Grateful

I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation – Philippians 4:12

Another day to be grateful

ometimes I get a little push back from people who wonder if, maybe, I write too much about how good life is.

The danger (and I fully understand the logic behind this) is that I either come across like I’m bragging, or that I suggest (albeit inadvertently) there might be something wrong with those who find themselves hard pressed to come up with the level of gratitude that seems to have taken up permanent residency in my heart and soul.

But I have to be honest. All I do here in this space is to simply report the facts. Here are a few facts for our Monday morning consideration:

• God loves me and cares about my life (and that’s true for all of us, irrespective of our willingness to accept that love).
• After 33-years of marriage, Rebekah and I still go out of our way to treat one-another with kindness, respect, grace, mercy, patience, consideration and intentional love.
• Our children (Andrew, Naomi, Craig, Alicia) understand and practice that same quality of love in their lives and their relationships.
• We are part of a faith community (First Presbyterian) that is built around the idea that we have been called to demonstrate the power of such love to transform individual lives, families, and the world.
• I love our home, I love my work, and I love the life we have made together here.

NOT ALL A BED of ROSES: But there have been “seasons” in our life together where the circumstances have been extremely difficult. Struggles raising children, chronic disease, overwhelming difficulties at work, financial stress, illness, prolonged suffering and death in the family… and more. But I can confidently say that the core elements of what continues to make me hopeful and grateful have always remained deeper, stronger, more fundamentally true, and more compelling.

the core elements of what continues to make me hopeful and grateful have always remained deeper, stronger, more fundamentally true, and more compelling.

Why? Because the truth of God’s faithful love, the practice of love in our day-to-day lives, and the transformational power of the “Love that will not let me go,” represent a reality that transcends absolutely anything else we can experience.

THE EVIDENCE: If you have trouble either believing or understanding this, then please go back and read these two posts, from March 12 and 13.

• Hard Times, Real Faith, and a Hope that does not Disappoint
• Paradox – grief and blessing – Godspeed my brother

And so this morning, Monday October 29, the sun is shining and the temperatures are perfect and I’m breathing in the fresh air of peace in all that I know…

…And I am still grateful.

grateful…

I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength. – Philippians 4:12-13

My prayer is that all of us know such assurance. And it is ours, a free gift; all we have to do is receive it – DEREK