Thankfulness

Today I write in tribute to my Mom who died right after Thanksgiving 4 years ago.  I can't believe its been that many years but it has.  In these last few years, I have come to know her and understand her much better. Now that she is gone, and not exasperating me, I can see all the ways that I am like her and I am more thankful than I ever was for all the good things she sowed into my life.

This year we will have Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings at my house. Nine people coming and my girls and I are cooking it, all of it, home made, from scratch(except the turkey, which my husband has masterfully prepared for years. Thanks babe!).Why do we do this?  In part, because my Mom did and that's how you do it. She cooked  allot, without complaining.  I think she must have enjoyed it, because I do and so do most of my kids. And I see this as a gift from my mother.

Another thing that my Mother gave me was the seeds of thankfulness. I say seeds, because she planted something deep and profound, that keeps growing inside of me and changing me. When we were little, my parents taught us to pray before bed. They didn't teach us a prayer to pray, they taught us to pray, by giving thanks.  Ever night we said Thank You God prayers, things from the day and our life that we  were thankful for. We came up with them, we said them out loud together.

A number of years ago I realized that every time I went to pray I began with some kind of thanksgiving. It was completely ingrained in me that prayer and thanksgiving were connected. Giving thanks was rooted deep into my being. I am certain that this habit comes from being taught to give thanks ever night.

So I began to speak about being thankful with my own children, who were mostly teenagers at the time.  I called it cultivating thankfulness. I told them that one of my life's rules or goals was to cultivate thankfulness. 

I don't begin to think that I have accomplished this. I have been challenged recently by  ways that many others are developing thankful hearts.  But I am deeply grateful to my Mom for the seeds she planted and the fruit its borne in my life.

pondering Christmas...

I stopped by Chrismas Change this morning... and it got me to thinking. We Christians are always looking for better ways to celebrate Christmas.   Ways to be intentional about it.  Ways to try and deepen or broaden  our experience of it. We want a way to "do Christmas"that won't leave us empty  after all the presents have been opened, the celebrations and gatherings have occurred and the anticipation is over. 

But I wonder if we can experience a perfect Advent and Christmas celebration, this side of heaven. Because as i see it, God gave us his very best, gift, His one and only Son. And when that miracle occurred in history, most of the world scratched their heads, looked at the baby and thought," Is this it?" What I mean is, we don't get it. We think we know what God did, but we really only know in part and see in part. We don't understand what really happened when Jesus stepped out of eternity and into earth's history.

 The God head planned the very first Christmas, every last detail was intentional, meaningful, purposeful and who could plan or prepare better than they?  But think about it:

Mary was told she was chosen to be the mother of the Messiah and then life got really messy.  She got pregnant out of wedlock, almost lost her husband to be and had her baby all by herself far away from her family. And then ran away from Roman soldiers trying to kill that baby.

Joseph didn't get his wedding celebration, but an already pregnant wife and an unexpected trip to Bethlehem and then Egypt.

The wise men looked for a royal baby prince and instead found a pauper child in a barn.

Who really celebrated the birth of Jesus with a yes! this is it! Perhaps Anna and Simeon.But most of the world experienced a let down.

So I think that He gave us that as part of it--the let-down I mean.  To whet our appetite, to remind us that one day, when we are all together, we will celebrate and there will be no regrets, no"is that all there is?"

Does this mean I am going to quit looking for ways to add joy to Christmas time. No Way! Never! Nor do I think that He wants us to stop trying to expand our understanding and celebration. He gives us those longings and deeply enjoys all the ways we go about pursuing Him. But this year, when I get those Post Christmas blahs or blues, I will stop and say Thank you because I now know that the let down is a gift as well--a hunger pang for heaven's perfect party.