Thankfulness

On Wednesday we spent more than half of the day packing our stuff up and putting it in our shipping containers.  It was a grueling day and we were exhausted physically and mentally after several days of this.  In these moments I tend to look only at what is in front of my face, seeing the task only and working single-mindedly to finish it up.  The problem is that when you move, the task seems to be endless.  You can get lost in the work and will find yourself having few positive interactions with your family.  That's where we were on Wednesday.

In the afternoon we headed to Galveston to spend Thanksgiving with the family.  This has provided a great opportunity to stop "doing" and spend some time as a family and with the Lord.  My son Samuel even accused me of being lazy after we got there because I wouldn't jump up and go play football with him.  I'm kind of proud of that...and we did play football later.

I was challenged about a week ago to consider the things that I am truly thankful for.  Unfortunately we tend to hear the usual responses every time:  house to live in, job, toys, family.  It isn't that any of those things are bad.  In fact most of them are very good.  However, it was John Maxwell who said that you can tell what someone's priorities are by how they spend their time and how they spend their money.  When I look at myself from the recent past I can see that I valued work, achievement, and task completion.  The problem for me is that this is a foundation of sand.  When the work disappears or a major storm in life moves in, nothing remains.  What, then, is this life all about?  What things will truly last?

Jesus' disciples might not have been thankful for the same things that we are thankful for since they didn't have many of the things that we have to distract us.  From Mark 6, we get a snapshot of how they lived.

Mark 6:7-11

And he called his twelve disciples together and began sending them out two by two, giving them authority to cast out evil spirits. He told them to take nothing for their journey except a walking stick—no food, no traveler’s bag, no money. He allowed them to wear sandals but not to take a change of clothes.

 “Wherever you go,” he said, “stay in the same house until you leave town. But if any place refuses to welcome you or listen to you, shake its dust from your feet as you leave to show that you have abandoned those people to their fate.”

They had left their jobs, had no possessions, no food, no money, no family with them,  and no change of clothes.  What they did have was each other.  They were sent out by Jesus "two by two" into a world that desperately needed the message that they professed.  Later in the New Testament we see them continuing this same work under more dangerous circumstances, many times being threatened with their very lives.  And yet they didn't stop spreading the message.  They must have had a very deep conviction about this Jesus that they knew personally.  You don't do what they did without being fully committed.  In fact, here are Peter's own words to us about how we should live out our lives.

1 Peter 2:11-12

Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners” to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls. Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world.

We who are believers in Jesus are "temporary residents and foreigners" on this planet.  The things we purchase for ourselves will be left behind when we leave.  We don't even take the clothing that is on our bodies at death.  So if this is true, how should we live?  What should we do with our time, knowing that no matter where we go, we are never going to be at home on this planet?  What should we do with our money?  What things that you did yesterday or the day before are truly eternal?

Here are the things I am thankful for this year:

- My wife-  No matter where we go or what we do, I know that I have her.  We are on this adventure together.

- Calling- I still wake up every day surprised that Jesus would call our family to go tell others about Him.  But when you study the life of Jesus, that's the kind of thing He does for all of us!  Though betrayed by us, He never gives up.  Though injured by our actions, He never turns his back.  Though suffering the pain of death via beating and crucifixion because of things that WE do, He still waits for us with open arms as a Father and teacher.  He wants all of us to work for Him!

- Provision- The Lord continues to provide in the moment that we need it.  Our move was unexpectedly paid for at the moment where we couldn't figure out how to pay for it.  While I stay in Everett for 2 weeks in a hotel, the money for that has been covered to the penny by Amanda's recent work as a sub.  She had just enough jobs to cover it.  Money for incidental expenses for the next month has materialized at just the right moment.  Our original trip to Seattle was covered unexpectedly by friends and family.  And the house that we are praying over in Everett is still unsold, waiting on us if the Lord wills us to live there.  

Here are some wise words from the Apostle Paul on this Thanksgiving.

Philippians 4:6-7

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

Did you notice the part about "thanking him for all he has done?"  Ask, wait, and thank.  Many of us are good at asking and are poor with thanking.  We all have much to thank God for.