A Thanksgiving Fire: When you walk through fire

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.

—Isaiah 43:2

I was home from college to celebrate Thanksgiving. After a full day with family and a full stomach to boot, it was time for bed. Before we climbed the stairs, Dad put a few more logs on the wood stove. My sister, Mary, heard him talking with Mom. They seemed concerned that the stove was hotter than usual. When Mary reached her bedroom, she felt heat radiating from the wall behind her headboard, which butted up to the interior chimney. She extended her hand and placed it on the wall. It was warm. Now she too was concerned. She set her alarm to go off in a few hours so she could check on it.

Like a Pattern: Teaching gratitude to our children

Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up.

—Deuteronomy 6:7 NLT

The morning air was chilly and the wind howled outside my window, but inside I was cozy, propped up in bed, pillows behind me and a warm quilt thrown over my legs. I sipped hot coffee as I read from Jesus Calling: “A thankful attitude opens windows of heaven. Spiritual blessings fall freely onto you through those openings into eternity. Moreover, as you look up with a grateful heart, you get glimpses of Glory through those windows” (Young 341).

Pausing to ponder those words so fitting on the day before Thanksgiving, I heard footsteps from somewhere else in the house, a sound quite unusual in my home occupied solely by myself. The steps grew louder as they approached my bedroom. The door flew open and my four-year-old granddaughter, Layla, padded to my bed.

Good Morning Gratefuls

A little deviation from the usual...a poem inspired by the events of the day

I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart;
    I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.

Psalm 9:1

I am grateful for…

summer mornings

my father who still drives at 83

he picked me up at 8ish

and drove me to the auto repair shop

the repair only cost $86

a detour on the way home

the lovely road that wound through lush fields

leading me to the quiet shore

the river’s tongue lapping the sand

a fishermen’s wharf beckoning my feet

lavender wildflowers lining a field of beans

a doe missing my car when she leapt from the corn

a pause at the post office with a wide front porch,

an inviting rocker,

and hours that don’t start till noon

the rhythm of the road’s twists and turns

and ups and downs that lulled my spirit

all these reminders

that when I came to the crossing of Hurry Road

I drove on through

because I wasn’t.

Dear Father, thank You for Your bountiful blessings and for reminding me to slow down enough to notice. May I be forever grateful. Amen.

What will you do when you come to the crossing?

Thank You for the Walk: Giving thanks for the journey, no matter how dark, no matter how scary

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
—1 Thessalonians 5:18 NIV

The sun was already low in the sky when my cousin, Debbie, and I set out for our after-work walk on the farm where we grew up. With an eight-year gap in our ages, we didn’t experience childhood as playmates. But for this season in our lives, we are close companions. With both of us being single, it has been nice to have someone to recount the ups and downs of the day with—nicer still to hear her childhood stories and memories of our beloved grandparents.

Both of us are on a quest to slim down, so we walk briskly to shed the pounds, but on this evening I think our pace was more about outlasting the sinking sun. Quickly, we passed the cow pasture, and then paused at the electric fence obstructing our passage to the bay. What now?