people around them called them traitors.

Over the years folks have argued whether our nation's founders  believed in God

Decide for yourself:

       "God who gave us life gave us liberty."                                                                                 - Thomas Jefferson

It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible.      - George Washington                    

"What students would learn in American schools above all is the religion of Jesus Christ."                                                   - George Washington

"I am a real Christian – that is to say, a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus Christ."                      - Thomas Jefferson         

"Let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle."                                                              - George Washington

An American flag photo to treasure

 

This un-retouched photo arrived in my e-mail, photographer unknown.  

Looking at this lifts my heart. It seems beyond "coincidence" that the rays of the sun just happened to line up this way.

 

I don't know about you, but lately I've been feeling we're all in the middle of a long, hard trudge into who-knows-what. It's good to remember again that our nation was founded on solid, godly principles like these:    

    

    Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. - II Corinthians 3:17

 

    Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD.   - Psalm 33:12

   

This year as we celebrate the birthday of the USA, let's give thanks! Thanks for those courageous men of faith and vision who founded our nation. Thanks for the protection of Almighty God from the beginning. .

 

Let's also pray God will graciously watch over and preserve this nation. Without His blessing, we are lost.

Grateful to be an American,

    

Lenore

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Thanks-living any day of the year, even in tough times

Another Thanksgiving Day is upon us. I love it that every time we say the name 
of this holiday it reminds us of what it's all about: giving thanks. 

Maybe some of us don't feel much like giving thanks right now. Maybe we're slogging through a rough patch that shows no sign of smoothing out. Every day starts and ends with one thought, one prayer: Please let this be over--soon!

Even if things are good in our lives, probably most of us can remember a time when we floundered and fretted. When that's where we are and life feels empty, how are we supposed to feel thankful?

All I can do is tell you what helps me when I find myself walking that long, lonesome road.

That's when I hang on to what I know by faith and by experience: God is still God and His Word is still true. Even if I feel abandoned, the Bible over and over says He loves me. What's more, He doesn't love me because of my shining faith and my perfect life, only because I believe in Jesus.   

   [Jesus said] "No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me     and have believed that I came from God."              --John 21:27                                                                                                                                                                                       -Then I search out Bible verses that reassure me. Sometimes I write them down and keep them with me so I can repeat them over and over to myself. Like this one:

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger of sword? . . . No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.                                 --Romans 8:35, 37-39

When I feel weak and overwhelmed this verse reminds me I can draw on power beyond my own:

[The Apostle Paul says] Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."                                                                               --2 Corinthians 12:9

When we're feeling down it's easy to lose hope for the future, isn't it? That's when I go to this promise:

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."                                                                                 --Jeremiah 29:11 

As for what lies beyond, here's the greatest promise of all:

[Jesus says] "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son in to the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."    --John 3:16-17

So, it's Thanksgiving. Time for officially  thanking the Giver. I forget sometimes that "ordinary" things are a blessing. Like being able to breathe in and out. Like eyes that work. Like the ability to call up happy memories. It took me way too long but I've learned life feels, um, happier when I remember to thank Him every day.

Each of the Bible verses I've quoted is underlined in my Bible. It took me way too many years before I picked up a pen and started underlining, but it has blessed my life. Countless times I've opened my old NIV and gone from one underlined verse to the next. Every time I feel my spirits lift.

Be wiser than I was and start now. Find Bible verses that speak to your heart and your spirit and mark them. Think through how they apply to you and your life. Keep them handy to pass on to someone who's hurting.

By the way, any time you feel alone, think of this verse and the word picture it paints. This is how God feels about you and me:

The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.                                    --Zephaniah 3:17    

Imagine! Now there's a reason to give thanks . . .

Here's to a JOY-filled Thanks-giving day, every day,

Lenore

P. S.  I'm thankful for you, my friend, for taking time to read my words.

 

When nothing makes sense, think on this...

It was written long ago, but it still speaks to me. It reminds me other folks in other times have felt that way, too--and later on have seen what was hidden earlier. 

I can't know what you're dealing with right now, but somehow it seems a good time to share it with you. Even if you've read it before, hope you find it worth another reading.

 

I asked God for strength, that I might achieve--

I was made weak, that I might learn humbly to obey.

I asked for help, that I might do greater things--

I was given infirmity, that I might do better things.

I asked for riches, that I might be happy--

I was given poverty, that I might be wise.

I asked for all things, that I might enjoy life--

I was given life, that I might enjoy all things.

I got nothing that I asked for, but everything I had hoped for.

Despite myself, my prayers were answered.

I am, among all men, most richly blessed.

 

                                (--Attributed to an anonymous soldier of the Confederacy)

 

Hope this wisdom blesses your heart as much as it does mine.

Blessings,

Lenore

Your comments welcomed!