Thankful?

Every year, on Thanksgiving, people gather round and they share what they are thankful for.

Often people talk about being thankful at church, and at the dinner table with their family, and sometimes they even mention it at work. However, I got to thinking about this. While I enjoy Thanksgiving and it drives me bonkers that people skip over it and just go right to Christmas because they are so greedy, instead of thinking about what they are thankful for they just think about what they want, sometimes I think we lose sight of what being thankful is about.

Are you really thankful for something if you only think about it one day a year? Even one month a year?

If you are really thankful for something you should be thankful for it all the time. How often do you say 'Thanks' in your prayers? Even more, how often do you say 'Thanks' compared to how many things you ask for? I bet for the majority of us the ratio is way off. We might say 'Thanks Lord' for 1 thing and then go on and ask for ten things.

How thankful are we being when all we can think about is what we want?

If you are asking God for a new car every day are you really thankful for the car you have? How many times did you ask for the new car? How many times were you grateful for the car you have? What about a new house? A new television? A new computer? More food? Better food? You might be in college and eating Ramen, but hey, at least you are eating something. You might live in a tiny apartment without a garage for your car, but at least you have a roof over your head.

I just think that maybe, just maybe, if people were more grateful every day for what they have, they would stop being so greedy all the time. Maybe they would also be happier. God has blessed so many of us in so many ways, and oftentimes all we can do is complain about what we don't have. If you gave someone a present and they just turned around and asked for something else and quickly forgot about what they had been given, how eager would you be to give them a new present? Probably not very eager. Probably not eager at all. I sometimes wonder if that's how God feels with His greedy little children. He loves us and wants to bless us but I believe He also wants us to appreciate what we have.

Don Marquis Quote

"Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday." ~Don Marquis

Decked Out Churches

My husband and I were driving a few weeks back and we went past a church that was under construction and guess what they were constructing? A water slide.

There is just something about these churches with all their sports, and gymnasiums, and slides, that is really starting to get to me. I mean how many people are getting saved through their soccer games? How many people are meeting Jesus because "Whoo! That water slide was so thrilling!"?

The main factor of all of it that bothers me is the fact that churches make the majority of their money through donations. So those members that give money to further the gospel are getting it funneled into a water slide. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't think there is anything wrong with soccer games, volleyball games, gyms, and slides. I also think that churchgoers need to have fun and putting a little bit of money here or there into some activities isn't bad. However, when that is the main focus and when people are solely going to church for the 'activities', what good is it doing? The might as well go to a recreation center.

However, when the majority of those "non-profit" donations are going into recreational activities, the churches have a serious problem. When did churches no longer become about preaching the gospel but sheer numbers? Personally, I would rather attend a church with 10 people that are actually going to church to have an encounter with Christ, then to a church with 100 people and only 10 are going for an encounter with Christ.

What happened to witnessing for Christ? When did it become witnessing for your church? Frankly I don't care if by witnessing to someone my church gets one more member if they aren't saved. I would rather them go to someone else's church as long as they find the truth. I don't care what church a person goes to, as long as the church is preaching the truth and the person is going to the church to hear the truth.

Maybe if all the money going to extravagant buildings, structures, and recreational activities went into furthering the gospel of Christ, there would be more people hearing the gospel and changing their lives. Why not take some of that money and send someone on a missions trip or fund a mission already in progress? Why not take some of that money and feed the widows and orphans? Why not take some of that money and clothe the naked? "An the King will answer them, I assure you: Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for me." -Matthew 25:40.

Churches shouldn't just be social events, they should be saving events. This is a cry to the churches of America, please get back to the gospel. Please put the funds that the church receives back into furthering the reach of the Kingdom of God. Please stop worrying about your 'public rating' and stop caring if the world thinks your building is pretty and get back to the basics! God isn't going to give you brownie points for having a pretty building, but you will find favor in His eyes for helping those that can't help themselves.

Life is a Story

Yesterday, my cat Paws, died. I was a little shocked at first as it was an unexpected death; she was run over by a car. There was a knock on a door and a nice young lady asked if the cat she had wrapped in a towel was ours. She said someone had run it over on the road in front of our house.

My husband held her lifeless, still warm body wrapped in a towel and gave me a saddened look. I rubbed the top of her head with my fingers, and whispered, "Come on honey, are you still alive?"

"She's dead, sweetheart," my husband said softly.

"It doesn't pay to take her to the vet then, if she's dead."

"I'm sorry, honey," he whispered. But it seemed he was almost more saddened by the whole experience than I was, even though she was my cat. He had never been overly fond of my cats. Not that he hated them or anything he just never took much interest in them so I knew the concern and sadness on his face was for me and not for the lifeless kitty he was holding.

I shrugged, "Animals die."

"I'll get a shovel and bury her in the backyard," and that's exactly what he did.

As he walked out the door with her I realized that what I said sounded kind of calloused. I'd seen plenty of animals die in my life and I had been close to many of them, especially as a child. I had grown quite attached to my sweet snuggle-bug Paws that had chosen me to take her in when she was a kitten, but it just seemed a natural part of life to me.

I thought about a conversation my husband and I had had a few weeks back when he was talking about the horse he had lost as a child and how much it had affected him. He was upset that everything he seemed to become attached to was taken from him. I had said words to him then that had rung out true to me when he was standing there holding my departed friend in his arms, "If you don't want to lose something you love, than you can't love. You have to decide if going through the pain of losing it is worth loving it in the first place. What's more important to you? The pain of losing something or someone or the joy of loving that thing or person?"

I realized something about death through the words I had spoken to try and comfort my husband and the thought was comforting as I wished goodbye to my departed snuggle-bug. The joy of having her as a pet far outweighed the sadness of losing her suddenly. I wouldn't have traded the time I spent with her to not have to be sad at losing her.

Animals die, people die, a lot of things die, it's a fact of life. Life isn't about death though, death is just a natural course, a natural end to a story. The story may be beautiful or ugly. The story may be sad or happy. The story normally has ups or downs and can affect a few or a lot of people. Stories intertwine as one person's life affect that of another person. Paws is a part of my story and I'm glad she was because death isn't the story of the person or the thing. The story of that thing of that person is the life of it and it can be a privilege just to be a part of a story or have something be a part of yours.

In her passing, Paws left me with a little bit of truth. I'm sad to see her go but I'll remember her as the bundle of energy that just laser lots across the hardwood floor, not as something that died because that's not a story at all, that's just the end of a beautiful story. A story that can continue in the minds and hearts of those affected by it.

Goodbye Paws. Thank you for the memories.

Winston Churchill Quote

"You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life." ~Winston Churchill

Ray Bradbury Quote

"You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you." ~Ray Bradbury