Thankful Thursday Thinking

"Now thank we all our God

With hearts and hands and voices

Who wondrous things have done

In whom His world rejoices......"

Lately I have found myself humming the words to this hymn. I have so much to be thankful and praise God for! It always amazes me how He uses our circumstances for good...doing "wondrous things" in our lives!

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Sometimes our blessings are hidden within our present situations, but they are there to be found! ~Like my husband having Lyme Disease and being on part time disability..... the hidden blessing is that I am spending more time with him than in our whole nearly 42 years together, and I love that! So does he!

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When Joel realized he would need to be on disability due to having Lyme, he was so sad and worried...we both were. The hidden blessing in that was the ELCA was behind him 100% and it gave him time to begin healing. When Joel was able to work part time an opening came up for a nearby church. GOD"S TIMING! They knew our circumstances, and they knew Joel's ministry, and opened their arms to him! This interim position is filled with blessings! ~ He can work mostly from home, he can still do ministry, the people at the church love him, and he is no longer commuting 2 hours round trip a day to his last call. Praise God for His wondrous ways!

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Another hidden blessing has come from my uterine cancer and surgery that followed in late March.....I realized how very much God is in the details of my life and how much He truly loves me! I also realized that even though I have been fighting Lyme for 26 years, my body still has some strength left to keep healing.

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Our treatments for Lyme are not covered by our insurance due to the politics behind this disease....~ the hidden blessing? ~how we have seen God take care of us financially above and beyond our understanding. Amazing!

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Our present circumstances are at times a burden, but if we focus on how God is working them out for good and blessing us through them??? Wow!

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Hidden blessings give us a beautiful picture of God's amazing, mountain-moving wondrous ways. That is why today I find myself humming....Now thank we all our God......

Faithful In His Calling

"This is the day that the Lord has made,

let us rejoice and be glad in it!"

Psalm 118:24

Today is my husband Joel's 30th Anniversary of his Ordination into ministry. A "mere" 30 years ago he stood before family, friends, and his childhood congregation, dedicating his life to serving God as a pastor. It was a wonderful day!

Joel has served churches in Northeastern Montana, central Minnesota, Northwestern Minnesota, and 3 churches in Iowa. We have lived in many big cities over the years, but since he began his calling as a pastor the towns have been as small as 225 people and as large as 30,000. His calls have been all solo pastorates except for one where he was Senior Pastor. Presently he is an interim for a nearby congregation, working only part time due to being on disability from Lyme Disease. He has served a three point parish, two point parish, and several single churches...with a variety of sizes. He has been a dedicated and hardworking servant, obedient to God's guidance. He enjoys the people he serves, and they have enjoyed him. He has been faithful in his calling. Along with our children, I have been richly blessed to be by his side.

Today I give thanks for Joel and I praise God for being his wife. It has been an amazing journey thus far, filled with challenges and difficulties, joys and an abundance of blessings!

Well done, faithful servant....well done! May God continue to bless and use you to His glory.

Memorial Box Monday: You Know The Mayor?

Two weeks ago I told the story of our journey in adopting two of our children while living in The Philippines from 1974-1976. There is a final chapter in that book and I would like to share it today as part of Memorial Box Monday. Linny over at A Place Of Simplicity started the MBM as a way to remember God's goodness in our lives. A memory box hangs on our walls to keep objects in that remind us of God's love and faithfulness ~ especially when we need it. Please go to her blog http://www.aplaceofsimplicity.blogspot.com/ to get the whole story of Memorial Box Monday. Link up and share your own stories or read those of others. It will strengthen your faith and put a smile on your face!

About 10 days before we were to leave The Philippines and Clark Air Force Base behind to come back to America, we still had not gotten our official documents from the lawyers involved in our case. We had called them often, and it was hinted to us that we would have a swift resolution to this problem if they received money under the table from us. Another roadblock. We knew once again that if we did this, we would be doing something illegal so we ignored their hints and prayed for the best.

While living in the P.I., I belonged to an Interdenominational Prayer Group that gathered once a week in someones home. We would sing and pray together for around 2 hours and often this took place at the home of the Base Commander and his wife, who were Christians. That week before we were to leave, we gathered at their home and during the session I requested prayers for our situation with our two little ones. As we began praying I felt a tap on my shoulder and the base commander's wife motioned for me to follow her. We went upstairs into a bedroom where she handed me the phone and said, "The Ambassador to The Philippines is on the phone, please tell him your dilemma! " I was so surprised, but shared with him what was happening. I handed the phone back to Mrs. BC and she listened for a few minutes and then hung up. We sat for a few minutes before she picked the phone up again and made another call, talking this time to the Mayor of Angeles City ~ the city where our paperwork was filed. I again shared my story with him and he told me not to worry, it would be taken care of and we would be hearing from the lawyer's office very soon.

It was not long after that when my husband Joel received a phone call from the lawyer's office telling us to come down and pick up the paperwork. It was ready. The lawyer kept saying, "You know the mayor?" "I did not KNOW you knew the mayor!" "Why did you not tell me you were friends with the mayor!!"

God intervened for us, and we were able to leave the country with our two precious babies and official paperwork in hand!

In our Memorial Box I am going to place a copy of that paperwork to remind me of how God works in the details of our lives. He loves to help His children!

For The Good

"We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose."

Romans 8:28

Have you noticed in this verse that Paul does not speak of "some" things or "a few things" workng out for good? Paul tells us that in ALL things God works for good. These are powerful and comforting words. These are also, at times, confusing words.

Where does the good come in a broken relationship, the death of a loved one, or the endless suffering of children who go hungry every day? If our loving Father works all things for good...why do these things even occur?

They happen because we live in a fallen world, and also because all humanity has been given the freedom of choice in our behaviors. The Bible often speaks of suffering and trials as a part of our lives, but God does not abandon us to them. The hope that comes from Romans 8:28 is the knowledge that we are not alone in these trials, and no matter how difficult the challenge is, God WILL USE IT FOR GOOD. We may not see it clearly today or even tomorrow, but we can believe without always "seeing" by trusting God in all our circumstances.

Paul understood trials and suffering. The list of what he endured is long, yet he believed with all his heart that they were being worked out for the good..... We, too, can rely on those same beliefs.

The devotional book, Streams In The Desert, by L.B. Cowden, shares a quote by George Mueller relating to this verse. It says it all:

"In a thousand trials, it is not just 500 of them

that work for the good of the believer,

but nine hundred ninety-nine.....plus one."

Sonshine and Light

My husband Joel took this photo in our backyard. I absolutely love the way the sun is shining on the leaves of this bush. Even though it is surrounded by shade and darkness, the sunshine finds a way through, and the bush is thriving!

It reminds me of our own lives. In our sin, there is darkness that covers us, but God's Sonshine comes through. Jesus tells us in the book of John, "I am the Light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

Accepting Jesus as our Savior brings us out of the darkness and into the light! It is so simple, yet so profound. Like this beautiful bush in the photo, even when darkness surrounds us, Jesus finds us and by His light we flourish.

Thankful Thursday

The day is almost over and I am winding down....sitting in my recliner with a laptop on my lap tray...checking out blogs and reading my emails. What a privilege to be able to sit in a comfy chair and look out over my corner of the world while at the same time connecting to people around the world. Isn't technology amazing!

More amazing is our God...a mountain-moving God who loves us so much. I am so grateful for all He does for me! He heals, He guides, He plans, He loves, He forgives, he strengthens. Thank you God!

Speaking of strength....I am also thankful this day for being able to fix lunch...roasted cauliflower and garlic along with turkey and bison burgers. This may not seem like a big deal, but this is only the second time in months that I have been strong enough to cook. It makes me so happy when I can do something for my husband Joel...he does so much for me! And to feel strong enough to do this??? Yahoo!

For this and much more, I am thankful, Lord.