Page 337 was a Sunday and I was up early to spend time with God letting the sermon I had prepared continue to soak in and simmer.  I always consider it a sacred privilege to be able to preach and never want to take those opportunities for granted.  The church I preached at this morning is following a traditional Advent approach to the Christmas season, so this morning’s sermon was focused on hope.  The hope of the Bible is nothing like my childhood hope every winter morning that it would snow and there would be no school.  That hope was just wishful thinking with no real reason to expect it would happen.  The hope represented by the Christmas season is a confident expectation that God will keep His promises — an expectation fortified by a history of God always keeping His promises.  The sermon I shared this morning was titled “The Advent of HOPE” as we looked at four characteristics of hope that arrived with Jesus and can be fulfilled in our life through Jesus, they are as follows:

• The advent of Healing:  Preparing for the arrival of Christmas is wrapped around an arrival of healing.  When John was in prison he sent some of his followers to ask Jesus if He was the one who was to come or if they should expect someone else.  This is what Jesus told them to tell John, “The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.”  The response of Jesus may seem cryptic, but John understood that Jesus was making it clear that He was the one.  But the healing Jesus came to bring was much greater than any physical improvement — He came to bring a complete healing of all the hurt and destruction brought on ourselves by our sin.  The physical healing was done out of compassion but much of the time, according to His words, it was done to “show that the Son of  Man has authority to forgive sin” — a much greater healing needed by mankind.  Jesus said that it is not the healthy that needs a physician but the sick and there is no one sicker than any of us who remain in our sin.
• The advent of Opportunity:  The arrival of Christmas also brought with it an opportunity that many previous generations had longed for.  The Bible teaches about the “great mystery” that has been revealed through Jesus — Christ in us, the hope of glory.  The arrival of Jesus on earth brought with it an opportunity to worship God in a way that was more personal — a way of Spirit and truth.  The shepherds took advantage of that opportunity, as did a group of Magi from the east.  Yet many who should have known better — the scribes, the Pharisees, the teachers of the law, and so many who had been taught about God all their lives — chose not to take advantage of the opportunity to get to know God up close and personal.  Christmas is a reminder that we still have that opportunity to draw near to God because He first drew near to us.
• The advent of Purpose:  Christmas brings with it a message of purpose.  We must never forget that the birth of Jesus here on earth was not really about us having an endearing story of a baby in a manger to tell our children and grandchildren on Christmas Eve.  Jesus came with a purpose, and that purpose was to save people from their sins.  As we celebrate Christmas, we are reminded not only of His purpose but of the purpose to which we are called.  The Bibles says that we “should set apart Christ as Lord in our life, always being ready to give an answer for the hope that lies within us.”  Our purpose is to use the gifts, abilities, and talents that God has given us, and use them to share the hope of Jesus with the people around us.  God’s desire that “none should perish, but all would come to repentance” ought to become our purpose as we share the good news with gentleness and respect.
• The advent of Eternity:  As Jesus arrived on earth, he revealed and began to usher in the kingdom of God.  By definition, eternity has no beginning and no end — so in that sense, eternal life is not something that we look forward to but something that we already have in Christ.  Much of the teaching of Jesus centered around the kingdom of heaven.  And while we will not understand its fullness until Jesus returns, the purpose of Jesus teaching about His kingdom was so we would know how to live like kingdom citizens now.  When Jesus taught, “All who are weary, come to me and I will give you rest.”, the words were meant to welcome people to live under His authority and be citizens of an eternal kingdom.  Yes, we are on a journey to a place that Jesus has gone to “to prepare a place” for us, but we are part of that kingdom even now as God has placed His eternal Spirit within us.  Since eternal life has arrived in us through Christ, we ought to practice and grow in the things of eternity — the things of the Spirit, “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control; against such things there is no law.

After the church service we had lunch on the way home and then spent a quiet afternoon going through the photos from Saturday.  When evening came we went to dinner with some friends and then I began the writing of today’s page before getting drawn into some Christmas movies on TV.  The movies won, so I’m finishing up the writing the next morning. 🙂  Today’s photo is of the “supermoon” that rose in the night sky.  Its nearness brings with it an appearance of larger size and brighter light.  Because it “came near”, many people were out last night looking at it and taking photos — they didn’t want to miss it.  Through the arrival of Christ that we celebrate at Christmas time, God came near to us and we would do well not to miss it.

As I reflect on the day, here are some thoughts/lessons that stand out to me:

• I am thankful when God gives me opportunities to preach — I ought to be thankful for all opportunities to share His Word and His love.
• Hope that can transform a life has to be more than just wishful thinking.
• My hope in Christ is made sure by a God who always keeps His promises.
• There is no healing more necessary that to be made right with God.
• God has given a great opportunity to all mankind — that we may draw near to Him because He first drew near to us.
• As God’s children, you and I have great purpose.  Part of that purpose is to live and talk in such a way that He is made known in our life.
• In Christ, eternity with God is already taking place in our life.  We would do well to live with an awareness of His presence.
• God drew near to mankind by sending His Son, Jesus, to live and walk among us.  Today He draws near to mankind by sending His Spirit to live and walk among people through us.

After a long, productive work day on Friday, Page 336 began with the soundtrack of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” in my mind.  I suspect I’m strange, but not so strange that my thoughts are unique to me.  It is easy to start feeling like I don’t belong, or if I belong anywhere it is on the “Island of Misfit Toys”.  Comparisons have a way of doing that.  Sometimes we start wishing we had the gift, ability, talent, or whatever of someone else and other times we just with the gift, ability, talent, or whatever that we actually have would be noticed or appreciated like those of others.  One of the sad parts of this type of thinking is that those whom we wish we were like often have others that they wish they could be like.  Today wrapped up a week’s prayer focus on contentment and it seems to be at the heart of being satisfied with doing our best at being the unique person that God created me to be.  You do remember the end of Rudolph, right?  When given the opportunity to use his unique gift, he became a hero and went “down in history!”  A good follow-up to my initial morning soundtrack was the song with these words, “A child of the King, a child of the King, with Jesus my Savior, I’m a child of the King!”

It was a beautiful early December day, so we headed out for a Saturday family adventure.  We made our way up the Lake Michigan shoreline, to photograph lighthouses and whatever else we could find.  My GPS took us across the channel from the lighthouses that were going to be our first stop, so we took a few photos from where we were and continued our way north with the plan to stop back by on the proper side on our way home.  One of my favorite lighthouses on the west Michigan shoreline is the Big Sable Point Lighthouse near Ludington.  Surrounded by a state park, it is a 1.8 mile walk from the parking lot to the lighthouse.  The walk itself is a beautiful stroll among the sand dunes and some wooded areas.  Part of the beauty is its remote location that is surrounded with rolling sand dunes and water, giving a variety of perspectives and angles to photograph it from.  While there, we crossed paths with a couple of guys who were on a prayer retreat — I’m not sure if that’s what they called it, but they had rented a cabin in order to get away and spend time with God as they reflected on “how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.”  They originally came over to where I was because they noticed Susan in her wheelchair and were impressed that we had brought her out to enjoy such vast beauty.  They even offered to help in our return trip back to the truck, so I thanked them and assured them that we were doing okay.  It is fun to watch how Susan’s unique abilities are used to encourage others and brighten their day.

After taking a bunch of photos at the lighthouse, we began our 1.8 mile walk back to the truck.  We did stop at Grand Haven on the way home and was able to find the side of the channel that the lighthouses were actually on.  By then the sun was getting low in the sky, so we stretched out our time in order to photograph the sunset — which really wasn’t much of a stretch as the sun sets shortly after 5 PM.  It had gotten rather cloudy, but the clouds helped to light up the sky with color after the sun had officially set.  It was beautiful and we kept shooting photos as each moment seemed somehow unique and captivating.  Eventually the color disappeared from the sky and the full moon rose behind us, shining brightly even in the midst of a night-time haze.  We made our way back home, with a stop to eat on the way, and wrapped up the day going through the photos we had taken.  Today’s photo was taken as I was playing with camera settings trying to capture the sun shining through the top of the lighthouse.  It made me think of the line of the hymn that says, “And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.”

As I reflect on the day, here are some thoughts/lessons that stand out to me:

• If all reindeer had red noses, we would probably never sing about Rudolph.
• Sometimes it is difficult to figure out where our unique giftings can make a positive difference in the lives of others, but if we’re not out using them we will probably never find out why we have them.
• Since this world is not my home, I will probably always have a certain level of not belonging.
• As a child of the King, I have a better home that I look forward to as I journey here on earth.
• Even the best technology can lead you to the wrong location if it doesn’t have accurate information.
• There are a lot of people who think they know the way to heaven . . . I will stick with Jesus who said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.”
• Sometimes the journey is longer than we would like or more difficult than we would like, but we keep going because we know the destination is worth it.
• Knowing our intended destination is key to figuring out how to get there.
• Sunsets are a good reminder of God’s creativity.  Each moment seems to be another unique masterpiece.

The Canadian Pacific Holiday Train rolled through town overnight and I had considered getting up to see if I could catch some photos of it.  The estimate was that it would pass through sometime between 1 and 3 AM, so I decided not to set an alarm but if I woke up in the night I would see if the updates listed it anywhere close.  I did wake up at 3 but decided it had surely already passed so I went back to sleep.  When morning came I found out it was passing through right about that time, so even if I had gotten up I would have missed it.  As I drove to work my morning soundtrack began with the words, “Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.  Because He lives, all fear is gone.”  It was an interesting sound track to fill my mind because as I crested the hill before turning into work, I could see nothing but darkness where the building should have been visible from the outside lights.  As I drove around the building I could see an entryway light and the light from the pop machine, so I knew the building had power.  Once inside I discovered a breaker had tripped which not only took out the light that had tripped it, but also the timer mechanism that would have turned the rest of the outside lights on.  

So, my morning began with some electrical work to get most of the outside lights on before I turned my attention to the usual prayer, cleaning, and building prep routine.  As I worked I continued to sing the words to “Because He Lives” as they filled my mind and spirit with great peace.  After the building was ready for the day, I went back to working on the electrical issue and narrowed the problem down even further so I could get more of the lights working.  As I write this page tonight, all of the lights are on except for the one pole I had to disconnect until it can be worked on.  What was left of the morning was spent on sermon refining and studying the floor plan for the exhibit hall at next year’s International Conference on Missions.  As I worked in the office, I noticed a hawk trying to hide while still keeping an eye on me.  Today’s photo is the only one I managed to take of him as he flew off as soon as he realized I saw him.  

By afternoon, the weather was beautiful so I headed out to do what I hope is the final mowing for the year.  It really wasn’t mowing as much as it was leaf mulching and blowing using the mower to get the job done.  The result was similar though; I ended up with a nice looking lawn that appeared to be freshly manicured.  Plus, as a bonus, the heavy cover of leaves were no longer going to be able to kill the grass.  By the time I was done on the mower, the air was getting a chill to it so I was happy to head inside to warm up.  After beginning some of the initial evening cleaning, I went down to the river to walk and take some sunset photos while I waited for the building to clear out so I could finish cleaning for the weekend.  There was a perfect mix of sun, clouds, and blue sky to reflect off the river surface for some great photos.  My outside work in the afternoon had taught me to be prepared for cool weather so it was a beautiful evening to be out.  When I got back to the building, I spent some time going through the photos I had just taken and then sat down to write today’s page which should take me up to an empty building so I will be able to clean and finish the day.

As I reflect on the day, here are some thoughts/lessons that stand out to me:

• Some things seem like a good idea until it comes right down to actually having to do it.
• There are some things I would do whatever I could not to miss — a train decorated for Christmas is not one of those things. 🙂
• I think there are a lot of songs that can fill me with peace, but “Because He lives, all fear is gone.” was the perfect set of words for this morning.
• Sometimes things are so interconnected that when one part fails, a domino effect begins which causes many other things not to work properly.  God says the church is like that — when one part suffers, the whole body suffers.
• When you have more than one thing that needs done, it is important to figure out how much of each needs done right away and how much of each can wait until the other tasks get finished.
• I enjoy the variety of beautiful animals and birds that visit the woods outside my office window.
• If I want a nice looking lawn next spring, I have to take care of it this fall.
• Much of life requires that we do something now if we want beautiful results later.
• I never get tired of sunsets — particularly sunsets over water.
• Having a flexible schedule helps me to not get too bent out of shape when things are not able to happen at their normal times.

Page 334 has been a quiet day.  So quiet, in fact, that I think I will go straight to today’s photo and the thoughts/lessons that stand out to me from the day.  The photo is of a woodpecker that has been working on this hole in the tree for several days in a row.  He takes a break every once in a while, but has spent considerable time each morning hollowing out this tree.  Each day he disappears further into the tree as his work continues — he can now fit the entire front half of his body into the hole.

Anyhow, as I reflect on the day, here are some thoughts/lessons that stand out to me:

• A quiet day that seems uneventful doesn’t mean there are no lessons to be learned.
• Today’s soundtrack began with the song that says, “Since the world didn’t give it to me, the world can’t take it away!”
• There is comfort that can be found in good routines.
• If something is worth doing, it is worth keeping at it until it is done.
• Mundane tasks are only mundane in our mind — if they have a reason to be done, they should be done well and with satisfaction.
• Much of our life is filled with tasks that by themselves seem rather unimportant — but they usually have more importance than we give them credit for.
• Not every project can be, or even needs to be, done on the same day it is started.  
• Urgent and necessary are not always the same thing.  Wisdom will seek God for the “one thing” that must be done, then allow the urgent things to flow from the necessary.

Page 333 began early as I was startled awake by the sound of Susan having a seizure sometime before my alarm was to go off.  After helping her get settled, I found that my alarm was set to go off in only 20 short minutes so I stayed up and got ready for work.  As I went about my early morning tasks, today’s mental soundtrack were the lyrics, and improvised lyrics, of “I’ve anchored my soul, in the haven of rest . . . “.  This was the theme song for a radio program that was on every morning during breakfast time when I was a child.  The song lyrics and the memories from my childhood were a good combination to work to as they brought great comfort and peace to my day.

Once the building was ready for the day I spent some time with God going through the foundation for Sunday’s sermon to further clarify and refine its direction.  I have invitations on my desk to have prayer ministry displays at a Christian Camp Leaders’ conference and three different Christian Camp & Conference Association regional conferences, so I spent some time praying and seeing how they fit on the calendar as they all take place early next year.  The biggest commitment in both finances and time is the CCL conference so I began by focusing on it and was able to confirm my being there with the prayer ministry materials.

As I worked in the office, the birds were very active outside my window and Susan had another seizure during the morning.  After pausing to check on Susan and reassure her that I was with her and she was okay, I did a combination of sermon work and research on lodging options for the conference trip.  By mid-afternoon Susan was feeling better and we were both hungry, so we headed out for lunch.  After lunch we made our way to Potato Creek to look for photo opportunities.  The sun was shining brightly so we took Susan’s wheelchair out on the trails where she was happy because she likes the sunshine and she likes to ride. 🙂  

I found plenty to photograph but the eagles were staying well hidden as we checked various parts of the park where we have found them in the past.  Before heading home we stopped back by our starting point for the day and found a juvenile eagle perched in a tree nearby.  Today’s photo is of that eagle as he kept an eye on me while I kept shooting photos of him.  With the bald eagles not getting their white feathers on their head and tail for four or five years, they are more difficult for me to spot in the wild.

As I reflect on the day, here are some thoughts/lessons that stand out to me:

• It is easy to be bothered by things that inconvenience me until I realize they are much more than an inconvenience to the person they really happen to.
• Once the adrenaline has been released, I may as well get up and start my day.
• It’s never too early to plant seeds of hope and truth in children.
• When life seems filled with turmoil it is good to have a haven of rest to be anchored in.
• Even when an opportunity seems too good to pass up, it is a wise idea to spend time talking and listening to God about it.
• Sunshine and fresh air can improve a day.
• If I don’t find what I’m looking for, I’m either looking at the wrong time and/or place or maybe I need to look for something different.

Page 332 began early following a good night’s sleep.  As I got up and began my day I found myself singing the words, “There is joy in the camp, a sinner has come home!  There’s joy in the camp, rejoicing ’round the throne!”, as well as other lyrics I probably improvised as I couldn’t recall when I had last heard the song.  I continue to be amazed at how songs, or at least lines from songs, fill my mind as I go about my work.

After I had the building ready for the day, I headed out in search of my cell phone.  Last night’s adventure photographing the sunset had resulted in my phone being lost somewhere on the beach we were at.  We had spent time in the dark looking for it with a flashlight last night with no success.  Before replacing the phone, I wanted to spend at least some time looking for it in the daylight, so a quick trip back to the beach was on my morning agenda.  The sunrise was beautiful as I drove and by the time I arrived at the beach, it provided all the light I would need.  I walked from the truck to the water’s edge in the area I had spent most of my time last night but didn’t see anything.  As I made my first trip back toward the truck, I saw the top edge of the phone sticking out of the sand.  After pulling it out of the sand, I tried it out and it seems to have suffered no ill effects from its night outside. 🙂  While completely out of context with the original lyrics to my morning song, there truly was “joy in the camp” this morning!

After I got back to work, I spent some time with God as I looked at direction for the sermon I’ll share Sunday morning.  I made progress on a potential outline, so now we’ll let the ideas and outline simmer a bit so God can confirm, refine, or replace them over the next couple of days.  I had a lunch meeting scheduled, so I finished up my morning’s work before going out to encourage a friend.  After lunch I headed home and by late afternoon we decided to head out for another evening adventure.  Today’s photo was taken near the end of that adventure as our final stop before returning home was at Silver Beach in St Joseph, Michigan.  The clear sky of the morning had clouded over so there wasn’t much of a visible sunset tonight but we still managed to find elements of beauty to photograph.  Each of the lights seem to have its own pattern of off and on which makes it difficult to take a photo with all three lights lit.  It is always encouraging to me when I find I got one, to today’s photo was one of those surprise moments of the day.

As I reflect on the day, here are some thoughts/lessons that stand out to me:

• It is easier to get up in the morning if I sleep well at night.
• While it is not really the message of the song, I suspect the “joy in the camp” lyrics were in my mind because of the peace God gave me overnight even though my phone was missing.
• I haven’t always found everything that I’ve lost or misplaced, but God has returned things to me often enough that I do not ever doubt His ability to do so.
• I don’t know if the peace I had last night that allowed me to sleep was due to a confidence that the phone would be found, but I do know there was a confidence that God would see me through whatever I would need to do.
• For me, sermon prep is a lot of listening.
• Even with practice, I don’t always listen accurately so I must leave time for God to refine, replace, or even confirm the direction I head in.
• There isn’t a one size fits all schedule for life.  We are all on individual journeys that have an individual pace.
• Being unique doesn’t mean we can’t all shine at the same time — it just takes a little more effort to make that happen.

Page 331 began with a soundtrack before I even left home as I found myself singing, “I exalt Thee!  I exalt Thee!  I exalt Thee, oh, God!”  Sometimes I have an idea of what planted that day’s soundtrack in my mind and other days, like today, I just find myself singing a song of worship without knowing why that specific song came to mind other than to praise God — and that is reason enough.  I know my day goes better when I have a soundtrack of praise woven throughout it, so I ought to be more deliberate about making sure each day begins that way.

The song continued as I arrived at work and started in on the morning prayer, cleaning, and building prep tasks.  There were a few minor maintenance issues to take care of as I began my morning, but by the time the sun came up I was ready to settle in with God to figure out the prayer guide for next week.  After considering a variety of topics that I felt were good possibilities, I finally landed on living with hope as the one that brought peace to my mind and spirit.  Once I had direction, the rest of the morning was spent in prayer and study as I put together the daily scriptures and prayer points for the guide.  By the time the prayer guide was written and then formatted and scheduled to be published early Sunday, the morning had disappeared and I was well into the afternoon.  

My next task was putting together a #GivingTuesday Facebook fundraiser for Impact Prayer Ministry and then writing and scheduling a promo email to go out first thing tomorrow.  Giving to non-profits, such as Impact Prayer Ministry, that takes place tomorrow on Facebook is eligible to receive a matching grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; so while I rarely emphasize the financial needs of the prayer ministry, this opportunity is one I wanted to make people aware of.  It’s not too often you can each dollar given matched so that the gift goes twice as far, and the fun thing is that God has a way of multiplying that doubled gift so that it goes even further!

By mid-afternoon I made it home and had leftover turkey for lunch before sitting down to relax and unwind for a while.  Before the daylight completely disappeared, we decided to drive up to Lake Michigan to walk and take some sunset photos.  It was a beautiful evening on the beach considering it is late November.  The sunset was beautiful and there were plenty of gulls and shore birds enjoying the peaceful water.  Today’s photo made me marvel at the ability to these birds to fly so close to the water’s surface.  Sometimes it seem as if their wings will dip into the water and send them spiraling out of control, but I’ve never seen it happen.  We left the beach only to see the sky light up behind us after the sun finished setting beyond the horizon so we went back to capture round two of the sunset before heading home. 🙂

As I reflect on the day, here are some thoughts/lessons that stand out to me:

• Worship flows from the inside out.  If the inside is filled with praise, it can’t help but come out as worship.
• Worship sets the mood for the day because it reminds me of who is in charge.
• Sometimes it is tempting to settle for good ideas rather than seek God’s ideas.
• My ideas always take more time and work to make them usable than what it would take if I would just wait until the next step in God’s plan is clear.
• Asking for help is hard for me to do.
• Sometimes being faithful in trusting God means we ask people to help so that they can accomplish what God has equipped them to do.
• God provides.  How He chooses to do that is up to Him.
• It is fun to watch how God has equipped creation to accomplish things that look impossible.
• Sometimes we miss the best God wants to offer because we give up before it arrives.

Page 330 has been a good day filled with many reminders of God’s presence and love.  After taking advantage of some great weather and opportunities to spend time with my family over the Thanksgiving break, I was up early this morning to get some cleaning done and the building ready for the Sunday gathering.  As I cleaned, I continued to let the sermon for this morning simmer in my mind as I sought God’s refining Spirit to make it what He wanted.

With the building ready for the day, I went back through my sermon outline before driving to Dowagiac to worship with the church family there.  As we sang praises to God, different ones shared how thankful they are for the church family and for the work God has done through Jesus.  The message I shared this morning used 2 Corinthians 9:6-15 as its primary text — a text that, at least the first part, is often used in regard to financial giving.  Yet woven through that section of text is the concept of thankfulness that ought to be a part of all giving, whether it is giving that we do or giving that we receive.  With that in mind, the message this morning considered four qualities that ought to be present as we “GIVE Thanks”.  

• Generous Thanks:  While the teaching, “Whoever sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly”, definitely applies to how we use our money, I believe it also applies to our need to be generous with our thanks if we expect others to appreciate us.  When we look for opportunities to say, “Thank you”, we find that they abound almost everywhere.  If we don’t find ourselves giving thanks, and saying thanks, on a regular basis, it is not due to a lack of reasons.  It is far too easy to let pride creep into our life and steal our gratitude as we begin to believe we deserve whatever good that is done to, or for, us.  When we are generous with our thanks, we find that we no longer keep score as we reap even more than we sow.
• Intentional Thanks:  When it comes to financial giving, we often hear that “each one should give what he has decided in his heart.”  The idea is to be intentional about our giving so that it comes from a pure heart and not motivated by pressure from others, selfishness, or guilt.  I believe the same concept applies to being intentional about our giving thanks.  When we are intentional, not only do we look for the opportunities to give thanks, we have a plan to actually do so when those opportunities arise and even when they don’t.  It is easy to assume that people understand the thank you we ought to say but don’t.  Being intentional means that we go ahead and say it in order to remove all doubt about our gratitude.
• Vertical Thanks:  Because “every good and perfect gift comes from above”, it is imperative that our giving thanks always has a vertical element to it.  In fact, it is through living a life filled with vertical thanks to God that we begin to understand how thankful we ought to be.  It is our vertical thanks that helps us to maintain the perspective we need.  A life filled with horizontal thanks — the thanking of other people — is great, but it needs the vertical component to help us always remember the true source of all that is good.  Paul was constantly giving vertical thanks to God for the work He did through the people even as he was also thanking the people.
• Expressive Thanks:  In our mind we can be generous, intentional, and even vertical with our thanks but if we never express it, does it ever become real?  While the simple words, “Thank you”, can go a long way in making our thanks known, the ways in which we express those words can be nearly endless.  Notes, cards, phone calls, visits, gifts, and so much more can all express our thanks with an impact well beyond the size of effort.  While creativity is good, it is not a requirement.  Expressive thanks should not be a contest to “out-thank” others, rather it should be an outpouring of our heart as it reaches out in gratitude to God and to people.

After the church service I grabbed lunch on the go from a drive-thru as I made my way to visit a friend in the hospital.  While I’m not a fan of hospitals, or medical facilities of any kind, they serve a great purpose and there are times I have to overcome my tendency to pass out at such places in order to visit and encourage friends.  Fortunately I’ve learned that food ahead of time tends to help me, so I had a good visit and was able to avoid becoming a patient. 🙂 

By the time I finally made it home, I spent some time relaxing before going out to do some work outside and in the garage.  As I was outside late in the afternoon I noticed the moon in the sky overhead.  The overlapping schedules of the sun and moon fascinate me and I went inside to get my camera to take a few photos.  Today’s photo is of the late afternoon moon as the sun was shining brightly on its western face.  It made me think about my life’s journey.  While life may rise and set at times which seem random to me; it doesn’t matter where I am in my journey, if I keep my face toward God, His light will always shine upon me.

As I reflect on the day, here are some thoughts/lessons that stand out to me:

• God’s desire is to reveal Himself to all who seek Him.  “If you seek Me you will find me when you seek me with your whole heart.”
• Even early morning work hours were a reminder of how God has shared His goodness with me over the past few days.
• Sharing God’s Word is a privilege, an honor, and a great responsibility among other things and yet God calls each of us to share it with someone.
• Our heart of giving can probably be measured by how we give thanks.
• Generosity is not just about money and possessions — it’s about a way of life.
• Having good intentions is not the same as being intentional about what we do.
• Our relationships with others will never be what they ought to be until we take care of our vertical relationship with God.
• Having feelings of gratitude and thanksgiving may be a start, but those feelings don’t have a lot of value until we express them.
• Sometimes we must overcome our fears and weaknesses in order to be a blessing to others.
• God’s light is always shining.  The only way it doesn’t shine upon my face is if I turn away from it.