April 10, 2014, Thursday, 1135 a.m.
The day before yesterday (Day 2), and yesterday (day 3), made me wonder the answer to this question. How is it possible to really, truly, deeply, with meaning, always give thanks in this world of yuck and mess? How can we/I always give thanks—even in the hard times? How can we/I always give thanks—even when we, frankly, don’t want to? How can we/I do this when we/I simply don’t have the energy?
The truth is, I think this all stems to one main question:
How can we/I always give thanks? Period. It’s really that simple. It doesn’t matter what the fill in the blank is. It’s really that simple. How do you always give thanks?
1. You need to know to whom you give thanks. As a Christian, I give thanks to God. He is Creator. For those who are not Christian, they may say the universe. Well, how was the universe created? If it was just chance, then go a print shop and wait for one of the copy machines or printing presses to print off a copy of any book you can think of. If randomness is true, stand there long enough, it should happen.
So, this proves chaos or randomness isn’t true.
So, the universe had a Creator. This is whom we give thanks.
Another answer people might say is, “I give thanks to self.” Well, if you are so important, that means you are all-powerful and all-knowing, then tell me the name I wanted to name my child if they were born. (This is something that no one can look up and less than a handful of people know. I have a name for both genders and secondary options in case they are twins.) Also, tell me where I was on July the Forth in 1989. Again, there is no way for you look up this information. So, if you know it all and are that powerful, then you should be able to tell me.
So you see how futile those thoughts are? They’re folly.
Is there anyone or anything more important than the Creator? This is whom you should give thanks to all day, every day.
2 Thanks is something we can do anytime, anywhere, even as we do things. Hence, this is how we can always give thanks. It makes us wonderful multi-taskers.
3 When we don’t know what to give thanks for, look around you. Do you see that coffee mug? The spook? The sofa? The tree? Each one of those items should bring up several thoughts and several memories. Pick a few. There. You just gave thanks.
4 You write down all the things you are thankful for so that on a tough day, you can go through your list and it will bring comfort.
5 Philippians 4:5-7 / Expanded Bible (EXB)
5 Let everyone see that you are gentle [kind; considerate; patient]. The Lord is·coming soon [or close at hand; L near]. 6 Do not ·worry [be anxious] about anything, but pray and ask God for everything you need [or make your requests known to God], always giving thanks. 7 And God’s peace, which ·is so great we cannot understand it[transcends/surpasses all comprehension], will ·keep [guard] your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
-- EXB: Scripture taken from The Expanded Bible. Copyright © 2011 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
6 Be intentional.
I will keep numbers one through six that I just listed and will do my best to live them each moment of each day, but I know me. I will fail—more often than not for a while. But, I hope with each passing day, this will get easier.
I tried to do this in November and December of 2013, but I stopped—after I fell on my face and skidded for a few feet (not literally). I blew it. I got sidetracked. I got busy. My two biggest obstacles.
Therefore, I need to acknowledge these obstacles and figure out a way to avoid their allurement. Just as I am not lured away from my husband, and haven’t been at all in thirteen years or so, I can do this with always giving thanks.
The bottom-line is this: I just need to do it. Again it’s really that simple.
Lord, help me to learn how to give You thanks, and count my blessings, for and in all things (see 1 Thessalonians 5:18 and Philippians 4:6). Teach me to be intentional about this in each moment, even as life happens. All I want to do is bring You glory and live the life You created for me and had planned for me. Use me, Lord. Fill my heart, mind, and mouth with thanksgiving and the counting of my blessings—in each moment, all day long. Help me to see You are work in me, through me, and all around me. To You be the glory forever and ever, Lord.
Always giving thanks, the more we do it, the more we start to move from thanking God for me, myself, and I and from a me-centered point-of-view to a more eternal oriented point-of-view. In other words, we learn how to see more of the eternal and less of the worldly.
The trick is, we need to give more and more thanks. The more thanks we give, the more we will shift to this eternal state of mind. We will then move from short-term to eternal thinking, which then will change our actions and the way we feel. Then, the eternal focus is what we center our lives around. Our dreams. Our goals. All of it.
I’M SO EXCITED I CAN BARELY STAND IT: WAITING TO RECEIVE A NEW STUDY BIBLE
A couple of days ago, I decided again I want a real paper Bible to hold in my hands. I want to commit in a whole new way to daily Bible reading, praying the Word, and meditating on the Word of God.
I’m the type that loves to underline voice and write short little notes in the margins, like when I read something or when I hear a sermon on something, so it gives me enough of a note I can track the information about it in my journaling.
Again, four months ago or so, I tried to get two new Bibles, each of which, I love. But, they are not the ones I want to carry with me everywhere and use for years, each day. I consult them on a frequent basis, but they are more of the study variety, not the worship, read through, ponder, pray through variety—in my heart. They are still important to me, but they just aren’t the daily Bibles I desire.
And, honestly. They just aren’t pretty enough.
I know. That sounds ridiculous. Preposterous even. What a stupid excuse. But, I will be honest here. Pretty usually doesn’t matter with me. Blue and grey are my favorite colors. Look around my house and you’ll see feminine touches, but nothing that’s really girlie (except maybe a shirt or two that I like to wear). Also, the pink colors of my blog are usually not like me. I rarely wear makeup (except lip gloss) or dresses. Style my hair—what?!
So, you see, pretty usually isn’t all that important to me. There may be times when a weird mood strange me (like the pinks of my blog right now), but it’s usually not something which lasts. However, if I am going to commit myself to a daily reading Bible that I can underline and write notes in from cover to cover and keep for years, it had better be pretty in order to keep up my interest. I better like what I see or I will get bored with it.
I’m not talking on the outside. I usually get a cute Bible cover so I can carry it around with me in my bag and not get messed up or damaged. I’m talking about the inside pages. The inside pages need to be pleasing to my eye.
Now, try to find a purdy Bible (as I call it. There is a major difference between purdy and pretty. Pretty is very girlie. Purdy is less so, mind you.). Finding a purdy Bible is challenging enough. Then, try to find it in your favorite translation. (Good luck!) I go back and forth as to what my favorite translation is, but I’ve made it down to these: AMP, EXB, GW, HCSB, NASB, NCV, NKJV, NLT, and TM. So, that helps make it a little borader of a field as to finding the perfect purdy bible for me, right?
No. I needed to figure out what version I could stand to be married to, so to speak, for several years. So, it needed to be purdy and the right translation. But, what was the right translation? Of those nine, I narrowed it down to the HCSB because of two reasons:
1 I like their Study bible. I own the e-book version of it. You can find it here, if you are looking for a new Bible and don’t want a purdy one:
2 It was the purdiest one I could find.
Again, this is absolutely silly, I realize. But, it will make the difference as to whether I stick with it or not. I have to give myself every advantage I can to help increase my rate of success.
The Study Bible for Women, HCSB, I’m getting is:
See pretty. Look at the sample pages and see what I mean, if you want.
The Bible cover is:
See. Not too girlie. Just subtle girlie. But, check out the colors.
Now, why on earth do I share all of this with you?
I’m waiting to receive it from the carrier. The suspense is killing me. It’s driving me crazy! I can’t wait.
But, there’s a problem. I have plans this evening—and through Sunday afternoon. So, it I don’t get it soon, I won’t be able to enjoy it and get it set up and ready for me. Pout.
There’s another reason why I want it. If I can’t figure out what to thank God for, and what blessings to count, I will open the bible to where I last read and start reading that page and find a verse that grabs my attention and I will do a mini-Bible study on it and I will count it, and what I then learn, as a blessing and will give thanks to god. As a matter of fact, I want to do this with my Bible reading each day. My goal is to find five verses that do this for me each day. I will keep reading until I count five. I will, as I said, do a min-Bible study, prayer journal about them, and add them to my blessings list.
I have a feeling I may get two or three days of reading one in order to find those five verses some days. But, I bet other times, there will be five verses in the row, depending. I can’t wait to find out. You’ll see this in this blog and year of always giving thanks. I want to be thankful for every Word from God. Each and every.
