Thankful

Random Reflections…

I often feel closest to the Lord when I am outside enjoying and reflecting on all that He has so masterfully created. It absolutely blows my mind to think about how extraordinarily creative our God is and humbles me to think that while He made the Heavens and the Earth, He also created me and loves me far more than my mind can fathom. Wow. What an unbelievable honor. Several weeks ago, Lydia and I were lying outside just enjoying the perfectly blue sky and warm sunshine. After several minutes of blocking the sun with my hand, I put it down and was blinded by the radiant light. After wiping away the tears that immediately ran down my face, we started talking about how crazy it was that while we see the sun every day, we can never look directly at it.

That conversation got me thinking about Jesus, the SON of God. After marveling at the Lord’s creativity, I realized how many parallels the physical sun and the Son of God had:

-Like the radiant light the sun emits, we cannot look directly into His eyes, but we see proof of Him everywhere.

-Like the rays of the sun, His arms were outstretched upon the cross to signify His unwavering and incomprehensible love for us and they remain open for us to run into His loving embrace.

“Forever Reign” captures this thought perfectly:

Oh, I'm running to your arms,

I'm running to arms

The riches of your love

Will always be enough

Nothing compares to Your embrace

Light of the world forever reign

-The sun shines all around the world and the SON shines all around the world. The sun’s rays reach to the ends of the earth, just like His love, hope, and grace does.

-Without the sun, it would be impossible for any living creature to remain alive. Likewise, we are incapable of living purposeful and joyful lives of hope that there is more than this earthly life of pain, disappointment, and sin without the Son of God.

While thinking about the sun, I then began thinking about the stars in the sky. It blows my mind every time I sing the line, “You placed the stars in the sky and you them by name, You are amazing God” in Chris Tomlin’s song Indescribable. While the sun I think symbolizes Jesus, I think the stars symbolize us, His children.

-As the stars are a scaled down version of the sun, we are in essence a scaled down version of Jesus. Genesis 1:27 states, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” And in Isaiah 43:7, “Everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”

-As Isaiah 40:26, says “Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry hose one by one, and calls each by name. Because of His great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.” And in Psalm 147:4, “He determines the number of stars and calls them each by name.” God knows the name of every stay in the sky. Likewise, He knows every one of His children by name. Isaiah 43:1 states, “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.” John 10:14-15 states, “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me- just as the Father knows me and I know the Father – and I lay down my life for the sheep.”

-As stars twinkle and shine in the dark night sky, we have the opportunity and the responsibility to be shining lights in a dark world. Matthew 5:14-16 states, “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

The song, We Are captures the thought of our responsibility to shine for the Lord and be a source of light for those around us...

While these are not earth-shattering realizations and some may be farfetched, I had to smile thinking of how incredibly amazing our God is and how thankful I am for the daily reminders of How present He is and how much He loves us. The sun and the stars are so incomprehensibly big, yet God loves little us SO much more. Wow. Goodness, can I just say again how creative of a God we have the opportunity to serve and love and be loved by? Blessed.

Wicked…

Family + Friends + Broadway Show = Perfect Night. A few weekends ago, Rach and I were given an early Christmas surprise…tickets to see Wicked with our family and our second family, the Buck’s. After a wonderful morning of church, friends, and fellowship, we got all dressed up and ventured downtown. We ate at a lovely Italian restaurant and enjoyed laughing and talking and then walked over (huddled around umbrellas) to the Aronoff. After taking some family pictures, we found our seats and enjoyed the most spectacular show I’ve ever seen. Wow-the amount of talent that those men and women displayed was absolutely beautiful. I couldn’t help but thank God for blessing those men and women with such an incredible talent and allowing them to share their voices with us. I got teary eyed as Elphaba sang Defying Gravity as it was such a defining and empowering moment and during For Good as a I reflected on all of the people who “I have been changed for good” by. Definitely an awesome time spent with the incredible people in my life and wonderful memories made. So blessed and so thankful.

God Is Able

It’s not often that you get to worship alongside several thousand brothers and sisters in Christ and sing in complete abandon to the Lord. I had the opportunity to go to the Hillsong Concert with Rachel (and several thousand others) and take part in a beautiful worship experience. The title song of Hillsong’s latest CD is God Is Able. The lyrics of this song are so powerful. How comforting it is to know that above all circumstances, God is able. He is able to restore us from darkness, to set us free, to love us despite our failure, to soften hardened hearts, to heal the broken, to pick us up when we fall, to do extraordinary things through ordinary people, to give us life everlasting, and so much more. What a relief it is to know that our God is able because we are not.

Thousands of Things to Be Thankful For…

At church last Sunday, Mike Breaux encouraged us to sit down and let our minds wander as we wrote down what we were thankful for, so I’m going to do just that. This list is not all inclusive by a long shot as I truly have thousands of things to be thankful for, but here we go-

I am thankful for a God who loves me more than my mind can fathom and who I have the opportunity to serve and live for. I’m thankful for my family, who loves, encourages, teaches, guides, and provides for me. I'm thankful for my faux family members, who are family. I’m thankful for my friends who bring so much joy into my life. I’m thankful for the good health the Lord has so graciously blessed my family and I with. I’m thankful for the ability to attend two amazing churches and for such an incredible church family. I’m thankful for…the Bible, freedom, the ability to go to college, CSF, love, joy, babies, laughter, comfy clothes, music, smiling, corny jokes, flowers, stars, sunny days, a comfy bed, singing, creativity, imagination, dreams, books, tumbling, lazy days, sleeping, Passion, my iPhone, the ocean, the sun, fluffy clouds, the smell of freshly cut grass, sunsets, sweet tea, summer, classic Disney movies, hope, grace, tumbling, handwritten letters, electricity, heat, silence, different languages, unique talents and abilities, fingernail polish, kids, food, clean water, chivalry, clumsy moments, medicine, the internet, indoor plumbing, simple acts of kindness, pictures, vacations, colors, memories, cozy blankets, Christmas decorations, non-communal bathrooms, my puppy dogs, naps, umbrellas, holidays…

Okay, after reading that you can tell how scatterbrained I currently am. There are so many things that I have left off, but as you can see, there is SO much to be thankful for. I am often brought to tears thinking of how beautifully blessed I am. I am so undeserving of the blessings the Lord so graciously pours over me and am humbled by His generosity. Being able to celebrate Thanksgiving with my family was so wonderful. Always so much laughter, great conversation, and love. Nothing better than family, food, and fun.

Over the break, we were reunited with some precious friends of ours and were able to get caught up on how the Lord is working in each of our lives and encourage one another. Finally sitting around the dinner table together laughing and fellowshipping made it seem like all was right with the world. It was a really unique opportunity to reflect on this first semester of college with the younger siblings and share funny experiences and lessons learned. These brothers and sisters that I have been so graciously blessed with have helped me grow in immeasurable ways and continue to help shape me into the person the Lord has created me to be. Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 fits this group perfectly, except I need to revise it to- “Ten are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor; if any of them falls down, the others can help the one up…” These sweet friends are the brothers and sisters I never knew I was missing until I was reunited with them.

Healing Is In Your Hands…

This past week my Nanny and Pappy were both admitted into the hospital. Nanny and Pappy are two of the most incredible people I’ve ever had the honor of knowing. They have blessed my life in immeasurable ways and have always poured love, encouragement, wisdom, and laughter into my life. It absolutely broke my heart to not be able be physically with them in spirit. The Lord probably got tired of my constant prayers for healing and strength for Nanny and Pappy and wisdom and clarity for their doctors. Again, I turned to the song “Healing Is In Your Hands” by Christy Nockels and cried as I sang along. This song is such a beautiful reminder that God is the ultimate healer and that despite all circumstances, He is in control. After several days in the hospital, Pappy is back home resting and recovering and Nanny will join him soon. Praise the Lord! This scare was a great reminder of how precious life is and more importantly, how precious the people in my life are. At the end of every conversation I have with either of them we say, “I love you the most.” And the other says, “Fraid’ not deary.” What a tremendous blessing it is to have to argue over who loves the other the most. Crazy blessed and crazy thankful.

I Think I Can, I Think I Can…

Goodness, this next week and a half is going to be unbelievably stressful and busy. The end of the semester is quickly coming to an end and there is still so much to get done. My calendar is officially busting at the seams and is quite daunting to look at. I While this time is going to be stressful and long days and late nights are inevitable, I am going to keep my eyes fixed on the Lord and do what 1 Peter 5:7 tells me to do, “Cast your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.” It’s that simple. Sleep some, pray a lot, study and work hard, live and love a lot, and end each day happy that I’m one day closer to break and even more importantly, thankful that I had one more day to live for the Lord. I am SO close to Christmas Break and am so close to being finished with my first semester of college! Craziness. So…let the next week and a half begin. Bring it on.