Nightlights

Daily Gratitude Year 14-Day 211: Today, I am grateful for nightlights. 

They are small lights used to illuminate dark spaces at night. They help prevent the accidents that happen in unlit places, especially at night. We have many. Without them, no tiny toes are safe. 

When the world is dark, light is what breaks the darkness. It is nature. Nature speaks truth. It is something we take for granted.

Just as the stars and moon help light the skies at night, nightlights help us navigate darkness. We are called to help the world navigate darkness, too. 

“You are the light of the world... A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. -Matthew 5:14,16

If you have ever flown at night, it is always a little magical to see the night lights that illuminate the earth below. It reminds me that light is so much more powerful than darkness. It only takes the tiniest light to make the darkness flee. 

Today, I am grateful for nightlights. 

 

Shakespeare's Language Legacy

  

Daily Gratitude Year 14-Day 210: Today, I am grateful for Shakespeare's language legacy. 

It was Miss Margaret Mills who introduced me to Shakespeare. Some hated it. Once I was able to work through the "modern" language of Shakespeare's day and find understanding, his genius became evident. Some of his phrasing still lives on in our conversations today. 

Observant, dramatic, sarcastic, and creativity come together in his works, and that is just the beginning of the many ways his work could be described. "Romeo and Juliet" has been the template for many modern love stories, although I prefer a less tragic end.  "Taming the Shrew" is another popular Shakespeare story to retell in a modern setting. 

This list of Shakespearean phrases reminds me of how art influences language. We often find ourselves using phrases from movies and music. Shakespeare's influence has remained for centuries. 

I grew up hearing "Red sky at night, sailor's delight; red sky in the morning, sailor take warning." The concept is in the Bible. Both Matthew and Luke record Jesus commenting on the skies forecasting the weather.  Language helps us frame, record, and share the world as we see it. 

"He replied, “When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times." -Matthew 16:2-3

Language is truly fascinating. Shakespeare left his mark. 

Today, I am grateful for Shakespeare's language legacy. 

Squeeze the Day

 Daily Gratitude Year 14-Day 209: Today, I am grateful we can "squeeze the day."

A little lemon in my water is one of my favorite ways to get hydrated. It helps me meet my daily hydration goals. 

This image is a play on "seize the day" or "carpe diem" if you prefer the Latin version. Attitude can make or break the day. We seize the day or the day may seize us. 

Years ago I read a little snippet about a bully taking a brand new crayon and breaking it in half. Instead of crying, the little girl looked up and said, "Now, I have two. Would you like to have one?" 

The great American philosopher, Jimmy Buffett, sings "Changes in attitude, changes in latitude... if we didn't laugh we would all go insane." It has always been one of my favorites of his hits. 

Whatever today brings, squeeze it, seize it, savor the simple good things. 

"This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." -Psalm 118:24

Today, I am grateful we can "squeeze the day." 

 

Redemption

 

Daily Gratitude Year 14-Day 208: Today, I am grateful for redemption.

"Comparison is a thief of joy." -Teddy Roosevelt

Comparison leads to discontentment. It always has. Cain and Abel are an excellent example. We live in a "never enough" society that bombards us with images of "a little more and so much more." Seeding discontentment is a popular marketing tool because it works. 

We neve know when plot twists might bring a change in our lives. I am grateful that God has a history of going beyond restoration. He brings redemption. 

"Job didn't get his old life back. God did not restore what he lost, He rewrote the ending and gave him more than he had before. Some pain won't be explained, it'll be redeemed." 

Job's story was full of deep sorrow, disappointments, and heartbreak, but he remained faithful to God. His redemption was full, pressed down, and overflowing. At the end of his life, his barn, his house, and his lap was full. 

Every life is a story, with a new page written every day. We each have our own race to run. Like cross-country, it is not about comparison. It is about setting a goal and your personal record (P.R.) to beat. I am so grateful that we are not compared to Job, Moses, Mary, or Ruth. 

We can make the most of the page before us today, wherever we are in the race. 

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us," -Hebrews 12:1

Today, I am grateful for redemption.

Not Erased, Revealed

 

Daily Gratitude Year 14-Day 207: Today, I am grateful to not be erased, but revealed. 

"Dying to self is not the death of who you are, it is the death of who you were never meant to be. It is the sacred shedding of every false identity, every mask, every counterfeit version that life, sin, and pain tried to graft onto your soul. In Christ, you are not erased; you are revealed." - Found quote, unknown source

What a great thought to read and reread. Let it soak into your soul. You are a masterpiece, even when you do not see it in the mirror. Like clay or any sculpture is revealed by the master's hand... so are we. 

Some revelations take more time than others. Both glass and clay allow "do overs" in the process. "Getting it right" is rarely instant. It is part of the process. 

May the sacred shedding of every false identity be more freeing than the previous layer in your process of becoming all you were intended to be. 

"For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." – Ephesians 2:10

Today, I am grateful to not be erased, but revealed. 

Advice from a Flamingo

 

Daily Gratitude Year 14-Day 206: Today, I am grateful for sage advice from a flamingo. 

Advice from a Flamingo

*Everything is prettier in pink. 
*Always tell the truth, or you won't have a leg to stand on. 
*Sometimes it's best to keep your head down.
*Don't just look at the bright side, be the bright side. 
*Every so often, try to get a tropical getaway.
*Life is tough. It's okay to get your nose bent out of shape once in a while. 
*Things don't always go as planned. Sometimes you just have to wing it. 
*Don't just be a lawn ornament. Get out there and live!

Flamingos always make me think of Matthew and Jennifer. There are several reasons and each one makes me smile. Matt learned to embrace the pink when they had girls. He can rock it with confidence. Do not mess with his pink traveling cup! From Denny Crane in Boston Legal to the beaches of Aruba, flamingos seem to show up in stories, shared laughs, and memories. 

Flamingos are pink primarily due to their diet, which includes shrimp and algae. When flamingos are born, they have gray plumage. As they grow, their diet rich in beta-carotene—a pigment found in the algae and brine shrimp they consume—causes their feathers to turn pink. The more they eat, the pinker they become. Isn't nature grand? 

They are entertaining to watch. They are highly social and monogamous for life. A group of flamingos is called a flamboyance. They use their beaks as filters to sift through mud and water for food. Because they are completely different from what we see in the Midwest landscape, it makes them even more interesting. 

I think my favorite piece of wisdom was "Don't just look at the bright side, be the bright side," closely followed by "every so often take a tropical getaway." Both contain hope. 

"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." -Hebrews 11:1

Today, I am grateful for sage advice from a flamingo. 

Unique Expressions

 

Daily Gratitude Year 14-Day 205: Today, I am grateful for unique expressions. 

I love language. The written word and the spoken word tell us a great deal about the people, the places, and the way they live. One of my favorite solo games to play is to listen to how people speak or the words they say to determine where they are from. Even an hour difference can change the accent or add words to the vernacular... the "mother tongue" of any place. 

I recently watched several videos about an island off the shore of North Carolina.  Ocracoke Island in North Carolina is known for its unique dialect. The Ocracoke Brogue, a distinctive form of English, has roots in Elizabethan English, but has been shaped by influences from Native Americans, English sailors, and pirates over centuries. The dialect is characterized by its unique vocabulary and pronunciation, making it one of the few American dialects not easily recognized as American by outsiders. It has a cadence similar to other island languages. 

Growing close to Chicago, in a rural setting, made me acutely aware of minor but significant differences in pronunciation, expressions, and word choices.  The etymology of a word is as fascinating to me. Language can be shaped by many things including the kind of work the people do. Fishing villages use phrases that might be unfamiliar to grain farmers and vice-versa. The same would be true for mining and manufacturing communities. Language is part family of origin and part all of the places we go, work, and live. 

Today, I am grateful for unique expressions.