Sincere and Humble Thanks

Thanksgiving can get lost between Halloween and Christmas. I wonder what will become of it now that the Lone Star Showdown is no more. What other football game will rise to that sacred place?

George Washington's Thanksgiving Proclamation of 1789 set aside this day "to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks".

It's a day to reflect on the goodness of God.

Take some time today to reflect on God's goodness in your life.

Every Thanksgiving I pass around a small piece of paper and ask each person to write down what they are thankful for. I keep them all in a special scrapbook. Each year I look for something new to express gratitude for. I would hate to be redundant.

In 2008, while busy crafting my "exquisite" thanks; I noticed my son's paper. He had drawn simple pictures of food, water, a house and a bed. It was beautiful – sincere thanks for humble things. I don't think he realized before that year, that those were things to be grateful for.

Traditionally our boys would say they were thankful for toys, friends and family but something shifted when we began serving at our Shoreline East outreach campus. Our perspective changed.

Our lives are filled with so much. It's easy to take it all for granted. We realize the abundance in our home when we come face to face with those who have no home. Serving has cultivated a culture of thanksgiving. I think that's exactly what George Washington was hoping for.

Join us Saturday November 16th, 2013  for the Shoreline East Thanksgiving Feast

Re-published from the November 2011 Shoreline eNewsletter

Competent Communication Counts

I had the privilege of visiting TMHP Toastmasters club this morning, and hearing guest speaker Michael Notaro, President of Toastmasters International.

He spoke on Three Ways Toastmasters Can Help. Here are my notes:

1. Toastmasters can help you find your authentic/resonant voice

We each have a unique voice - a way to connect with others that is personally and powerfully our own. Often we don't discover that voice without practice. Toastmasters communication manuals provide the tools we need to discover the gift that already resides inside. Your "voice" as President Notaro put it, is the confluence of your head, heart and spirit. How would your influence grow if you could communicate out of that place?

2. Toastmasters will help you focus your message

There are a lot of speeches nobody cares about, answering questions no one is asking. In Toastmasters we learn to speak to an audience, not at them. What have you learned in your life experience? How can you share what you've learned in a way that brings life and hope to others? Learn to be strategic in your focus and refine your message through peer lead practice and evaluation.

3. Toastmasters can help fulfill your destiny

Partner effective communication with leadership training and you are well positioned for promotion. The tools available to you through Toastmasters will bring your innate talents and abilities to the surface. You may not realize what potential lies dormant inside of you if you don't grant yourself the opportunity of expression.

I want to invite you to visit Shoreline Toastmasters the 2nd and 4th Thursday of each month. Clear the clutter out of your communication. Picture yourself behind the podium.

Confident Contentment

Is anybody else's grocery budget eating them alive? Or is it just because I have two growing boys at my house? I rarely leave the grocery store without dropping a hundred dollars. My trips are more frequent and I leave with less food.

Now, don't worry about us. No one around here is going hungry but we certainly are crunching numbers and wrestling with this thing called contentment. That is not a happy, rally the troops, let's all shout kind of word. Would you buy a book on contentment? Not sure I would. We like books about more, not books about less. Why does contentment sound like less? Listen to what Paul had to say:

....I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength. Phil 4:11-13

Contentment has little to do with the balance of our checkbook. It's a struggle for everyone whether living in plenty or living in want. Sometimes I think its even harder for those of us who live in plenty. Our "plenty" works to stir up that desire for more. Still, Paul says he learned the secret. Ah...a secret!

What's the secret? Well, I think its in that word "through." I find this place of contentment through my relationship with Jesus. I live in peace through the strength that he freely gives. I can face the future with confidence knowing He is with me through it all. That's what I call confident contentment.

What's in your hands?

God did not send a laser from the heavens to carve his words on our planet. He could have. Instead, he revealed his word to man and used the hearts, minds and hands of humanity to communicate his message. I don't often reflect on that when I'm reading the Bible, do you?

Last weekend, as I read Ephesians 3 in the Message Bible I felt a new connection with the author. Not THE Author, but the man who held the reed pen in his hands.

^7-8This is my life work: helping people understand and respond to this Message. It came as a sheer gift to me, a real surprise, God handling all the details. When it came to presenting the Message to people who had no background in God's way, I was the least qualified of any of the available Christians. God saw to it that I was equipped, but you can be sure that it had nothing to do with my natural abilities.

I felt a camaraderie with Paul as a writer. Could this be part of MY life work? I share his desire to spread the Message, and I am challenged to trust God to equip me. I also identify with his feelings of inadequacy. I really love the part about God handling all the details!

When I was a child, a travelling minister visited our church. After the service, he prayed for me and said something about God using my hands. My mom often reminds me of his words. Would God use my hands as a pianist? Would it be as a biomedical research assistant? Or could it be in the words I type as my hands cradle a keyboard?

What's in your hands? What is your reed pen?

How do you see God handling the details?

Called to Hope

"God, where are You? I need to see you in this situation!"

I found myself in a bit of a funk. Wrestling with God over the struggles of a dear friend. I wanted to pray but felt like I didn't know what to say or even how to say it. The long term nature of the struggle and the dark reality of what was happening had popped the cork of my faith and drained me of hope.

As I searched for words, I remembered Paul's prayers for the Ephesians and I was grateful to have a template to follow. I echoed his prayer over my friend's life and inserted their name in the text:

Father, I pray that the eyes of _______'s heart may be enlightened in order that ________ may know the hope to which you have called them... (Ephesians 1:18) Lord, Let them know there IS hope...you've called them to HOPE!

Called to hope? I believe this passage indicates that God has a hopeful future for each one of us. I got that part. But when I landed on those words I felt God calling me to BE hopeful! Calling me to hope, not only in wishing for a distant future place but as an action for the moment.

Maybe hope is not something we hold, something we keep bottled up inside. Maybe it's meant to be poured out over the circumstances of our lives and the lives of those we love.

How do you hear the call to hope?

If you ever find yourself not knowing how to pray, try using Paul's words:

Ephesians 1 , Ephesians 3

HELP

Way back when God created the world, He called it good. The stars were good. The flowers were good. The animals were good. But then He said something a little different. He said "It is not good for the man to be alone. Let us make a helper suitable for him." So God made woman. Girls, we are the answer to the first problem on the planet! I enjoy that role. I am my husband's helper. He needs me!

I’m also a mom. Like my mother before me I am now The-Finder-of-Lost-Things in our home. The boys will come to me and ask, "Mom, have you seen my ipod?" I follow that up with questions of my own. "Have you looked in the van? Did you check by the computer?" And this classic Mom question, "When was the last time you had it?" I don't know why I bother to ask, because most of the time all I have to do is get up and look and I find whatever was lost! I enjoy helping my boys, and I must say I am pretty good at 5^th grade homework!

But there are a few things I know about me…

-I am not all-knowing or all-powerful.

-As much as I have my families best interest at heart, I fall short every day.

-My mercies? They are not new every morning.

-I can’t be the only source of help for my family.

Lately I've been thinking about this passage from Psalm 121:1-2

I lift up my eyes to the hills where does my help come from?

My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.

Our help comes from the Lord who created each one of us, who created this world we live in. That Creator-God is our Helper! I need a little help in my life right now….I need to hear this! I have family members who are hurting. There are health needs, financial concerns and strained relationships.

So I tell myself Lift up your eyes Lynn! Stop looking to your job, your family, the doctors or yourself to be the source of life and joy and peace.

Lift up your eyes and remember that your help comes from the Lord.

He is a very present help in time of need!

Mysterious Math

One day when Jesus was walking the Earth, some religious people came with a question about divorce designed to trip him up. (They did things like this.) Jesus answered by quoting our Creator. “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh… So they are no longer two, but one...” (Matthew 19)

Two become one? Any first grader will tell you something is wrong with that arithmetic. But God’s math can be a bit mysterious. He is, after all, three in one. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are One God. 1+1+1=1. Try to define that algorithm. It’s a mystery!

0.5 + 0.5 = 1

We might try an equation like this: 0.5 + 0.5 =1. It seems more logical. Two halves come together to form one whole. Hollywood appears to lean toward this solution. In the famous words of Jerry Maquire, “You complete me”. It sounds romantic, but think about it. Do you really want to be the partial person endlessly searching for your missing half? Or would you prefer the responsibility of being another person’s “completer?” Couples who adhere to this equation are looking to their spouse to fulfill them. They are looking for a savior. Take it from someone who has tried that approach - humans make terrible saviors! They fail us. They disappoint us. They do not make our broken parts whole like we wish they could.

1 + 1 = 2

Here is some good sound math. 1+1=2. I think people settle on this equation in an effort to hold on to their individuality. They don’t want to lose their identity in any relationship. These couples light the unity candle at their wedding but don’t blow out their own candles. In some areas of our marriage, we feel like this equation is an accurate summation. We are two very distinct individuals. Sometimes I ask myself, what was God thinking when he put us together? Our twoness frequently overshadows areas of unity. We see our combined humanity in this equation: two selfish people, two prideful people, and two separate people. Although the product of this equation looks larger, the end result is emptier. It can feel more like 1+1=0.

1 + 1 = 1

So, how can 1 + 1 equal 1? It doesn’t compute. This is not your average equation. Something supernatural is happening here! With God’s math we are all we were meant to be. We don’t bring less than our full self in order to somehow balance the equation, and we are not two people living separate lives. When we reflect on God’s mysterious math, we are thankful that somehow in his kingdom two whole people join together to become one whole unit. This does not happen over night, not even on a wedding night. We believe marriage is a pursuit of this oneness.

Oneness

We like formulas: add this, subtract that and voila! If only it were that simple. When we look at our journey, we see how our strongest areas of union have come through our most difficult trials. Is that encouraging? Maybe not on the surface, but if you look a little deeper we trust you’ll find hope. Doing the hard work, crunching the budget numbers, calling a marriage counselor – each time we choose to face a tough situation together and each time we choose to talk things out instead of pretending, we take another step toward oneness.

Maybe James was talking to couples when he said: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

Persevere in your marriage. Know that in every conflict there is potential for growth. As we come together through our challenges we mature. We become complete, not lacking, whole. Mysteriously, two become one.

Try This

Is there a trial you faced together that brought maturity to your marriage? Take time to celebrate!

How do your numbers add up? Check out daveramsey.com/fpu for a Financial Peace University class near you. It is worth the investment in your finances and your marriage.

Plan a quiet evening to have an honest conversation about one area in which you feel more like two and less like one.

(Our September article for Austin Faith & Family received some deep cuts for space...so I've included the entire draft here)