Thankful

What Do You See?

I’m prone to see the ominous dark clouds of the gathering storm. Storms, really — religious, societal, political, military, cultural, financial, spiritual.

I also notice the diminishing space as the dark tunnel’s walls close in at an alarming, hope-crushing rate.

Then yesterday morning I saw the January 6 entry on our day-by-day For the Love of a Friend flip calendar:

A great deal of what we see
still depends on what we’re looking for.

Oh my! 😳

I went back again and again to have another read.

And below the above quote, this from Psalm 39:7….

But now, Lord, what do I look for?
My hope is in you.

How easily I forget! 😥

Last night I read this comment by Crusoe:

I think you can see much farther
through a tear
than you can through a telescope.

(No, not that Crusoe; rather, the one in Flight of the Eagles, the first book of the Seven Sleeper Series by Gilbert L. Morris.)

Oh, and another clarifier: tear above is the kind that comes out of our eyes.

So…I am thankful for all these reminders. And for the hope I have in Jesus Christ.

Unsung Heroine

I don’t know the words to this song; I’ll just make them up as I go along. The tune will be up to someone else.

Yesterday was our niece’s bridal shower.

Though Ruby had no formal tasks or responsibilities for the planning and execution thereof, she was very involved in the preparations.

(I’m glad we didn’t have to experience all the blown gaskets and stripped gears had she not been.)

Decorating the night before. There she was.

Doing the cinnamon rolls. There she was.

Rounding up stuff before the launch. There she was.

Cleaning up afterward. There she was.

This, that, the other, something else — she helped.

Tired? Sure.

Meals to fix otherwise? Sure.

A household to keep running? Sure.

A second Christmas family meal and afternoon to host two days before? Sure.

She gives and gives and gives. Because she’s Mom.

Not for the gratefulness. Not for the acclaim. Not for the power. Not for the reciprocating good deed. But because she’s Mom.

Because Moms put their families first. (Or should.)

No wonder she was glad to have so major a project accomplished and finished.

Three cheers aren’t enough, nor three cheerers.

Nevertheless, listen to this single cheer from this single cheerer: WooHoo!!!

“Let her own works praise her in the gates.”

That’s how the Biblical book of Proverbs ends, speaking of the virtuous woman. Look it up for yourself in your own Bible. It’s right there in Proverbs 31:31.

A Cheery 2010

Good morning! Let me tell you some of what I’m cheery about and thankful for this morning. (I’ll leave some space at the end for you to add some of your own cheerful thankfulness.)

🙂 We made it to twenty ten. We’re ten years past the old projected end of the world (2000). Furthermore, we have yet to be struck by the fearsome Y2K bug.

🙂 The story in the EU Times is likely untrue. (You know the one about the Russians expecting “outbreak of civil war within the United States before the end of winter.”)

🙂 Only one of my business partners has dealt gracelessly with me.

🙂 Our immediate Roth kin are to show up today to celebrate our Christmas, sans the usual gift exchange.

🙂 I got a good night’s sleep last night despite the trials that have come upon me in the last month.

🙂 I finally get to put up the new calendar I got from Christian Light Publications. (I also need to find a place for the one I got from Rod & Staff Publishers.)

🙂 This new-to-me, hard-to-find, IBM trackpoint keyboard works wonderfully!

🙂 My two-year-old grandson Trenton just came into my office to show me a bulldozer he must have found in our toy box.

🙂 My body still works so that I can get up from here and go outside to feed the cat, lose the dog, and sing to the cows.

🙂 It doesn’t matter whether or not we have started a new decade.

Cheery 12.26

🙂 I’m warmer than the 25 degrees outside.

🙂 A quick glance at the news shows an absence of USA No Longer Free news.

🙂 We had a very nice non-traditional Christmas Day.

🙂 I’m glad I’m up, though I didn’t want to get up.

🙂 “Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow.”

🙂 I expect WordPress 2.9.1 to be available by Monday at the latest.

🙂 Time for some hot green tea with a drop of oregano oil in it to help finish off the cold bug.

He Came!

“And the light shineth in darkness” (John 1:5).

“He was in the world” (John 1:10).

“He came” (John 1:11).

“But as many as received him” (John 1:12).

“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us…full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

He came…to turn my darkness to light.

He came…enlighten me.

He came…that I might know Him.

He came…so I could receive Him.

He came…to give me the option of becoming a child of God.

He came…to show me His glory.

He came…to live among people such as I am.

He came…full of grace and truth…for me.

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for coming!

[The Scriptures say in John 1:5 -- The light shineth in darkness]
from John 1:5

I’m Splittin’

I caught the swing plunging to its end.

Maybe eight inches to go.

Mark Roth splitting firewood
Swing frozen by the camera

I pressed the shutter release; I swung the axe/maul/whateveritis.

(Photo shot at 12:50 pm Pacific on Friday, December 4, 2009.)

I’m thankful again for all the work and thoughtfulness our children (all seven of them) put into getting us cords and cords of firewood last year!

Above all, love God!