Thankful

THANKFUL

    Pastor David Jeremiah said, "The Bible tells us that whenever we come before God, whatever our purpose or prayer request, we are always to come with a thankful heart."

    The Holy Bible is full of verses speaking of the importance of giving thanks to our Creator.  Psalm 100 is a classic:  "Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands!  Serve the Lord with gladness...Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise.  Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.  For the Lord is good..."  

    We should be thankful every single day of the year, but this special day we call Thanksgiving Day has been handed down to us through the generations -- and that too is something to be thankful for.  The history of Thanksgiving in America is believed to have begun in the early 1600s.  Several days of thanks were celebrated by the Pilgrims in early New England history that have been identified as the "First Thanksgiving," in 1621, but there was also a well-recorded Thanksgiving event held in 1619 in Virginia.  While we may not know the official origin of the holiday, we do know that George Washington proclaimed the first nationwide thanksgiving celebration in America marking November 26, 1789, “as a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God.”

    Amen to George's proclamation!  The Psalmist also echoes these sentiments, writing, "Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.  For the Lord is the great God, and the great King above all gods," 95:2-3.

     The picture I chose for this post comes from a recent visit to the Bennett Farm in Durham, NC, where a Union and a Confederate General got together in April 26,1865, and negotiated a peace settlement that completely ended the Civil War (this was after Robert E. Lee surrendered on April 9).  The picture shows a peaceful corner of the Bennett's simple farmhouse.  No doubt, there was much to be thankful for on that day when these two men signed papers that finally ended a horrible time in the history of our nation.

    We have much to be thankful for!  I like the old hymn written in 1897 by Johnson Oatman, Jr., that says, "Count your blessings, name them one by one, count your blessings see what God has done...count your many blessings see what God has done."

    Henry Ward Beecher was a preacher in the 1800s.  He wrote: “The unthankful heart... discovers no mercies; but let the thankful heart sweep through the day and, as the magnet finds the iron, so it will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings!” 

    A.W. Tozer was a pastor and a writer in the 1900s.  He wrote:  "Gratitude is an offering precious in the sight of God, and it is one that the poorest of us can make and be not poorer but richer for having made it," 

    We end with words of the apostle Paul who was a preacher way back in the first century.  He wrote:  "In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you" 1 Thessalonians 5:18.

    Throughout history, we are reminded how important it is to be thankful.  What are you thankful for today?

 

Climbing the Wall

CLIMBING THE WALL

Have you ever felt like climbing the wall?  In the photos above and below, two of my grandchildren are enjoying a bit of "wall play."  In the first, they only achieved a one-foot-up, but the second photo features rounded walls at a museum and they were able to run up the side of the wall in a semi-climb- the-wall experience. 

Then, in the picture below, we have a full-on climbing-the-wall-and-proud-of-it moment.

While these glimpses of wall-climbing by my grandkids are fun, true climbing-the-wall situations are far from funny.  How about the past eight months?  Does anyone feel like climbing the wall over wearing masks, social distancing, and cramped lifestyles -- among other things?!?!

Here's my husband, my sister and her husband - all masked up and trying to play it safe with only ourselves as company in the Outer Banks this summer.  Who is sick of wearing masks?  Yes, I'm sure we all are, but since it's the only way to gather together and stay safe, we just gotta do it!  As Jesus said, "And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise," Luke 6:31.  

Now and then, we probably all feel like we could climb the walls, but rather than trying to do so and falling flat on our faces, let's take a deep breath and trust God to get us through this thing.  We don't understand why all these things are happening, but thankfully, we know the One who is in control of it all - and has a purpose for everything.  I love the verse in Proverbs, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths" 3:4, 5.  He will not only direct your path, but He will help you smile through the struggle as you follow that path (:  There's an old saying that brings comfort in times of trouble:  "This too shall pass."

And as for climbing walls, the Psalmist said, "With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall," 18:29 NIV.  And the prophet Joel wrote, "...they scale walls like soldiers," 2:7.  So - yes, when necessary, we can even climb a wall!

A Visit to Smithfield

 

A Visit to Smithfield

It was one of those perfect Autumn days when the sky was brilliant blue, the sun was shining, temps were perfectly pleasant and we were free to roam.  We opted for a drive out to charming, historic Smithfield and had a delightful afternoon.

Since we left home at noon, we went straight to Smithfield Gourmet Bakery and ordered take-out sandwiches which we ate in the car.  I love their chicken salad on sourdough bread.  They butter the bread and grill it - decadently delicious!  Larry had a Smithfield ham sandwich on wheat that he much enjoyed as well.  Thus fortified, we began walking around one of the most charming towns in Virginia!

A number of the lovely homes were built around 1790, with others from the early and mid 1800s.  The town sits on a bluff above the Pagan River, which makes it unique to our flat-land area.  The picture above and below were taken on our walk across the marsh and into Windsor Castle Park later in the day.

There were so many beautifully colored trees along the way.  When sunlight shines through the leaves they glow with the most vibrant colors.  I tried to capture their beauty in pictures, but it doesn't do them justice.

             We also saw a Japanese persimmon tree loaded with beautiful orange fruit (below)

Here are a few more sights along the way --

These boots are made for walking - and aren't they cute!

Joseph Luter was a BIG MAN in town in his day -- as the Luters still are

(although they may not actually be THAT big)

We (meaning Sandra) had to stop in Ivy Hill Cemetery (ca 1887)

No visit to Smithfield is complete without a picture of the Valentine Couple -- 

one of the enduring delights of this unique and special town!

We praise God for the gift of a most beautiful day.

Sola Gratia - by Grace Alone

Carpe Diem -- Seize the Day

Rolling on the River

 

Rolling on the River

A famous song popular in the 1970s repeats the phrase "Rolling on the River" a number of times (the song is Proud Mary).  Well, we had a grand time rolling on the river a few weeks ago on a lovely three-hour cruise with good friends.

Friends who live in this lovely riverside home, kindly invited several of us on an afternoon ride in their motorboat.  God gave us a perfect weather day for the event.  It was wonderful!

Zipping across the water with the wind whipping through your hair feels so free and exciting!  Sometimes we bounced across the rippling wake of another boat and it felt like an amusement park ride, other times we slowly glided through "no wake" zones.  An unexpected delight was coming across a large pod of dolphins.  We stopped and watched them perform synchronized leaps and dives together, never knowing where they would appear next.  It was hard to capture on film, but I managed a couple of glimpses of these elegant creatures.  What a grand display of God's glorious nature!

We saw beautiful riverfront homes and lots of commercial shipping places.  Our area is loaded with commercial and military shipping locations.

I'm reminded of verses I used in another recent post: "Those who go down to the sea in ships...they see the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep.  For He commands and raises the stormy wind...He calms the storm, so that its waves are still...So He guides them to their desired haven.  Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!" Psalm 107.

Here are a few waterfront sights we saw.  I've always liked tugboats and I think this one is quite handsome.  Then we saw a fisherman, looking relaxed as he sits beside the river.  Wonder if he caught any fish?

We went under a number of bridges.  When rivers and inlets wind all through your cities, you can expect many bridges.  Interestingly, they all have a bit of a different appearance from below.  

This handsome building was built as a Marine hospital back in the 1920s, and later used as a Naval hospital, before serving in various other capacities over the years.  We miss this distinctive view of the building from the street side. Seeing familiar locations from the water offers an entirely different perspective.

We're reminded how seeing things in this world and in our lives from Heaven's view offers us an entirely different perspective as well.  It's true we can't fully understand God's way of doing things, as God says in Isaiah 55:8-9, "'For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,' says the Lord. 'For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.'"

Nevertheless, if we purposely stop and consider what goes on in our lives and the world around us, and look at it from Heaven's view, we will have a different perspective -- a different attitude and understanding.  Paul wrote, "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord" 2 Corinthians 3:18.

And so, rolling on the river provided a beautiful afternoon on many levels.  Thank you, Lord, for the enjoyment of friends and the beauty of your wonderful nature!