Thanking God and Thanking You

I don't have a word burning with passion that demands to be written today. Instead, I simply want to say thank you. You loved Sam well, and you grieved along with me. In so doing, you loved and blessed me more than you'll ever know.

Yesterday, I saw a friend from church when we were eating lunch at a local restaurant. "I've been keeping up, and I'm still praying for you," Kim assured me. It was all I could do to say thank you. I wanted to weep with gratitude.

Your prayers have mattered more than you know. In truth, they've mattered more than I expected. I'm so grateful. Thank you.

Your physical help has been invaluable. From visiting Sam, singing to him, reading Scripture to him, and introducing him to spray whipped cream (thank you Jerry and Sonya Iverson for that joy) while he was still in my home, to visiting, washing his face, kneeling at his bedside, singing to him, and sitting with him while I was gone, you've done what I could never have done alone. You've loved him and treasured him in tangible ways he understood. 

Sam felt loved, because he was.

I've received so many comments on posts, texts, emails, calls, and offers of help that I'm humbled and stunned. I can't begin to reply to them all, but I've read and treasured every one. Friends have shown up at my home to help with tasks they knew were needed but I could barely begin to accomplish. Again, I'm so grateful.

Ryan has been home since Thursday evening. It's been like the balm of Gilead to have him here. We've laughed, remembered, and begun to look toward a life without Sam. 

Ryan said, in his eulogy at Sam's funeral, "I don't remember a time without Sam because he's been there every day of my life. . . I told the people at work I was going home for my Grandfather's funeral." That's what Sam was for Ryan: A constant in his life. The grandfather my daddy would've been if he'd lived to see and know Ryan. 

Tomorrow, I'll attend the memorial service for my decades-long friend who taught me that an ordinary person like me could be a writer. He cheered me on from a distance, even when his writing career took a long pause. I hadn't seen him in years, but he often emailed me encouragement for a line well-written or a post that touched his heart. 

His tragic death is one more blow that, added to Sam's dying, seemed like too much at once. It's not. Today, both he and Sam are whole and rejoicing at the throne of God. They're with their much-loved wives and families and their long-served Lord.

Tuesday, I'll resume my "normal" life. I'll go back to the office, open my computer, and start emailing missionaries again. I'll work on prayer projects and plan for upcoming speaking engagements. I'll make a start on a mountain of thank you notes that are long overdue. 

More passionate blog posts will come, but none will be more heartfelt than the thanks I offer today. You've been the hands and feet of Christ to me, and you've helped our Lord carry Ryan and me through this very hard time. We're eternally grateful to God and to you.

Though expressions of gratitude vary from one language to the next, the meaning is still the same, and equally heart-felt. May God bless you for the love and generosity of spirit you've shown to us.

Shukraan. Merci. Gracias. Grazie. Thank you.

"I thank my God every time I remember you." Philippians 1:3 NET Bible

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In case you missed the last post, here's the link: Caregiver Chronicles: True Success: Living Like Sam

Who Owns My Stuff? The Generosity of God

Then He said to them, "Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions." And He told them a parable, saying, "The land of a rich man was very productive. And he began reasoning to himself, saying, 'What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?' Then he said, 'This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry."' But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?' So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God." And He said to His disciples, "For this reason I say to you, do not worry about your life, as to what you will eat; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. (Luke 12:15-22 NASB)

Jesus not only gave His disciples instruction. He also gave them illustrations to make the instructions clear. The admonition against greed was so important that He followed it with an illustrative story. It went like this:

A rich man had very productive land. He had filled every barn on his land with his crops. When all his storehouses were filled, this man did not say, "I should give some of the excess to the poor." He did not think about selling the excess and using the money to build shelter for the homeless. His only thought was how to store more, to have a greater accumulation. 

What has always surprised me about this story is that the man did not decide to build an extension on his existing barn or to repair any problem with his old ones. He decided to tear down all his perfectly good barns and build new, bigger ones. He'd have been right at home in today's world.

More. Bigger. Better. It's a theme in our society, and it is one that Jesus clearly warned against. 

Let's take a look at our possessions and the things we have spent a lifetime accumulating. Are we like the rich man, constantly acquiring more, bigger, better, or are we content with less? Do we want to tear down and build or repair and preserve? There is a marked difference in the two perspectives that begins with a clear understanding of who owns the blessings we enjoy. 

If every good and perfect gift comes from above (and it does), then the good and perfect things we enjoy and call our own all came from above. They are a gift from God, not a benefit of our financial acumen or hard work. 

A godly perspective toward our possessions and finances begins with an understanding of their origin and ownership. It's all God. Embracing that basic truth brings us to the only appropriate response. Gratitude. 

For today, let's look at every possession as a gift from God and thank Him for them. Individually. One by one. It's a way of counting your blessings that will leave you humbled and in awe of the One who has been so generous to you.

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Dear Lord and Father, thank You for the gifts You have so graciously bestowed upon me. Thank you not only for my home, but for the generosity that provided my home and the possessions therein. Thank you for a roof over my head, food to eat, clothes to wear. Thank you for extra to invest in the Kingdom of God. Help me to be a good steward of the things you have entrusted to me and help me to use them as You see fit, not simply to please myself. In Jesus name, Amen.

Counting Your Blessings

I've always loved the movie White Christmas in which Bing Crosby sings an Irving Berlin song, "If you're worried and you can't sleep, just count your blessings instead of sheep..." Isn't that a wonderful truth? When we understand how blessed we are, our worries don't seem nearly so large. 

I saw something that reminded me of that song today. Our office has the usual physician waiting room magazines, all of which are either addressed to the office or to my boss or to me. The Ebony magazine is addressed to me. I'm not really sure how this got started, but we have a little Ebony ritual. When the magazine arrives, my boss brings it (usually with a stack of mail he's sorting) to my desk. "Here's your magazine," he'll say. While he finishes sorting through the mail, I flip through the Ebony, which is very informative, and read the most interesting parts aloud. 

As you may have guessed, the magazine arrived today. On page 11 of the April 2014 issue, I found #30 in a list of ways to transform your life. It recommended that, every night before bedtime, you make a list of three blessings. Having a grateful heart, it said, would help you both mentally and physically. In just three weeks, the article claimed, you would be sleeping better and "less likely to catch a cold".  

I laughed out loud.  "How funny!" I said. With a nearly-straight face, my boss said, "And you haven't had a cold since you started blogging!"  We both laughed about the claims, but I don't think they were wrong. Proverbs 17:22 says "A cheerful heart is a good medicine...." (ASV). I'm pretty sure a grateful heart is, too. 

In the words of Irving Berlin, "If you're worried, and you can't sleep, just count your blessings instead of sheep..." When you start counting, try writing them down, too. You might be surprised by how good God's been to you, and you are likely to feel better, too!