Daily Gratitude Year 5-Day 321: Today, I am grateful for fresh paint.
One of the things I love most about my Randy... he doesn't get to worked up about stuff. Over the summer, I "broke the house". I wanted to whitewash our 1970's stone fireplace. He let me have my way. Epic Pinterest fail. Today, he fixed it with a coat of fresh paint.
I can't share a picture... as it isn't dry enough to put everything back. This image from Pinterest gives the idea.
When I finish this post, we will sit back and marvel at the clean slate feel of new paint. We think we will enjoy the new look on the old stone. Soon... we will add the Christmas garlands and decorations. I know it will pop with holiday joy when we are done. The fresh paint creates a new backdrop and stage.
They will continue to tease me about "breaking the house", but I know it is in love. We've made some memories along the way. The fresh paint is a new beginning.
Fresh paint is the homeowners quick fix to prepare for a sale, or as a way of making a new home your own. In the scheme of home maintenance, it is relatively inexpensive giving a big bang for the buck. The great thing about paint... you can always paint again if you don't like the results.
The whitewashing attempt was not my first fail... and it won't be my last. I am grateful we finally found a solution. I find it makes me think of the Psalm David wrote after his epic fail with Bathsheba and Uriah. The weight of his sin was too much. This verse comes from that passage:
Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. -Psalm 51:7
God granted him forgiveness, as David's heart was sincere. He still faced some dire consequences. He was forgiven, but sometimes there is no "undo" button. David learns so much from that troubling time and his relationship grew with the Lord. He sought out God in prayer daily.
Every time we confess our sins and ask forgiveness, he hears our prayers. Every time we are overwhelmed... he is present. He never leaves us or forsakes us. Not even for a moment. He is our fresh paint. His blood washes away our sins.
Today, I am grateful for fresh paint.
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Daily Gratitude Year 5-Day 320: Today, I am grateful for models.
Models: (v) a system or thing used as an example to follow or imitate.
Maya Angelou is a model of survivorship and hope. She used words to give hope, help and to encourage healing.
"If you must look back, do so forgivingly. If you must look forward, do so prayerfully. However, the wisest thing you can do is be present in the present.... Gratefully." - Maya Angelou
This quote is one I must try to memorize, because it is powerful. When contemplating it for today's post, I wondered how to put into words a way to act on this brilliant observation by a woman who had survived much hardship and difficulty.
How do we make a "model" out of her piece of wisdom quoted here?
Then it hit ... "The Lord's Prayer" is full of this kind of living. Yes, when the disciples asked Jesus how they should pray, he gave them a recipe for prayer. It models how we can pray.
Pray with a forgiving heart. "Forgive us as we forgive."
Be prayerful about the future, trusting it to God's hands. "Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done." And there is more..."For Thine is the kingdom and thine is the glory." and "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."
Be present and grateful in the present. "Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Give us this day, our daily bread."
Yes, we have a model prayer for living, forgiving and singing... even when uncertainty strikes.
When we are present in the present... with gratitude... we can become like the lilies of the field and the sparrows with no worry about the future. Simply enjoy the splendor of this day. Grab the sweetness of this moment.
Jesus, also, encourages us to trust as children trust. If we want answers, we have God's Word to light and guide the way... but sometimes, the answer is simply to live this day well and trust him with tomorrow.
Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path. -Psalm -119:105
His Word is full of models for this journey. People like Joseph, Noah, Moses, Job, Abraham, David, Esther, Ruth, Peter, John, Paul and more. Not perfect people, but real people who mess up and find their way back to Him. They model what to do... and what not to do.
Thanksgiving is days away. Our fathers, mothers, grandparents and great-grandparents have modeled hospitality and passed it on to the next generation. Now, it is our turn. What will we teach the next generation by our example?
Today, I am grateful for models.
Daily Gratitude Year 5-Day 319: Today, I am grateful for countless miracles and wonders.
Joy to the Word has been a favorite of Earworm this week. "Let Heav'n and nature sing is his favorite part."
Every time I look at the stars... we have had a couple of brilliantly sparkling nights recently... I am in awe.The field grasses and flowers have gone to seed and to sleep, awaiting the springtime call to new life. Nature reflects and sings the glory of the Lord.
He does great things too marvelous to understand. He performs countless miracles. - Job 5:9
This is another morsel of truth from the Old Testament Book of Job. Job's faith and intimacy with God made him a target for Satan. Still, Job held on to a truth that was bigger, deeper and unfailing... God is on the throne.
There are things God allows... but doesn't send. There is a bigger picture. Job's "short story" was not so short. Surely, he wrestled with the same kinds of questions we do today. Still, time proved that God is faithful. Satan had his day... but in the end, God had his say.
So the Lord blessed Job in the second half of his life even more than in the beginning. -Job 42:12
Job's was a grateful man. He recognized the hand that provided all of the blessings in his life. Then, he endured having them all wiped away.
Job wondered why. Job felt woeful when things went wrong. The guy had legitimate woes, but he prayed and stayed faithful through them.
Job was a wealthy landowner with many animals and a beautiful family in the beginning. In the end... he had even more. He was familiar with nature's cycles and understood who kept it all in balance. Perhaps, that helped him press on when the worst of times arrived. He trusted in the wonders of God. He had witnessed His miracles. Even when it didn't feel as if God noticed his faithfulness and seemed to ignore his suffering.
When troubles rocked Job's world, he cried out to God in hurt and brokenness. He trusted beyond the "no" answers... and the "not yet" seasons of waiting. Some of his miracles and blessings were still waiting to unfold. When they did... his devotion and awe at the wonders of the God he served grew and rippled into countless generations.
Today, I am grateful for the countless miracles and wonders of a living God.
Daily Gratitude Year 5-Day 318: Today. I am grateful for poetry.
I love poetry. The kind with rhythm and rhyme and the kind that uses language and words as art.
Dr. Seuss was my first favorite author. Agnes Dipesto, in the TV series Moonlighting (1985-1989), may be my all time favorite supporting character.
Poetry is where language and music collide.
Did you know that Psalm 119 is an acrostic poem in the original language? There are twenty-two stanzas, one for each successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Each of the eight verses within each stanza begins with the Hebrew letter named in its heading. I find reading it more of a prayer than a poem.
This verse was my verse of the day today and I delight in the seeds of hope it plants and breathes into this day.
As pressure and stress bear down on me, I find joy in your commands. -Psalm 119:43
The cure for managing pressure and stress... take joy in His commands.
If you struggle with prayer, grab a Bible and pray Psalm 119. I think every soul will find it applicable. The NLT version is so modern in the language that it hits the mark for me.
Honestly, God doesn't require fancy prayers. He wants us to seek his face with honest words from open hearts. Children's prayers surely tug at his ear because they are simple and open. Prayer is communication with our creator and King. I wonder why it is so easily neglected?
The psalms can be read as prayers. They add the element of praise and adoration that Jesus modeled in the Lord's prayer.
Yes... Psalm 119 is a beautiful poem to pray.
Today. I am grateful for poetry.
Daily Gratitude Year 5-Day 315: Today, I am grateful for the hole punch.
Office supply stores are a place I can wander for hours. There are so many goodies. The the humble hole punch is certainly one of my favorites. It is 131 years old today.
The first patent was filed on 14 November 1886 by inventor Friedrich Soennecken. As well as inventing the hole puncher, Mr Soennecken created the ring binder to store the freshly punched sheets and a style of calligraphy designed to be neat yet standardised and easy to learn. As long as we have paper documents, echoes of his inventions will remain with us.
The hole punch is used with so many projects at my house. I have a supersized pink one that allows me to punch through thicker cardstock and cardboard. It is the first step of setting an eyelet or grommet. It is the perfect hole we need to put a metal ring through papers we want to stay together.
Practical and functional... and hard working. Yes, imagine an office, home or craft room without a hole punch. It is a tool no office is complete without.
Perfect holes. Every time. I use my three hole punch often at work.
Now, my mind wanders to three holes punched... actually holes made by nails... into a wooden cross more than two thousand years ago. Holes hammered with violent hand while the eyes of the crowd watched. Some grieving deeply. Others caught up in anger and in the violence of the crucifixion. A big job was accomplished that day, and the holes in his hands and feet are a reminder of the cost.
Our sins were nailed to the cross, and the blood of the perfect lamb shed that once and for all we might be free of our sin debt. The holes are a reminder he took our place.
Have you ever received a scar or an injury rescuing or protecting a child from danger? A hot stove, a falling pan, a hammer dropped or in a car accident... your instant reaction is to protect your child... not thinking of the personal cost. No cost is too high for the ones you love. Back to the verse from the other day:
There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.-John 15:13
We know how much we love our children. But, can we truly understand God's love for us? My verse of the day is a perfect compliment... nailing it... literally.
Christ suffered for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but he died for sinners to bring you safely home to God. He suffered physical death, but he was raised to life in the Spirit.-1 Peter 3:18
I mess things up. He cleans up my messes. I make imperfect attempts. He is perfection... even to death on the cross. A hole punch makes nice, clean and easy holes. He suffered messy in my place. How can we not love Him with awe and wonder?
Today, I am grateful for the hole punch... for the hands and feet that took the nails for you and me.
Daily Gratitude Year 5-Day 314: I am grateful for Mary Anderson and the windshield wiper.
Back in November of 1903, a native Alabama woman applied for the patent on the first windshield wiper for an automobile that could be operated from inside the car. Her name was Mary Anderson.
Mary Anderson (1866-1953) was visiting New York City in 1902. While riding in a streetcar, her trip suffered many delays because the driver would have to stop to clear the windshield. She thought, "We could save time if there was a way to clear the window from the inside." In November 1903, she applied for that patent that was granted but lasted for only 17 years.
She was an independent woman. She had no husband, not father or a son to speak for her in a business world that was male dominated. She submitted her idea to a car manufacturer that turned her down not seeing any real commercial value. People laughed at her saying the movement of the wipers would distract the driver.
Most of us have needed to replace wiper blades on a bad weather day. Not being able to see clearly is far more distracting.
Cadillac became the first car manufacturer to adopt the windshield wiper as standard equipment, 19 years later in 1922. With the expiration of her patent, she received no money for her invention. Still, it was clearly her imagination and efforts that is still making our rainy and snowy days.
In 2011, she was inducted into the Inventors Hall of Fame.
She lived until 1953, seeing many changes from her post Civil War birth to the early 1950's.She was a rancher, vineyard owner and real estate developer in a business climate that was not woman friendly. She must have been something! When she died at age 87, she was the oldest member of her church.
Mary faced "nos" and obstacles. Yes, she was treated differently because she was a woman. Still, she pressed on. She was a builder and a creative. She appears to have lived a life true to who God created her to be... not fretting or fussing about life being "unfair". I have a feeling that keeping up with her would have been a challenge.
One of my favorite verses comes to mind.
No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. -Philippians 3:13-14
Press on! This is such a great mantra to wrap ourselves in and around. Remember where the real prize resides.
I offered up this post with a prayer for God to give another verse, if there was one to fit the day. I think he wins again. My choice is good, but this was my "verse of the day":
It is God’s will that your honorable lives should silence those ignorant people who make foolish accusations against you. For you are free, yet you are God’s slaves, so don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do evil. 1 Peter 2:15-16
Life on this planet is not always going to "be fair". How we respond to unfair treatment will honor God or it won't. To live honorably in the face of injustice... that is real freedom. To not let the chains of bitterness and disillusionment weigh us down. "Two wrongs do not make a right."
Get up. Press on. Let go. Move on.
I am grateful for Mary Anderson and the windshield wiper.
Daily Gratitude Year 5-Day 314: I am grateful God isn't safe... but He is good.
How many times in our lives do we come to a crossroads and a decision must be made? The path before us has options. One seems safe... yet in the Spirit... we know that the less safe road is the right choice.
It reminds me of my favorite quote from "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe."
“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver; “don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
Our God is good... but he is fierce. He roars and he allows us to rest our heads in His peace. He watches over and protects his children.
Having hope will give you courage. You will be protected and will rest in safety. -Job 11:18
What a beautiful verse for this picture. We all need a quiet place of rest. When the storms blow and the troubles come... we have a safe place to lay our heads.
I am grateful God isn't safe... but He is good.
