Tagged: thanksgiving

It was under unique circumstances I learned one of my life's greatest lessons of gratitude. The voices of the congregation rose sweet and pure, purer than I’d ever heard in my life. Our tremulous faith, tender yet mighty, was transmitted in song like a desperate, beautiful sonnet brought to the Savior by love so fierce it seemed it might shatter the vessels which bore it.  I held my baby close to my heart as my husband and I gripped the hands of our toddler and young son. The children seemed to understand that today was a day for seriousness, and with angelic faces, they watched us intently. The walk to church along cobbled streets and broken roads had been quiet and brisk that morning. The… Read More

@audreycfrank He sent from on high, He took me; He drew me out of many waters. He delivered me from my strong enemy, And from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me.  They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the Lord was my stay. He brought me forth also into a broad place; He rescued me, because He delighted in me.  Psalm 18:16-19, a thanksgiving psalm of David after God delivered him from all his enemies. I once watched someone drowning. I was a little girl, standing on the lake shore. A woman paddled out to the deep and began to bob up and down. I did not understand at first that she was sinking, until she began… Read More

@audreycfrank I would rather go on my grumpy way, most days. I hate to admit it. But seeing the world as a to-do list, annoying and pressuring, is much more natural some days than seeing it as a gift to be opened carefully, thoughtfully, joyfully. I confess I am an ingrate who has been given more than she deserves, loved with a love that I never earned. I have every reason to be thankful every moment. Maybe I am the only one for whom thanksgiving is a learned, intentional behavior. Busyness blinds me to what matters all too often. [tweet_box design="default" float="none"]The truth is, #thanksgiving interrupts our busyness for something better.[/tweet_box] One day I woke up an hour before the rest of the family to… Read More

@audreycfrank There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God. (1 Samuel 2:2) Gratitude reveals much about who a person is and who or what she relies upon. Our identities are established upon so many things: who our parents were, where we grew up, what job we have, what relationships we have. Thanksgiving, or lack of, often flows directly out of these foundational aspects of our identity. Hannah’s story in 1 Samuel 1 and 2 reads like a case study on the matter. In Hannah’s world, the identity of a woman was largely based on whether or not she was a mother. Bearing a child, preferably a son, was paramount to womanhood and fulfillment.… Read More