How to Prevent a Spiritually Dry December. “Busy days mean our schedules get squeezed. Work and school hours don’t change, so this means there’s a competition for our time at the margins. And, if you’ve been a Christian for any length of time, you know that devotional time is often a casualty in this battle.”
I’m Adopted, HT to Challies.. “For me, those heavy questions needed to be asked, then answered, before I would be able to see my adoption for the gift it is.”
Am I a Good Mom? HT to Challies. “Every day, I am faced with opportunities to fail or succeed but there is no one other than my three kids under three to see. For the last three years, I have constantly strived to be the best and most God-honoring mother I can be. In my striving, I have never, ever felt more like a failure.”
Before You Go On the Attack. “A classic strategy in times of warfare is to dehumanize the enemy. No sooner has a conflict broken out than the two sides begin to refer to one another as animals rather than men, as mere creatures rather than human beings.” I had been thinking of writing a post along these lines: now I don’t have to.
Seek, as a plain duty, to cultivate a buoyant, joyous sense of the crowded kindnesses of God in your daily life. – Alexander Maclaren
Thanksgiving week, of all weeks, should be easy to come us with five favorites, right? I’m joining in with Susanne and friends at Living to Tell the Story to encourage looking for the good things, large or small, from each week.
1. Thanksgiving. I could do a whole Friday’s Fave Five on this one day. We had a veritable feast. Everyone contributed with food, preparation, and clean-up. We enjoyed family time, rest time, conversation, and games. And we had time to concentrate on what we were thankful for with our Thanksgiving tree.
2. Thanksgiving activities. In the past couple of years, I’ve gotten a tablecloth for the holidays that included puzzles, mazes, and pictures to color. I didn’t look for one in time this year, but Skip to My Lou had some free printable Thanksgiving place mats I used (She has tons of neat holiday ideas). Even though I just printed them off on 8 1/2 by 11″ paper, not really big enough for place mats, they still worked. Then, several weeks ago I found a “build a turkey” game and a kit of foam cats and dogs with different props (some got put on our Thanksgiving tree above) marked down at Hobby Lobby. Different ones of us sat down with Timothy before and after the meal, coloring or assembling.
3. Jim’s one-month post-op appointment. The surgeon was pleased with his progress and said the remaining discomfort and issues he’s still dealing with are normal and should resolve soon.
4. Family Face Time. Jeremy lives out-of-state and couldn’t be with us on Thanksgiving. He had plans with friends on Thanksgiving Day, so over the weekend we had a Face Time call with the whole family. It’s so neat that can be done with multiple people at one time.
5. A new way to do meatloaf. Sometimes it’s the little things. 🙂 For the past few years, I’ve made meatloaf in the microwave. But this time I wanted to do baked potatoes at the same time in the oven. While looking up how long to bake the meatloaf, I ran across this recipe for shaping the meat on a foil-covered sheet pan instead of a loaf pan. I had always wondered at the wisdom of the meat bubbling in it’s own juices in a loaf pan (even the leanest ground beef still has some fat). I tried this idea with my own recipe and loved the way it turned out. Plus the foil made for easy clean-up. I’ll be making meatloaf this way from now on.
“To give thanks is not the same as ‘feeling thankful.’ To give thanks in the midst of pain and problems is to take a step of faith based on the command of1 Thessalonians 5:18: God tells us to give thanks in all circumstances (not just those we can handle or feel on top of). For what things can you give thanks, even while you’re hurting?“
Joni Eareckson Tada, A Thankful Heart in a World of Hurt
Though the world is full of trouble, and we have trials and problems, God has given us much to be thankful for. He is with those who believe on Him and promises to give us everything we need. He blesses us beyond measure.
The Book of Lost Friends by Lisa Wingate follows two different, but connected timelines in Louisiana.
In 1875, the Civil War has ended, but life is dangerous for Black people. Besides the activities of the Klan, unscrupulous men are willing to steal Black people and ship them off to countries that still buy slaves.
Hannie Gossett is a freed slave, having lived with the Gossetts all her life. She and a few others work as sharecroppers, coming close to the time when the land they’ve been working will be theirs. But Mr. Gossett has been gone for ages. Hannie is afraid his wife, who is most unsympathetic to the freed slaves, will somehow find a way out of keeping her husband’s obligations to them.
Juneau Jane has similar concerns. She’s Gossett’s daughter by his Creole mistress. Her father has told her he has provided for her. But she doesn’t trust that she’ll receive her inheritance unless she can get the legal paperwork to prove she’s entitled to it.
In a set of unexpected circumstances, Hannie, Juneau Jane, and Gossett’s legitimate daughter, Lavinia, find themselves on a journey to Texas to find Mr. Gossett.
Hannie had gone along mainly to help the other two when they were in a bind. But the further west she travels. the more she wonders about her people. When she was young, a man who was supposed to take the Gossett slaves to Texas as refugees during the Civil War sold them along the way instead. Hannie was the only one sent back to Louisiana. But her mother urged her to remember who was sold where. Now Hannie holds out hope that she may yet find some of her family.
At one stop, the girls see notices on a church wall from a newspaper column where Black people sought for information about loved ones they’d been separated from. The girls took the notices and added to them as they traveled.
In 1987, Benedetta (Benny) Silva is a first year teacher in a poor school in Louisiana to help work off her student loans. Her students, for the most part, are uninterested in learning. Most of the other teachers just try to make it through the week without any altercations. Gossett Industries is the major business in town. Members of the Gossett family are in control of much of the area, even the school board, though their own children attend a more prestigious school.
Benny’s landlord is a Gossett, but an illusive one who disassociates himself from the rest of the family. She finally tracks him down to ask about borrowing some books for her class: she’s been told they are sitting in the old Gossett home, unused. He grants permission. What Benny discovers sets of a chain of events that might help her students, but might also cause a rift in town.
In-between chapters, various narrators read examples of the real Lost Friends advertisements (the text of which can be seen here).
Some of the quotes that stood out to me:
I’m trying to impress upon my students that everyone has history. Just because we’re not always happy with what’s true doesn’t mean we shouldn’t know it. It’s how we learn. It’s how we do better in the future. Hopefully, anyway.
Books made me believe that smart girls who didn’t necessarily fit in with the popular crowd could be the ones to solve mysteries, rescue people in distress, ferret out international criminals, fly spaceships to distant planets, take up arms and fight battles. Books showed me that not all fathers understand their daughters or even seek to, but that people can turn out okay despite that. Books made me feel beautiful when I wasn’t. Capable when I couldn’t be.
Stories change people. History, real history, helps people understand each other, see each other from the inside out.
I ponder how we can put a man on the moon, fly shuttles back and forth to outer space, send probes to Mars, and yet we can’t traverse the boundaries in the human heart, fix what’s wrong. How can things still be this way?
The past travels with you. It’s whether you run from it or learn from it that makes the difference.
I loved the historical aspect of this book. It’s important to remember that, as wonderful as the Emancipation Proclamation was, it didn’t solve all the problems Black people had. Though they weren’t enslaved in the 1980s, they were still hindered by the policies and attitudes of the times. I love how the book made connections between the two eras.
I thought the characters were well-developed. I especially loved Hannie, Juneau Jane, Granny T, and “Aunt Sarge.”
I thought the ending overall was rather abrupt. It seemed like the author just wanted to wrap everything up by telling us what happened rather than showing us. But I loved how Hannie’s story ended.
The author dropped a lot of new information about Benny’s background right in the last few minutes of the book. I wondered if I had missed something, if there was a previous book or a sequel. But there doesn’t appear to be at this point.
Though there was much I enjoyed about the book, that plot seemed to drag. I finally realized that was because the author had a penchant for interrupting conversations and scenes with backstory, explanations, and descriptions. I don’t know how many times individual lines of conversation, or one person waiting for a response, would be sandwiched in-between several paragraphs of all this other information.
I listened to the audiobook, wonderfully read by several narrators. The author herself came on at the end to tell a bit about how the story came to be.
I would call this historical fiction rather than Christian fiction. Though others of the author’s books are Christian, there’s not much of a Christian nature here. Hannie mentions prayer, but her faith is mixed in with superstition (which is probably historically accurate for her circumstances).
Though I was frustrated with the writing in places, the overall story is good and worth reading.
In my current trek through the Bible, I’ve just finished the book of Psalms. I had not planned to end the book right before Thanksgiving, but I was glad it worked out that way.
Once again, I used Warren Wiersbe’s short “Be” commentary as a companion, along with the ESV Study Bible notes.
As I said in the earlier review, the book of Psalms is Israel’s songbook. The passages cover Israel’s history from creation to the latest happenings of the day, their return after being exiled in Babylon for seventy years.
Though David wrote a majority of the psalms, various other authors contributed as well.
The writers composed in caves, in hiding, in their rooms, under persecution, in celebration.
Many of the psalms are deeply personal, yet benefit the whole congregation.
The psalms are deeply doctrinal, some prophesying of the Messiah to come, many quoted in the New Testament.
But many people value the psalms most for their wide range of emotion, from the highest praise and exaltation to the lowest depths of misery. The psalms give us many examples of someone pouring out their heart to God in confusion, sorrow, pain, or guilt, then reminding themselves of what they know to be true about God.
Here are some of the quotes from Wiersbe’s book that most stood out to me:
Life is brief, so Moses prayed, “Teach us.” Life is difficult, and he prayed, “Satisfy us.” His work at times seemed futile, so he prayed, “Establish the work of our hands.” God answered those prayers for Moses, and He will answer them for us. The future is your friend when Jesus is your Savior and Lord (p. 25, Kindle version).
It is better to suffer in the will of God than to invite trouble by disobeying God’s will (1 Peter 2: 18–25) (p. 26).
This hidden life of worship and communion makes possible the public life of obedience and service (p. 26).
To rely on our faith is to put faith in faith, but to rely on God’s faithfulness is to put faith in the Lord. Our assurance is in the Word of God and the God of the Word (p. 102).
The Word of God performs many wonderful ministries in the life of the devoted believer. It keeps us clean (v. 9), gives us joy (vv. 14, 111, 162), guides us (vv. 24, 33–35, 105), and establishes our values (vv. 11, 37, 72, 103, 127, 148, 162). The Word helps us to pray effectively (v. 58) and gives us hope (v. 49) and peace (v. 165) and freedom (vv. 45, 133) (p. 110).
What a precious treasure is the Word of God (vv. 14, 72, 127, 162; 61: 5)! It is like a deep mine filled with gold, silver, and precious gems, and we must take time to “dig” for these treasures (Prov. 2: 1–9; 3: 13–15; 8: 10–11; 1 Cor. 3: 9–23). A mere surface reading of Scripture will not put spiritual treasure into our hearts. Mining treasure is hard work, but it is joyful work when we “mine” the Bible, as the Spirit guides us into truth. Then, the Spirit helps us to “mint” the treasure so we can invest it in our lives (obedience) and in the lives of others (witness) (p. 131).
Wrong ideas about God will ultimately lead to wrong ideas about who we are and what we should do, and this leads to a wrong life on the wrong path toward the wrong destiny (p. 193).
I’m thankful once again for Dr. Wiersbe’s insights.
I was talking with a friend recently about how, with all God’s blessings and all we have to be thankful for, we should be overflowing with gratitude.
Instead, we often have to “make” ourselves stop and think about thankfulness.
Oh, sometimes we’re spontaneously inspired to praise God when we see a beautiful sunset, or when someone does something unexpected for us. We love that Thanksgiving gives us an opportunity to focus on our blessings. Some even post on blogs or social media something they are grateful for every day in November.
Those are all good practices.
But what about the rest of the year? How can we overcome the distraction of everyday cares and duties to be intentionally thankful?
Here are a few ideas:
Read the Bible regularly. Not only will we see multitudes of things to be thankful for, but we’ll see examples of how people thanked God. The admonition to “let the word of Christ dwell in you richly” in Colossians 3:16-17 is sandwiched between verses telling us to be thankful, suggesting a connection.
Some years ago I did a Thanksgiving Bible Study that turned out to be a big blessing. Just looking up a few verses with “thanks” or “thanksgiving” in a concordance will inspire us.
The psalmists talk about their problems, confusion, and pain, but the psalms are threaded through with hope and praise. The last several psalms especially focus on praising the Lord in just about every manner possible.
Psalm 145 is one of many that shares the two main categories of things we praise God for: who He is, and what He has done. The first seven verses say:
I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever. 2 Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever. 3 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable.
4 One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts. 5 On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate. 6 They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds, and I will declare your greatness. 7 They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.
Pray. We can ask God to open our hearts to see the ways He has blessed us and help us not to just mention them rotely, but to be truly thankful. It helps, also, to turn psalms or thanksgiving passages into prayer.
Some incorporate a regular time for giving thanks in their prayer time. Some use the acronym A.C.T.S.:
A: Adoration, praise C: Confession of sin T: Thanksgiving S: Supplication, or requests
Say thank you to God immediately.We’re taught from an early age to say thank you when someone gives to us or does for us. Why not do that with God in real time all through the day?
Thank you for this good parking space!
Thank you for helping me see that unadvertised markdown on pork chops at the store.
Thank you for helping that difficult conversation go well.
What beautiful tiny flowers by the sidewalk. Thank you for creating them and putting them here for me to see. What artistry You put even in a small gathering of blooms.
We don’t have to wait untll our official prayer time to mention these things. We’d likely forget most of them then. But we can keep up a running conversation with God all through the day.
Recall blessings as you fall asleep. I used to listen to music as I fell asleep. More recently, I set my audiobook timer. But as Bing Crosby crooned in the movie White Christmas, we can “Count your blessings instead of sheep.” I don’t know if the songwriter had the psalms in mind, but David wrote, “My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips, when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night;for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy” (Psalm 63:5-7).
Start a gratitude journal. Some like to keep a running record of what they are thankful for. This has two advantages. Writing them down helps reinforce them in our minds, and we’re blessed again when we later peruse our written records.
Recount your Ebenezers, In 1 Samuel 7, Samuel set up a stone to commemorate the Lord’s help, calling it an “Ebenezer,” which means “stone of help.” Some years ago I was encouraged to make a list of those special times in life when I especially saw God’s hand at work. As we tell stories of God’s faithfulness and blessings, we encourage ourselves and others.
Set times for thanksgiving. Some families make time on Thanksgiving Day for everyone to share something they are thankful about. Why not do this at intervals through the year?
Use music. Elisabeth Elliot wrote in On Asking God Why: “When I stumble out of bed in the morning, put on a robe, and go into my study, words do not spring spontaneously to my lips–other than words like, ‘Lord, here I am again to talk to you. It’s cold. I’m not feeling terribly spiritual….’ Who can go on and on like that morning after morning, and who can bear to listen to it day after day?”
She goes on to say that two things helped her. One was the book of psalms. She writes of David: “He found expression for praise far beyond my poor powers, so I use his and am lifted out of myself, up into heights of adoration, even though I’m still the same ordinary woman alone in the same little room.” The other help was hymns. She cites a few and writes, “By putting into words things on earth for which we thank him, we are training ourselves to be ever more aware of such things as we live our lives. It is easy otherwise to be oblivious of the thousand evidences of his care.”
Many hymns contain thanksgiving, but they also have phrases that could be turned into prayers of thanks.
Here are a couple of my favorites:
“Thanks to God for My Redeemer” sung by the Sacred Music Services‘ men’s chorus.
“My Heart is Filled with Thankfulness” (written by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend. I don’t know the folks in the video, but I like this version).
What about when we don’t really feel thankful?
Thanksgiving isn’t a feeling; it’s an action. We can give God thanks whether we feel thankful or not. Usually, once we do, the feelings come.
And usually, once we start looking for things to thank God for, it’s hard to stop.
How about you? Do any of these practices resonate with you? Do you have other ways to be intentionally thankful through the year?
In the Middle of the Greatest Story, HT to Challies. “Veterans Day has me thinking of a time I stood in the middle of a story and felt like an imposter there, an imposter in someone else’s story.”
Widows: The Untapped Resource in Your Church, HT to Challies. “Widows aren’t delicate knick-knacks to put on a shelf and dust every now and then; they’re vital ministers to be deployed in the life of the church. They can teach the church a great deal about faith, devotion, service, and prayer.”
The Church: A Family of Redemption, HT to Challies. “The local church paints a picture of a greater reality: God takes broken people and makes them whole through the family of God. He has sent his son Jesus Christ to redeem a people—his people—to himself that they might enjoy him forever. This is an eternal and unfading family, but it’s also a family for the not-yet season that we live in.”
From Shadow to Substance: Aaronic Priesthood’s Transformation, HT to Challies. Some OT practices were declared to be “perpetual.” But we don’t practice them today. Why not? Randy Alcorn deals with some specific OT practices to show that we don’t just pick and choose what OT passages to follow and demonstrates how they are fulfilled in Christ. This is an excellent demonstration in interpreting the OT in the light of the NT.
Will We Know Everything in Heaven, or Will We Learn, also from Randy Alcorn, HT to Challies. “Paul, in Ephesians 2:6-7, writes, ‘God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace.’ The word translated show means ‘to reveal.’ The phrase in the coming ages clearly indicates that this will be a progressive, ongoing revelation, in which we learn more and more about God’s grace.”
The purpose of prayer is not to get man’s will done in heaven but to get God’s will done on earth. Warren W. Wiersbe
It hardly seems like time for Friday again. But here it is, ready or not! Friday’s Fave Five with Susanne and friends at Living to Tell the Story gives us an opportunity to pause the merry-go-round for a minute and reflect on God’s good gifts of the week
1. Family costume party. We’ve been doing these a few years now. My original idea for Jim and me was “Ma and Pa Ingalls, the later years.” 🙂 However, he ended up looking more Amish, and I looked more like the Colonial era. But we had fun. 🙂
Some of you may remember that Timothy has loved “air dancers” for years. This year he got to be one. 🙂
2. Homemade caramel popcorn is one of Jim’s favorite treats. But it’s labor intensive, so I only make it once or twice a year. I made some to take to the family party, with enough left for Jason and Mittu to take to their small group the next day.
3. A breakfast biscuit. I get up fairly early, but I am not out and about until much later in the day. I had to go in for some fasting lab work one morning and rewarded myself afterward with a Chick-Fil-A biscuit.
4. Back at church. It was nice to go to the Sunday morning service and then Bible study on Wednesday for the first time since Jim’s surgery.
5. Physical done. My yearly physical was due during Jim’s recovery, so I put it off til this week. Thankfully, there were no new surprises or concerns. I’m at the age where one appointment generates one or two more (mammogram and bone density test). But at least one appointment is over with.
In The Wings of Poppy Pendleton, a novel by Melanie Dobson, the newly rich Pendleton family is trying to find a place among the top Gilded Age society families. Mr. Pendleton had built a stunning castle on Koster Island among New York’s Thousand Islands, and the family is hosting a fete for elite guests. Their almost five-year-old daughter, Poppy, is sleeping in the castle’s tower, supposedly under the care of one of the maids, while the guests party.
But in the morning, Poppy is missing and Mr. Pendleton is dead.
Police, detectives, and curious seekers investigate for years, trying to determine what happened. But Poppy’s disappearance remains a mystery.
In 1992, Chloe Ridell is the only resident on Koster Island. Her grandfather, Cade, had been the caretaker of the castle and island in the Pendleton’s time and decades afterward. Mrs. Pendleton willed the property to Cade, who then passed it along to Chloe.
Chloe is uninterested in the castle and has never been in it. She runs a candy store started by her grandparents, and she just wants to maintain their legacy. But her funds are running low.
Then one stormy night, a young girl shows up on Chloe’s porch. Her name is Emma, but she refuses to say much else about who she is or why she is there. She’s frightened, though, especially of a man named Mitch. Chloe feels led to let Emma stay while her situation is investigated by the police. Eventually, Emma lets Chloe see her scrapbook, which is filled with drawings, magazine cutouts, and descriptions of birds. On the last page is a picture from a news article about the magnificent aviary Mrs. Pendelton’s husband had constructed at her request and filled with dozens of birds and their native trees. The aviary burned down decades ago. But Chloe wonders at the oddity of Emma’s connection to the Pendletons.
Then another visitor shows up out of the blue. A reporter, Logan, arrives in Chloe’s candy shop. Poppy Pendleton’s ninetieth birthday is coming soon. Logan thought it would be a good time to look into her case again. Chloe has no interest. But Logan convinces her that solving the mystery will not only bring justice for Poppy, but it will stop the curious from tramping around her island and asking her questions.
The point of view switches between characters and timelines to uncover what happened to Poppy, her mother, and Emma.
So far I have loved all of Melanie’s novels, and this is no exception. She explores some darker themes than usual. But, sadly, the issues in the story are all too real.
I felt the faith element was woven in naturally and not at all preachy or stilted.
I listened to the audiobook nicely read by Nancy Peterson. Many audiobooks don’t include the author’s afterword or notes, but this one did. Plus Melanie tells a little bit about her research for the novel, with pictures from a trip to the Thousand Islands and its castles, here.
In Kate Breslin’s novel, As Dawn Breaks, Rosalind Graham works in a Chilwell munitions factory in England in 1918. Her parents had passed away long ago, and her uncle took Rosalind and her two brothers in. But the arrangement was far from cozy. Rosalind’s uncle is forcing her to marry a ruthless man she doesn’t love.
Shortly before the wedding, Rose’s best friend from the factory, Tilly, sends her to her apartment to get ready for a bridal shower. But while Rose is away, the factory blows up, killing hundreds, including Tilly.
Stunned and devastated, Rose eventually realizes the explosion offers her a way out of her dilemma. She can take on Tilly’s identity and leave, and everyone will think Rose died in the explosion. Though she hates to make her brothers think she’s dead, it’s the only way she can see to help herself and them. She plans to find a job in another town and then retrieve her brothers when she has saved enough money.
Rose/Tilly ends up in another munitions factory in Gretna, Scotland. She’s put in charge of a group, and one of the young women says her family will let her rent a room. She revels in a warm, caring, normal family life.
RAF Captain Alex Baird heads for home in Gretna on an undercover mission. Sources indicate the Gretna factory might be next for the saboteur. Alex is charged with working in the factory to find clues as to what might happen and who might be involved.
Alex is stunned to find a woman, Rose, who he knows as Tilly, renting his bedroom. He didn’t know his father was unable to work and needed to make money by renting out his room. Rose and Alex don’t get on well at first, but eventually they form a bond over their love for his family.
Then Alex receives word to surveil Tilly, who is suspected of having some connection in the Chilwell bombing. Rose knows nothing of Tilly’s involvement and wonders at Alex’s sudden interest in everything she does.
Meanwhile, Alex has secrets of his own that not even his parents know.
I didn’t know, when I read Kate Breslin’s Far Side of the Sea a couple of months ago, that it was the third of a five-part series. As Dawn Breaks is the fourth and has been in my Kindle app for a couple of years now. Each of the books is understandable alone, but it’s fun to follow some of the characters through the series.
I enjoyed the characters, and there was plenty of suspense in wondering what Tilly had been involved in, whether Rose would be blamed, whether the saboteur would be found in time, and other plot lines. I thought one of the threads was wrapped up a little too easily, but overall I enjoyed the book very much.
Stray Thoughts 