Five things I'm thankful for

• safety on the roads today.
• the silent beauty of the amber glow of the lamp-posts on the icy crust over the snow the other night
• my precious daughter
• my awesome husband that goes above and beyond every day
• having enough money, enough home, enough food.

Things I'm Thankful for on February 1st

• a safe trip to Chicago for Uncle Lee's funeral.
• Having the means to even GO to the funeral--thank you God, for providing for us more than what we need, so that I am able to fly back for times like this.
• Uncle Lee--such an inspiration to me of being loving, supportive and how to infuse strength into the ones I love.  Such a long, happy life for him and for no pain at the end. Thank you, Lord!
• Coming home to a wonderful husband and a beautiful daughter.
• I'm thankful for the simple love and happiness we share in our home.
• I'm thankful for the jobs that Erin and I have and for gainful employment. God is good.

Who is to say whether this is good or bad?

I heard this story one time and really liked the message it has. I've adapted it a little bit from it's original version.


There was once an old man in far eastern Kham known as the Mani Man because day and night he could always be found devotedly spinning his small homemade prayer wheel. The Mani Man lived with his son and their one fine horse. The son was the joy of the man’s life; the boy’s pride and joy was the horse.



The man’s wife, after a long life of virtue and service, had long since departed. Father and son lived, free from excessive wants or needs, in one of several rough stone houses near a river on the edge of the flat plains. One day their steed disappeared. The neighbors bewailed the loss of the old man’s sole material asset, but the stoic old man just kept turning his prayer wheel of gratitude. To whoever inquired or expressed condolences, he simply said, “Give thanks for everything. Who can say what is good or bad? We will see…”



After several days the splendid creature returned, followed by a pair of wild mustangs. These the old man and his son swiftly trained. Then everyone sang songs of celebration and congratulated the old man on his unexpected good fortune. The man simply smiled over his prayer wheel and said, “I am grateful…but who knows? We shall see.”


Then, while racing one of the mustangs, the boy fell and shattered his leg. Some neighbors carried him home, cursing the wild horse and bemoaning the boy’s fate. But the old man, sitting at his beloved son’s bedside just kept turning his prayer wheel around and around. He neither complained nor answered their protestations, but simply nodded his head affably, reiterating what he had said before. “I am grateful for my son’s life. We shall see.”



The next week military officers appeared, seeking young conscripts for an ongoing border war. All the local boys were immediately taken away, except for the bedridden son of the Mani Man. Then the neighbors congratulated the old man on his great good fortune, attributing such luck to the good karma accumulated by the old man’s incessantly spinning prayer wheel and the constant mantras on his cracked lips. He smiled and said nothing.



One day when the boy and his father were watching their fine horses graze on the prairie grass, the taciturn old man suddenly began to sing:

Life just goes around and around,

up and down like a waterwheel;

Our lives are like its buckets,

being emptied and refilled

Again and again.

Like the potter’s clay,

our physical existences

Are fashioned into one form after another:

The shapes are broken

and reformed again and again,

The low wall will be high,

and the high fall down;

the dark will grow light, and the rich lose all.

One horse is one horse’s worth of trouble.

Wealth is good, but too soon loses its savor,

And can be a burden, a source of quarrel, in the end.

No one knows what fate awaits us,

But what we sow now will be

reaped in days to come; that is certain.

So be kind to one and all

And don’t be biased,

Based upon illusions regarding gain and loss.

Have neither hope nor fear, expectation nor anxiety;

Give thanks for everything, whatever your lot may be.

Be simple and carefree,

remaining naturally at ease and in peace.

When he was finished singing, he turned to his son and softly said "You can shoot arrows at the sky if you like, My son, but they’ll inevitably fall back to earth."

As he sang, the prayer flags fluttered overhead, and the ancient mani wheel, filled with compassion and gratitude, just kept turning.   Then the old man was silent.

Lately, I've been burdened by the devastation in Haiti. Seeing shattered homes, shattered lives, the faces of orphans on the news. Yet I know that God's word is true and that "All things work together for good to those that love God and are called according to His purpose".  We don't know what good can come of calamity--but with so much death...maybe one died who was trafficking children and a few of the children are free. Maybe a few can be adopted into good homes. UNICEF says that with disaster, trafficking only gets worse. That people have actually been taking children out of the hospitals and shipping them out because the security is lax right now and everything is flying under the radar. That just wrenches my heart... But I keep telling myself this life is short. When we are in eternity--the space where time does not exist--when we are faced with forever, these 5, 16, or 75 years will seem like a blink of an eye--and attrocities that force us to cling to Christ and His blood shed for our lives will be banners of immeasurable mercy and grace.

Mathew 5: "3Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted"

Being patly thankful for different things in my life seems petty today. There are just some days that I have to stand with my mouth closed and think Who am I and why is it that I am undeservably blessed in this way? I heard a sermon in Missouri a few weeks ago, and the pastor said something like if you make over $50,000 a year you are in the top 2% of wage earners in the whole world. Wow. 

Gratitude for my home.

Today I'm so grateful for my home. It is warm, big enough, and welcoming when I come home from work. I love having a place where I can put jewel red up on the walls in my reading room and not have to worry about someone not liking it! How well I remember the many years of living in an apartment or renting houses, where I wasn't allowed to paint the walls! And then the first house I bought that was 770 square feet! I've come a long way, baby!!  There have been so many fun memories in this house and I know there will be many more. Some day, in time, I may have a house with a yard!!!  But until then, I will enjoy every moment of living here and having my family here.

Thank you, Lord, for giving us the means to keep this house even with the market the way it is. Thank you for providing shelter for us and warmth and ability to furnish it. And thank you for giving me little nooks in the front yard with a little shade so I can plant my impatients and hastas!

Looking at piles of stones.

I have been reading in Joshua 4 lately and have come across the verses about the Memorial Stones that were set up on the banks of Jordan. Joshua told the people that when the time came and their children asked "What are these stones for?" to tell them "Israel crossed this Jordan on dry ground".  As I start this 2010 Gratitude Blog, I begin by standing on this hill and seeing all the piles of stones by the Jordans of my life. The biggest struggles, deepest dispair and heartbreaks. God has been with me, and brought me thru on dry ground!

There is a new pile now. One that I have just now come to a full understanding of the goodness of God and His mercy. A trial that shattered my trust in God to the core and now at the end has me looking in awe at His mercy--that never fails--and is above my ways--and beyond my understanding. I don't think I will ever forget the pain, the lessons learned, and at the end His Goodness. Looking at this pile will always bring me to my knees in deep gratitude for God's amazing love.

So my first gratitude post is from my knees, thanking God for His kindness and for the never-failing love that is beyond comprehension.

Haven't You been Good

Thank You for the Cross

Thank You, Lord, for drawing me,

Out of millions lost

Thank You, Lord, for saving me

Haven't You been good

Haven't You been so good

Glory to Your name, glory to Your holy name

Thankfulness and praise

For grace and mercy never changing

Haven't You been good

Haven't You been so good to me

Favor on my life

Always watching over me

My darkness turned to light

And heaven's arms enfolding me

Haven't You been good

Haven't You been so good

(c) 1998 Sovereign Grace Worship