Thankfulness

There’s little more beautiful than Indian summer, the time between the seasons when the days are warm and the nights get cool. I’m so glad to live in a place where I can enjoy the literal seasons–and so glad that God gives me seasons in my life as well.

“To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven:
~Ecclesiastes 3:1

This week I’m thankful for…

…grass growing slowly so it doesn’t show that I barely mow

…flaming sunsets in my rearview mirror as I drive home from Grand Island

…leaves turning color and dropping on the ground, signaling the turn of the year

…menu seasons that will come to an end (Thank You, Lord, that I don’t have to do this extra 20 hour a week menu work for more than 8 weeks out of the year.)

…anticipating the seasons to come. Thinking about Christmas and 2012 (my care plans are now dated with target dates in 2012–so my mind is going there too). Coming up with ideas for my 27th birthday (so maybe I’m jumping the gun on that one, but I’ve got a TERRIFIC party idea.)

…a God who is unchanging amidst every season’s change

Summer and winter and
Springtime and Harvest
Sun, moon, and stars
in their courses above
Join with all nature in
manifold witness
to Thy great faithfulness,
mercy and love

Somewhere along the way, my life fell out of order. My to-do-list sprawled with things I couldn’t get done, my rooms filled up with clutter I didn’t have time or energy to deal with, my days became frantic jumps from aimless activity to aimless activity.

Yet, by the grace of God, things seem to be coming back into order.

This week I’m thankful for…

…new clothes hangers so that all my clothes can now be hung properly instead of piled about my bedroom.

…newly-designed planner pages which help bring some long-lost order to my daily routines (and enable me to eat breakfast again!)

…a long screw holding my towel rack up so I can again have some order in my bathroom

…starting to catch up at work, which makes my days oh-so-less-stressful

…scheduled evenings which counter-intuitively make my life more peaceful (that is, scheduled evenings that are consistent)

…a God of order as opposed to a god of chaos

“Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?
Tell Me, if you have understanding.
Who determined its measurements?
Surely you know!
Or who stretched the line upon it?
To what were its foundations fastened?
Or who laid its cornerstone,
When the morning stars sang together,
And all the sons of God shouted for joy?
Or who shut in the sea with doors,
When it burst forth and issued from the womb;
When I made the clouds its garment,
And thick darkness its swaddling band;
When I fixed My limit for it,
And set bars and doors;”

~Job 38:4-10

The God who made the universe, who set its boundaries and ordered every star, this is the God I serve, the Lord of heaven and earth. Praise be to the King of Kings and the God of gods.

Do you remember when I first mentioned building myself a new computer?

I’m not sure when I first mentioned it, but I do know when I ordered my parts.

The last weekend in May. Memorial Day.

And now, three and a half months later, I finally have a working computer.

This week I’m thankful for…

…my extended family for letting me crash the 4th of July with my computer.

…Daniel for lending me an OS disk after mine got ruined, and for regularly checking up on the computer’s progress (or lack thereof)

…Anna for being remarkably long-suffering with my use of her laptop and trashing of the family room (what with all my boxes of components–and the components themselves–all about.)

…Ruth for lending me her computer for a couple weeks in the interim

…Spousanomics for teaching me about loss aversion (and making me willing to cut my losses and just buy a new pre-built)

…Mom for listening to me reason it all out and counseling me that yes it would be wise for me to just buy a new computer

…the Best Buy guy for believing me when I said that, yes, I was familiar with computers and, yes, I did know how to change out components.

…Jon for lending me a program to recover my files from one of the corrupted hard disks

…Erik for lending me a IDE to SATA adapter so I could transfer said files to my new computer

…God for being immutible, unchanging, faithful, reliable–unlike computers.

My friend and I are reading The Greener Grass Conspiracy, a wonderful book on contentment that I originally picked up based on Lisa’s review. In it, author Stephen Altrogge relates a little story that Charles Spurgeon once told:

“I have heard of some good old woman in a cottage, who had nothing but a piece of bread and a little water. Lifting up her hands, she said as a blessing, ‘What! All this, and Christ too?'”

Oh, how I want my life to ring with that same spirit. The spirit that cries out that Christ is all-sufficient, and that stands in awestruck amazement at how much I have been given (no matter how small or large it might be in comparison with that of another.)

This week I’m thankful for…

…family
Seeing my brother for the first time in a long time. Spending more time cuddling with my little niece. Driving and talking with my Mother. Watching movies with the whole gang. Visiting with my aunt and uncle around the fire-pit.

…friends
Spending time with Steve and Joanna and Mary around a meal. Having Ruth and Beth over for dinner after church. Sitting and chatting with Jacqueline and Jon and Cathy and Grace before the parade. A long conversation with Kathy after we were all done.

…transportation
The luxury of jumping into my car and heading out of town for a weekend. The added pleasure of hopping on my bike for a toodle about town. A comfortable seat during a commute. Books on CD I can listen to while driving.

…possessions
A lawn to mow, a mower to mow it with. A bath in which to bathe, water with which to fill it. A computer to be built, and plenty of resources for when I hit unexpected snags.

…medical care
A doctor’s office I can pop into on my way to work. The ability to make an appointment only a few days in advance. Prescription drug coverage. A chance to reduce my insurance costs by living healthfully.

…growth opportunities
The accountability of a dear friend. Theology class at church. Bible-rich expository preaching. Opportunity to serve by teaching Sunday school.

What! All this, AND CHRIST TOO?

Y’all are savvy enough to know that “church” isn’t a building. And I think you’re also savvy enough to know that “church” isn’t a service that’s held once or twice or more times a week (depending on the size and/or ardor of a particular congregation.)

You know that the “church” is the collection of those called out to Christ from around the world–and that the local church is a smaller subset of the universal church that gathers together for God’s glory and their own mutual encouragement.

Well, for my part, I’m thankful for the church–for Highland Park Evangelical Free particularly, and for this wonderful group of people I have the opportunity to live life on life with.

This week I’m thankful for…

…Friday’s coffee shop

Listening as Lori and Jenna played and sang. Sharing computer stories with Eric and Cathy. Laughing with Ruth, Anna, and Laurie. Letting the little girl I’d just met “teach” me how to play “Farkle” (using rules she’d made up on the spot.) Jon’s gracious agreement to take my bike home in the back of his truck. Watching JTT from the comfort of the potato–laughing as one person after another jumped during the “scary” parts of the movie.

…Saturday’s Zoo Expedition

Driving down and chatting with Paige. Pictures of lions and tigers and bears. Gorilla’s giving their best “Blue Steel” impression. Bats in the basement and traversing a swamp.

…Sunday’s service and Party with the Pastors
Not enough time for steaks at my house. Find a way to make the time work. Chinese, Doozy’s? How ’bout party with the pastors? We’ve only been to the “newcomer’s” party a half dozen times. How long can we milk the “new in town” story (since even I have been here nine months)? Jacqueline is new. Truly new. So of course we should party with the pastors–we’ll just go along as “moral support.”

…Monday’s Contentment Conversation
Chilling in Anna’s room. Chatting while I try yet again to make my computer work. Challenging me to humble myself and ask for help. Conversing about Contentment on our way through The Greener Grass Conspiracy.

…Wednesday’s Interview
Meeting Rachel. Meeting Cindy. Sharing my stories. Hearing their affirmation. Passing the child protection process. Preparing for girls to stay with me.

…Wednesday’s “Bible Study”
Hugs from Jana. Hilarious Stories. Pranking Pastor Justin. Better than crack brownies. Hearing each others lives. Laughing a lot. Loving our girls (and Pastor Justin and Jana.)

…Thursday’s Sewing Time
Cutting out dresses. Sewing on yo-yos. Discussing books and football and zoos. Companionable silence. Scissors swishing. Enjoying just being with Taylor.

I can’t even imagine what my life would be like without this church, without these people. They have encouraged me, challenged me, become a part of my everyday life.

I am so thankful for each one of them–for Anna and Ruth and Beth and Jacqueline and Paige and Jasmine and Jenna and Laurie and Jana and Justin and Jon and Kathy and Cathy and Erik and Taylor and…the list goes on and on.

Mostly, I’m thankful for God, for the wonderful thing He did when He put together the church, His body–and the church at Highland Park particularly.

Yes, I realize it’s not Thursday any longer.

Yes, I realize that I ought to be sleeping right now.

But I am thankful, and I did want to share it.

This week I’m thankful for…

…a completed survey

State surveyors exited Tuesday afternoon–and didn’t give me any “tags” (i.e. didn’t find me not doing my job properly.) Our kitchen didn’t get a sanitation tag (the most commonly cited tag in the nation.) I didn’t get a weight loss tag (that “unknown unknown” I was so worried about.) Nor did the dietary department end up with any of the odds or ends tags that can trip us up.

But beyond the sigh of relief that says I must be doing an okay job, there’s the normal-old relief of simply being DONE.

…an almost completed computer

It took a week. Just a little longer than survey. But I finally have all my components installed and a (properly licensed) operating system functional.

I’ve probably spent a little over 40 hours this week messing around with one computer trial after another. Which is why I haven’t been writing (or commenting) much.

Now I’m almost done–just have to transfer the last of my files over from my old hard drive and get all my programs installed the way I want them on this computer.

…a coming day of completion

“Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.”
~Hebrews 13:20-21

“…being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ…”
~Philippians 1:6

I’ve always been something of a grammar nerd (not that you can tell by the lazy way I write now.)

Punctuation, capitalization, diagramming sentences.

Parts of speech.

Some of my favorite things.

This week I’m thankful for…

…nouns

I’m thankful for Ruth, for Beth, and for Anna; for Kathy and Jon; for Mom and Dad, Joshua, Daniel and Debbie, John, Timothy, and Grace. I’m thankful for the people I love.

I’m thankful for the House of Dreams, for a yard with a firepit, for Columbus, for a backyard with a pool, for Highway 30. I’m thankful for the places in which I live my life.

I’m thankful for my still new camera, for a sewing machine, and a car that works. I’m thankful for a 1920’s slip pattern and fabric to make it into a nightie. I’m thankful for a chair in which to sit and a computer at which to type. I’m thankful for the things that enrich my life.

I’m thankful for freedom, liberty to live as I please. I’m thankful for hope, anticipation of what is to come. I’m thankful for peace, rest in the midst of life’s trials. I’m thankful for grace, riches far beyond me. I’m thankful for the ideas that change my life.

…verbs

I’m thankful for sewing, for cooking, for cleaning. I’m thankful for calculating, for typing, for meeting. I’m thankful for driving, for singing, for praying. I’m thankful for the actions I am blessed to perform.

I’m thankful that God is faithful. I’m thankful that I am His. I’m thankful that my sins were wiped away. I’m thankful that my life is still being transformed. States of being. What is what. I’m grateful things are as they are.

…conjunctions

I’m thankful most of all for the conjunctions of life–

Thankful that for every “I am”, there’s a “but God is”. Thankful that for every “I do”, there’s a much great “and God does”. Thankful that for every “Rebekah does” there’s a “yet God still”.

I’m thankful that the story doesn’t end with a single me-centered clause. There’s always a conjunction, always a reminder that whatever I do, God is at work.

Today was our big company BBQ. We served our residents and their families, our employees and their families, and our community.

I personally baked off a couple hundred cookies and ran around like a chicken with my head cut off, talking with residents and their families while snapping pictures.

This week I’m thankful for…

…getting caught up prior to the BBQ
Which meant that I wasn’t frantically trying to get my own work done today. Instead, I was free to enjoy the preparations for the barbecue. Including preparations like…

…being back in the kitchen again
I haven’t cooked professionally for…a long time now. But today I shed my lab coat and clipboard and made my way into the kitchen, where I baked off a couple hundred cookies and prepped them for serving, before running off home to pick up…

…my little sister who was willing to help
Grace popped up to Columbus last night and informed me that she was staying through Saturday. I invited her to our picnic and she said yes. So she came early this afternoon to help and ended up having a great time serving with…

…a great management team
I truly love the people I work with–we have a fantastic management team at Golden Living Columbus, and I’m proud to be a part of them. (I noticed today, when coming in the door I don’t usually enter, that my name is featured in a board right inside the door. The board introduces the management team–and there my name is: Registered Dietitian–Rebekah Menter)

…a chance to snap photographs
I wouldn’t say I’m a great photographer. In fact, I know very little about photography. But I love taking photos whenever I can. And I was thrilled to have the privilege of being a designated camera-woman for the picnic.

…the residents I adore
I loved asking the residents if they’d mind if I photograph them, capturing pictures of them with leis round their necks and flowers in their hair. I loved meeting their families, seeing their grandchildren, hearing their stories. The BBQ was in our back parking lot, but it managed to be a whole different context in which to get to know our folks.

…Snow-Cones with my sister
Grace and I took a little break to have snow-cones and supper before helping out with clean up. It was nice to just enjoy each other’s company.

You sure you don’t want to come up to Columbus and work for Golden Living, Gracie? ‘Cuz you heard Mark and Kim and Nikki and… they’d definitely hire you. And let me tell you what, working for GLC, it’s living Golden!

I’m so thankful that God placed me somewhere completely outside my expectations–I’m glad He placed me here, in this city, with this job, with these people.

I’m tired tonight.

To the bone, can’t barely keep my eyes open, exhausted tired.

I almost feel like my thank-er is broken, so much my body desires a bath and bed.

But even exhaustion is no excuse for being unthankful.

So, without further ado:

This week I’m thankful for…

…God
I’m thankful that He is “I am”. He is everything I need. He is more than sufficient. He is overwhelmingly more than I could ever deserve. And yet He is. He is “I am.” And “I am” is mine.