Thursday

Mission Accomplished

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It may not sound overly exciting, but I got a few things done tonight. I paid a couple of bills and finally got around to my 2015 Federal Tax Returns. For some reason, I put my taxes off, and when I do get around to them, they really aren’t so bad.

Here’s my take on the day.

The morning and evening commute? Not my favorite.

Having a job to commute to and from? Totally worth it.

Having to pay bills? Not so much fun.

Not having to write checks and lick stamps and remember to put them in the mailbox in the morning? Win.

Having the money to pay the bills and not having to worry about it? Priceless.

Having my taxes done and over with until 2017? If I weren’t so tired, I might break into a happy dance. Maybe I’ll settle for a happy nap instead.

Perspective is my new mantra. It’s all about perspective.

I could complain about how sore my feet are from the journey or I can choose to sing along the way. I choose singing over complaining. It’s better for you.

Choosing to see the blessings instead of the burden isn’t always easy, but it is most definitely alway worth it. If you look for God’s gifts in the every day minutiae, you end up seeing God there. You see God’s hand everywhere you turn.

If you look for joy, you find it. If you look for bitterness, you find that, too. You really do find what you’re looking for in the long run.

All that to say that the most important part of this Thursday is that I’m still here, therefore God must have a reason for me being here. I will celebrate another day of life successfully lived.

I say that qualifies as mission accomplished, don’t you?

 

A Little Shakespeare For Your Soul

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“Sigh No More, Ladies…”

(From "Much Ado about Nothing")
Sigh no more, ladies, sigh nor more;
    Men were deceivers ever;
One foot in sea and one on shore,
    To one thing constant never;
        Then sigh not so,
        But let them go,
    And be you blithe and bonny;
Converting all your sounds of woe
    Into. Hey nonny, nonny.

Sing no more ditties, sing no mo,
    Or dumps so dull and heavy;
The fraud of men was ever so,
    Since summer first was leavy.
        Then sigh not so, 
        But let them go,
    And be you blithe and bonny,
Converting all your sounds of woe
    Into hey, nonny, nonny.

I admit that I was craving a bit of Shakespeare on this rainy Thursday. I put in my blu ray of the 1993 adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing.

It’s good to go back to the classics every now and then. It’s good to hear dialogue that actually makes you smarter and increases your love of the language.

It’s always good to go back to ancient wisdom.

I’m reminded of that as I’m reading through the Bible again.

Some of it is hard to take. I see where the people of God chosen by God have acted like anything but God’s own. They have run after anything and everything to fill a void that only God can fill.

Sadly, I can relate after too many times of doing that very thing myself. Many times, prayer and God will be last resorts after everything else has failed instead of my first go-to. As frustrated as I can get with those Israelites, I confess that I am too much like them sometimes.

The ultimate story of the Bible is God’s quest to woo His own people to Himself with a love that refuses to be defeated or deferred.

As for Shakespeare, I watched about half the movie and I feel like my IQ has gone up about 10 points. I call that a win.

 

 

Words That Create (More Goodness from Henri Nouwen)

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“Words, words, words. Our society is full of words: on billboards, on television screens, in newspapers and books. Words whispered, shouted, and sung. Words that move, dance, and change in size and color. Words that say, ‘Taste me, smell me, eat me, drink me, sleep with me,’ but most of all, ‘buy me.’ With so many words around us, we quickly say: ‘Well, they’re just words.’ Thus, words have lost much of their power.

Still, the word has the power to create. When God speaks, God creates. When God says, ‘Let there be light’ (Genesis 1:3), light is. God speaks light. For God, speaking and creating are the same. It is this creative power of the word we need to reclaim. What we say is very important. When we say, ‘I love you,’ and say it from the heart, we can give another person new life, new hope, new courage. When we say, ‘I hate you,’ we can destroy another person. Let’s watch our words” (Henri Nouwen).

Choose your words carefully. Speak life and not death. Speak hope and not despair.

Even your lack of words can have tremendous power. Your choosing to ignore someone sends a more powerful message than any words of hate ever could.

So choose words that head and not harm. Choose words that will build up and not tear down.

That’s all I have on this Thursday evening in February.

 

So There’s That

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It’s Thursday. And I’m having one of those days where I’m not feeling particularly creative. It happens to the best of us writers. And even me.

Let me ask you something. Do you ever find yourself talking and you hear the words coming out of your mouth and think, “I sound like the world’s biggest phony”?

For some reason, that happens when I’m talking about spiritual things. In the back of my mind, I’m thinking, “If they only knew some of the other things I think about.”

I’m thankful that that’s not how God sees me. He looks at me and sees Jesus. He looks at me and sees me as I’ll look when I look like Jesus. He can see past all my present mess to the finished product that I can’t even begin to see yet.

Even on those days when I feel like the biggest fraud of all and like I could take on the Apostle Paul for the title of World’s Worst Sinner, God still loves me as much as those days when I feel like I’m super-spiritual and have my theological t’s crossed and i’s dotted.

That’s something that will never get old for me. Well, two things. The love of God that never gives up and the grace of God that never fails to surprise me. Even after over 1,500 of these posts.

I’m also thankful that Jesus loves me the way He found me but refuses to leave me that way.

I’m also thankful for all those people who have been Jesus’ hands and feet to me through all these years.

And I’m thankful for my 14-year old cat who remains the laziest animal I have ever seen who actually has a pulse. Just don’t you dare tell her she’s not human.

So there’s that.

 

 

 

Maya Angelou, Twin Peaks, and Other Thursday Offerings

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Best-Life-Quotes-Maya-Angelou

I found out with the rest of the world when Maya Angelou died yesterday. I was saddened. More than than, I regretted not taking the time to know more about her. I had read one of her autobiographies a few months ago, but I honestly couldn’t say that I still remember much from that.

Her last tweet was “Listen to yourself and in that quietude you might hear the voice of God.”

I like that. I don’t think that I listen to myself because I myself am divine, but more like I listen to myself because God dwells in me as much as He dwells out there. I’m reminded of something Ralph Waldo Emerson said: ” ‘What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”

You can’t find quietude and stillness unless you take the time to interrupt your busyness and make space for quiet. You have to turn off the TV, turn off the radio/streaming/music device, and put down your phone. You have to be still and tune out all the distractions that the media is throwing at you from every angle. Then maybe you can hear God.

I can tell you more about Twin Peaks, an early 90’s short-lived TV series that I’ve been watching lately. It is odd and compelling. It’s got David Duchovny in drag. I think that says it all. You probably need serious drugs to understand what all goes on during each episode. At least I think so.

There were only 29 episodes in the series and I have seen 23. I think there was a sort of prequel movie that followed. Only in Hollywood would that last sentence make sense.

But yes, it is Thursday, which makes tomorrow Friday. There will never ever be a time when that is not a good thing. I always love Fridays even when I’m not working. Because Friday always leads to sleeping in on Saturday and church on Sunday. Both of those are favorites of mine.

So, RIP Maya Angelou. And Happy Friday to all of you.

mayaangelou

Happy Birthday Eve to Me!

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image

Everyone knows about Christmas Eve. Apparently, Thursdays are now being referred to as Friday Eve. So why can’t the day before my birthday be birthday eve?

Birthdays are always a good time to reflect and look back. Sure, I’m not where I thought I’d be at this point, but I am alive. I survived another year. I woke up this morning. That has to count for something.

The fact that you and I are here means that God isn’t through with us just yet. He still has a purpose for you and me.

I believe God has already told us what our purpose is: for Him to shape us into the spitting image of Jesus. I also think that we do that when we savor life and relationships and moments. We do that when we show gratitude in everything and find joy everywhere.

Jesus lived life to the utmost and has called us to do the same. Through His power, we can. I’m not saying all our days will be perfect and sunny and bright, but even on the darkest of days there will still be joy to be found and a multitude of reasons to give thanks.

So I’m happy to be here and thankful for another day of life. And if I wake up tomorrow, I’ll celebrate another year of being alive and loved and blessed.

The Second Day of January

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image Today is the first real day of 2014.

Yesterday didn’t really count since all the banks were closed and no mail was delivered.

Today is Run Up the Flagpole and See If Anyone Salutes Day. It also happens to be Cream Puff Day, National Science Fiction Day, 55-MPH Speed Limit Day, National Buffet Day (contrary to all those new year resolutions to eat better), and Happy Mew Year for Cats Day. And yes, I found all these on the internet, so they must be legit. 😁

Today just so happened to be Thursday, which makes tomorrow . . . drum roll, please . . . Friday!

It also happens to be that day where the mercies of the Lord are new and re-newed. Like every other morning. Like it say in The Book of Lamentations.

, the faithfulness of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end. They ARE new every morning (and I bet you just sang that last part). It’s true on January 1 all the way through December 31, in those crazy good days and during those abysmally bad days.

There’s always something good to give thanks for because there’s always God to give thanks for.

be starting up my Bible reading plan again tonight. More on that to come later.

the mean time, you can count your blessings and always find reasons to give thanks, whether it be on January 2 or any other day of the year.