Thankful Thursday

Greg is an encourager. He invites us all to share what we are thankful for every Thursday. Visit Greg's General Store for more!

#1. Thank you bloggers one and all for the comments on my Random Dozen yesterday. I needed to hear, "It's going to be alright, you're going to be fine, Heidi, stop your negative thoughts immediately, find a new focus, don't make me come over there and shake those thoughts out of you" and all the rest. Cyberhugs all around!

#2. This may sound strange and a smidgen bit on the inappropriate side perhaps, so I risk my reputation. Wednesday, as I waited at a stop light in my Malibu, a jacked- up -on- oversized- tires Chevy truck vroomed up beside me sounding like a hundred Harleys. I did what my mother taught me never to do: I looked that driver in the eye. He smiled and raised one eyebrow that unmistakably asked, "Wanna drag?" On the green, he roared ahead- revealing a pair of steel balls a swingin' from his hitch.


This threw me into a fit of laughter, which somehow saved me from adding minutes to my recently completed 48 hour marathon of swimming in a puddle of tears I created out of self pity.


Earlier in the morning, I.T. didn't want to leave for work for fear I would run away from home. I prayed a huge list of "thank you Gods" and then told the Lord I was trusting him for every detail. Now certainly God doesn't have anything to do with steel balls on a truck hitch, right? But I'm telling you it lightened me up. The Chevy encounter and soaking up all the blogger affirmation has made me feel almost normal again- yes, I know that's only a setting on the dryer, but my normal is much more functional than my other settings.

#3. I.T. still swears he'll keep me- forever. My cup overfloweth with thanksgiving.


#4. Kim, Just a Southern Girl, currently living and serving the Lord in Argentina, shed a little light on my pathetic emotional state on Wednesday when she concluded her Random Dozen with the word that best describes her right now: "Schizo". She went on to explain that the older she gets, the more confused she is about what she wants to be and where she's going. But she ended by announcing that she was off to clean the bathroom- that she knew exactly what to do in that moment: clean the bathroom and she knew exactly where she was going in that moment: to the bathroom to clean it and she knew exactly who she was in that moment: the bathroom cleaner.

And I thought: Eureka! I have found it! The answer! Worry not for tomorrow, check out the lilies, they're looking pretty gorgeous without a care and the birds certainly aren't socking it away in barns. Don't worry about tomorrow. God's got it! (Matthew 6:25 to the end) Just go clean the bathroom if that's what needs doin'.

So, I cleaned the bathroom. And it was very freeing. Thanks Kim!

#5. Keith Simon is a pastor at the Crossing Church in Columbia, Missouri. I love the teaching at that church. Anyway, Keith's Resurrection Sermon on Easter Sunday was top notch and I'm thankful that I listened to it via podcast following a recommendation from my cousin who writes for the church's blog, Every Square Inch .

Basically Keith taught: (I quote it with my own paraphrasing) "if Jesus did not rise from the dead, then party hearty boys and girls, because there ain't nothin' after this, this is it, you die, you rot, the end.

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ does make a difference, a big difference. Praise God He has risen!

To the Mid-lifers who are saying, "If I can just find it, if I can just figure it out, THEN I'll be happy"- the Resurrection promises that better world where the life you've always dreamed of does exist! It isn't this world. This world disappoints- every single time, at every turn. Nothing this world has to offer ever satisfies. Good luck trying to find lasting happiness in this world. This isn't the main world. This. Isn't. It.

To the people in crisis- the Resurrection promises a better place where the crisis doesn't exist.

To those who are dying- the Resurrection promises that death is not the end- it's the beginning- the beginning of your new life in the world you've always dreamed of with the Life you've always wanted.

The Resurrection is the Hope. It's worth an ongoing Hallelujah! Believe it and live to the glory of God! Be single to the glory of God. Be married to the glory of God. Be an empty nester to the glory of God. Work to the glory of God. Clean the bathroom to the glory of God. Throw the graduation party to the glory of God."

It's taking me a long time to drive these truths down deep. I'm thankful for spiritual pounding.

There's plenty of joy to be found in this world, but soon and very soon, we are going to meet the King...