Posted in A Nation Divided on January 24, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Posted in A Nation Divided, tagged Anger, COURAGE, Escape, Hatred, Obedience, Silence, Sovereignty of God on January 24, 2014| 1 Comment »
The Sentinental Star’s headline screamed: EXECUTIVE ORDER SIGNED. JEWS TO DIE. EXECUTION DATE: THIRTEENTH DAY OF THE TWELVETH MONTH. Seizure of property and possessions. Commander –in-Chief and VP sit down to drink. City in confusion.
How would you react? Would this order have crossed your line in the sand?
If you are a Jew, what must you do?
Mordecai tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, walked downtown, wailing loudly and bitterly in front of the Citadel.
Think about the citizens of Susa. Some of the condemned folks were their neighbors. Their friends. Some taught their children in school. And some were local bankers and shopkeepers. The order was law. This was real. There was no recourse. People were going to die—all Jews from Ethiopia to India.
Unknown to the Commander-in-Chief, his wife was a Jew. The question of her nationality had never been discussed.
But Mordecai knew. And he refused to be silent.
Imagine the sound of weeping and wailing throughout the city, and the pandemonium. Or perhaps the Gentiles said nothing.
If you turned on TV tonight and a similar executive order had been signed into law, what would you do? It’s not beyond the realm of possibility—remember the Crusades? Remember Hitler? And in Joel 3:1-2, the prophet talks about a time just before the Day of the Lord when God tells us He will bring Judah and Jerusalem again into captivity.
Does the Church today have a heart to weep? A heart to fast? A heart to wail and put on sackcloth? Have we forgotten how to seek God’s face as a congregation? Or will we sit, like those German Christians, turning up the organ’s volume and singing louder so we don’t hear their screams?
Susa’s Secret Service kept the public away from the royal family. So Hadassah sent a servant to Mordecai, asking what was wrong.
Mordecai sent her a copy of the morning news and ordered her to intervene with her husband. He sent this message:
“Do not imagine that you can escape any more than all the Jews. For if you remain silent…relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place … and who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:13-14 NAS).
Yes, Queen Esther sent word back to her uncle, asking him to assemble all the Jews in Susa and to fast for her for three days and nights. She and her maidens were going to fast also. And then she uttered those courageous words:
“And thus I will go in to the king which is not
according to the law; and if I perish, I perish” (Esther 4:16 NAS).
Christians what will it take to break our hard hearts? How much worse is it going to have to get before all of God’s people fast and pray for our nation? Yes, Jesus is coming, but it’s going to get real nasty on planet earth before that event. And we are to be standing firm, making disciples ‘til He comes, not hiding in the shadows, hoping not to be noticed.
God tells us in those last days all nations will rise up against Israel. America’s current leaders are well down the path of turning against Israel. One swipe of the pen could end that relationship and place our nation under God’s curse:
“And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee—” (Genesis 12:3 KJV).
In the final chapters of the Book of Esther, we see how God answered His people when they humbled themselves and fasted before Him. And how those who cursed the Jews were indeed cursed.
Whatever experiences God has allowed in your life have brought you “to such a time as this.” Will you remain silent? Or will you speak up, imploring the King’s favor for His people? Have you contemplated your line in the sand? Will you be courageous enough to stand firm in the principles of God’s Word? Drawing that line and agreeing with Esther, “If I perish, I perish.”
“And by smooth words he will turn to godlessness those who act wickedly toward the covenant, but the people who know their God will display strength and take action” (Daniel 11:33 NAS).
Next week: The rest of the story.
Posted in A Nation Divided, tagged Good or junk? What does your heart crave? An appetite for the Word, The food we eat on January 15, 2014| 9 Comments »
The aroma of scrumptious filled the house. Crispy southern fried chicken, mashed potatoes slathered with a glob of real butter, sliced tomatoes fresh from the garden, and just picked green beans, cooked with ham hocks, onions and garlic, hollered “Let’s eat.” The oven timer chimed and buttermilk biscuits popped lighter ‘n a cloud from the oven, waitin’ to be doused with butter, honey and gobbled up.
Yuuummmie!
Even without a picture, I bet your taste buds are dancing a jig. Why? Because you’ve tasted these things and you know they’re good. Delicious comfort food. Pass your plate for seconds. And did I mention homemade chocolate-ice-box pie with a steaming cup of Texas Pecan coffee topped with a dollop of whipped cream for dessert?
Bet if I phoned and asked you for supper, you’d be here in a flash. Yet, when the Sovereign God of the Universe invites us to dine with Him, we have a million excuses. We’re too busy. We’re too tired. The kids are screaming. The ball game’s on. How about tomorrow?
The feast at His table provides wisdom and knowledge. And every bite brings peace and joy. While my chicken and biscuits just pack on the pounds.
But did you know that’s why so many in the church are floundering, caught up in deceptive lies, because they’ve not tasted the Word of God. They have no appetite or understanding of the satisfying, comforting, delightful things God promises.
Scripture invites us, “O taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8 NAS).
We’ve seen Jesus change folks lives. And we’ve watched Him change their families and their eternal destination. Like new babes, they slurp up the truths of the Word, love people (even those who are unlovely), and are full of joy.
But most of us just don’t like change. The voice of deception whispers That guy’s a fanatic. Do you want to be like him? It’s okay to go to church, even sing a little, but get just enough to keep the fire from lickin’ your boots.
We sit, week after week, in the same seat, dozing, or clicking off the list of whatever we’re going to do that afternoon. Not listening. Not growing. And not a chance the fresh wind and fire of the Spirit will sweep through hard hearts, lighting the flame of revival.
Content with sitting and half-hearing whatever the preachers or teachers say, we set ourselves up for spiritual ptomaine poisoning. Because we haven’t studied the truth for ourselves.
Jesus promises to him that hears, more shall be given, like a child learning to stack blocks. In the beginning they can’t stack one on top of another, but the child learns to build a tower. We are to study God’s Word, learn who He is and what He says, in order to build a tower of faith in Him—from faith, to faith, to faith.
But many in the pew on Sunday never open the Book during the week.
In the fourth chapter of Mark, Jesus speaks at great length on the subject of hearing the Word. (Mark 4:1-22 NAS). The disciple relays Jesus warning about hearing the word, not paying attention, and Satan gobbling up what has been sown and tossing it away.
Jesus warns: “He who has ears to hear, let him hear” (Mark 4:9 NAS). “If any man has ears to hear, let him hear. Take care what you listen to. By your standard of measure it shall be measured to you; and more shall be given you besides. For whoever has, to him shall more be given; and whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him” (Mark 4:23-24 NAS).
Remember this chapter is about listening to the Word and letting your roots grow in Him. And about the temperature and energy of your heart toward the Word you’ve just heard. Did you really listen? Did the Spirit of God touch that place of need in your heart? Did you respond to the Spirit’s conviction? Or did you brush Him away?
Have you ever ordered grits for breakfast? The waitress brings the ham, eggs and grits. You take a big mouthful of that anticipated Georgia ice cream and your mouth turns inside-out. They’re lukewarm. You’d spit ‘em out if you could. And Revelation tells us God will do the same with lukewarm churches and lukewarm Christians. (Revelation 3:14-18 NAS).
God is in the business of transforming each one of His children into the likeness of His Son. And, precious one, if you have no desire, or wish to place limits on that transformation, may I suggest there’s an empty hole in your heart.
Writers spend enormous amounts of time constructing plot lines to be sure there are no holes in the story—all the loose threads must come together in the end. If the plot has holes, the story becomes unbelievable, impossible, and ridiculous.
God has written and preserved sixty-six books of the Bible to insure we know His story. The plot line begins in the Book of Genesis and finishes without holes or error in the Book of Revelation.
In those first few lines of the Bible we are told Christ is the creator and sustainer of the universe, and in case you missed that info in Genesis, He repeats Himself in Colossians 1:15-20.
God recorded our origin, our purpose, our future, and our eternity. Yet the grand majority of Christians know little beyond a short verse or two, taken out of context, and often misapplied.
We are without excuse because we are instructed to:
“Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the Word of Truth” (II Timothy 2:15 KJV).
If Bibles were confiscated and burned would you know enough of the Word to pass God’s truth on to those who have no clue? If a friend needed a Word from God about anxiety, grief, or salvation could you take them to a verse? If God gave you a grade today, would you hear, “Well done?” Or would you be ashamed?
It’s not too late. Begin today, when your spirit groans with hunger pains:
“O taste and see that the Lord is good. How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him” (Psalm 34:8 NAS).
Don’t stuff yourself with junk food the world offers.
Jesus says:
“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you. By this is My Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples” (John 15:1-11 NAS).
Posted in A Nation Divided, tagged Anger, Brokenness, Depression, grief, Hope, joy on January 3, 2014| 8 Comments »
“You can’t stop birds from flying over your head, but you sure can keep ‘em from building a nest there.”
Mama’s voice still resonates in my ears and I can see her stern expression as she repeated her reprimand for any type of unbecoming behavior I displayed during my teen years.
Now I’ve never allowed these winged creatures to build nests in
my hair, but I’ve sure built some nasty nests in my mind.
Little by little, bit by bit, I collected trashy anger, strings of pain, and lint balls of jealousy and carefully poked them into the dark corners of my mind. I harbored those fragments of left-over animosity and replayed the tape—over and over again.
Ever done that?
Or have you captured broken twigs of disappointment and leaves of shame to feed the growing tangled nest of emotions? And tucked them away ‘til you were trapped in an emotional time-bomb of depression and self-pity dragging you into a quagmire from which you could not extract yourself?
Let me explain.
We live near a wetland area where eagles nest. Cameras set up by the wetland officials revealed skulls of ducks and skunks left in the nest. Nests are temporary shelters for baby birds to grow ‘til they can fly, not permanent homes. Nasty places filled with particles of animal remains, bugs, and unspeakable refuse. And the refuse we pile in our mind is no different and just as nasty.
God created us in His image and in the 15th Chapter of John gives us the cure for our self-destructive hoarding habits. Jesus said:
“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch, and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you. By this is My Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments, and abide in His love” (John 15:4-10 NAS).
In these six verses Jesus tells us to abide in Him ten times. And He gives us conditional promises if we do and lays out the consequences if we don’t.
Are we to have a part-time home in the tangled mess of past heartaches? Absolutely not.
Abide is the Greek verb meno and means to stay, continue, dwell, endure, be present, remain, stand, tarry.
Oh my, could that be why God’s people are in so much trouble? Why our families are falling apart? Why our nation is on the brink of disaster? We fail to stay, dwell, endure, remain in Him, in His Words, in His commandments, in His love.
I have read these words many times, but three weeks ago conviction stabbed to the depths of my heart and soul. I was not abiding in Jesus.
Had I missed Sunday services? Of course not, but once in the car on the way home my mind shifted gears. Did I neglect to pray at night? No. I always mumbled incoherent thanks for the day and His blessings before my eyes closed. Didn’t I? And I always read that little devotional blurb at night.
Dr. Paul David Tripp says, “We trouble our own trouble.” And that’s exactly where I had lived for months. Troubling my own trouble. Choosing to spend more and more time in the nasty nest of anguish, plucking at lint and strings, wondering why I couldn’t soar with the eagles.
“Today I start a new chapter in my life.
I close the door to the past and open the door to the future, take a deep breath and step into my new life.”
Abiding in Jesus is a choice we must make every day. And I’m so grateful God’s mercies to us are new every morning. His love never fails and His arms are outstretched to those whose hearts are toward Him. Jesus’ blood washes all my sin away and He fills me with His joy.
What about you? Where are you spending your time? Abiding in Jesus or sinking in a nasty nest of anguish? You don’t have to keep traveling the same painful road. Give all your heartache to Jesus and abide with Him. He’s waiting. Just for you.
“Brokenness is realizing He is all we have.
Hope is realizing He is all we need.
Joy is realizing He is all we want.”
Posted in A Nation Divided, tagged Choices, Depression, God's promises, grief, loss of joy, pain, The Word on December 26, 2013| 8 Comments »
The quiet voice echoed through the sad, lonely corridors of my heart and soul—“Is Jesus Enough?” I sniffed back tears that had become a way of life for the past few weeks and blew my nose as the voice inside me asked again—“Is Jesus Enough?”
I slumped in my chair, Kleenex in hand, forced to examine the implications of this question and where I had drifted and what had brought me down this treacherous road.
Even as I write this morning, my mind retraces the rabbit trails I allowed to lead me away from abiding in the light of the Word into the murky, stagnant puddles of lingering grief. And the more
time I spent wandering in this swamp, the more impossible it became to extract myself.
Self-pity clutched its slimy tendrils around every thought and drug me toward the pit of depression as I counted, recounted, and added to what I didn’t have.
Trapped in a snare. Two weeks before Christmas. The tree wasn’t trimmed, the house was a mess, but the state of my heart and mind needed emergency medical care. And, thank God, the Great Physician was on-call.
Jesus tells us:
“I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 14:5 NAS).
I could indeed do nothing. The last few months I had lost focus on the important and allowed the urgent to shove my time with the Lord each day to those last few moments before exhaustion cemented my eyelids and brain shut for the night.
My disposition cranked to critical and I neglected to put on God’s armor each morning. I gave the enemy of my soul numerous opportunities to shoot his fiery darts into the chinks, resulting in great pain, loss of joy and my ability to focus on God’s miracle of Jesus. Immanuel. God with us.
But the good news is Jesus left a message for me and all who struggle in this battle:
“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand. My Father who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand” (John 10:27-29 NAS).
I heard—Is Jesus enough? And I understood the question and all the associated implications.
Regardless of the loss, trouble, or pain God allows to touch our lives we must ask ourselves—Is Jesus enough?
Jesus was enough for ancient Christians forced into an arena filled with hungry lions. Jesus was enough for the Apostle Paul when he faced his executioners in Rome. And Jesus is enough for Christians in countries where living their faith means persecution or death.
Will Jesus be enough for you and me as we walk through turmoil, distress and heartache during our lifetime?
Jesus also told us:
“If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you” (John 15:18-19 NAS).
The hours of 2013 are slipping away and 2014 will arrive a week 
from today. Will we replay the trials, pain, and grief of past years or will we quake when difficult times arise in the future? Or will you guard your heart and mind, abide in the Word and in prayer, and confirm with me, “Yes, Jesus is Enough!”
Posted in A Nation Divided on December 23, 2013| 3 Comments »
“Jesus answered them, ‘I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father’s name, these bear witness of me.
But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep.
My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand.
My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.
I and the Father are one’” (John 10:25-30 NAS).
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO EACH OF YOU
FROM THE GATES HOUSE
Thank you for your friendship. And thank you for following, reading, and sharing on this blog. I look forward to 2014 as we continue to share the promise of God’s love through the message of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
DiAne
Posted in A Nation Divided, tagged forgiveness, healing, Hope, love, mercy, The Final Lamb on December 16, 2013| 2 Comments »
Have you ever held a baby lamb? Felt the softness of the white wool? And understood the vulnerability of this little creature?
In the 12th Chapter of Exodus God instructed Moses to have each household of the congregation of Israel take a lamb for themselves, according to the number of people in the family.
Their lamb had to be an unblemished male, a year old, and they were to care for until the fourteenth day of the same month.
Can you imagine the joy of the younger children in the household?
I can hear them say, “Oh Daddy, can we keep the lamb?” But on the fourteenth day of that month, at twilight, each special lamb, in every household of the congregation of Israel was killed.
Imagine the number of lambs slain that night. Imagine the tension in each family. Imagine the fear. The anticipation. The hope. They were instructed to paint some of the blood on the two doorposts and on the lintels of their houses.
Roasting directions were given and they were to eat all of the lamb, have their clothes packed, and be ready to leave Egypt at dawn. This meal would be known forever as The Lord’s Passover—the night the Lord passed through Egypt and killed the first-born of every household without the lamb’s blood on the doorposts.
God told Israel, “I am the Lord.” And the blood would be a sign for them, when He saw the blood He would pass over them, and no plague would destroy them when He struck Egypt. And God did just as He promised.
This Passover Celebration continues in Jewish households today and is a permanent ordinance for them. Forever. The date of this event would have been around 1445 B.C.
Let’s fast-forward through the pages of the Old Testament. God told Israel over and over again in the fullness of time their would be another lamb. One Lamb, Messiah, Prince of Peace would come and deliver them. And they envisioned a king. A king who would sweep in, deliver them from all their woes, set up a regal kingdom and life would be good. They refused to hear and understand what God said.
We have the complete Word of God. They didn’t. And we still refuse to hear God’s Word. Like the stubborn and prideful Israelites, we apply our own understanding to what He has said rather than read and heed the beautiful painting of words our merciful God has preserved for us?
From that Passover night in Egypt how fitting that shepherds would receive the good news of the long awaited Savior—Christ, the Lord—a baby—God’s Passover Lamb, laying in a manger in Bethlehem. Just where the prophets said He would be. Yet, everyone but the shepherds missed it.
God’s Lamb left His throne in heaven and submitted Himself to the confines of a human being in order to become our Kinsman Redeemer. He loved us enough to live on this hostile, sin-filled planet in order to become our perfect, Passover Lamb. He obeyed the Father’s just judgment in order that you and I might be painted with His blood and washed clean and white. Forgiven. And through God’s mercy and grace and love adopted into His family. Forever.
Have the door posts of your life been painted with the blood of the Perfect Lamb, God’s Only Lamb, your Passover Lamb?
If you hear His voice today, be very sure, because the Word tells us He’s coming again. And soon. And this time He won’t be in a stable in Bethlehem. He will be The Prince of Peace, The Lord of Lords, and The King of Kings. Forever.
“All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him, may have eternal life; and I Myself will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:37-40 NAS).
Have a joyful and blessed Christmas as we celebrate The Lamb!
Posted in A Nation Divided on December 5, 2013| Leave a Comment »
Posted in A Nation Divided, tagged Dealing with trials during the Holidays, Difficult holidays, Doing the Next Thing, Getting to the Other Side of Grief on December 5, 2013| 8 Comments »
So how are you managing the preparations, shopping, and joy of the Season? Staying afloat atop the increasing swells or wishing they would swallow you—then afraid they might?
Are the red flags of storm warnings unfurling in your spirit tonight? Or are you traumatized by the tsunami of tragedy 2013 is depositing along the shoreline of your life?
For thirteen years the holidays have been difficult for me. In those first years, after we lost so many of our family members, I wanted to curl up in bed the week before Thanksgiving and remain comatose ‘til the week after New Years. But, be encouraged if on-the-outside-looking-in is a new thing for you—it will get better. Much better. However, it takes time and a determination to reach your destination.
The first step along this journey toward healing is make a plan. My husband and I planned and spent Thanksgiving weekend on 
Galveston Island this year. We had not been there since the hurricane of 2008 did so much damage to the island. Five years later there are still traces of the storm’s damage, but the island has cleaned up the debris, repaired the destruction caused by the storm, and is moving forward.
Just like we must do when storms ravage our lives.
For three days I watched tankers and freighters travel in and out of the Port of Houston. These enormous workhorses of the sea 
sliced the water in silence, leaving large wakes as evidence of their passing.
Just like we move in silence through the holidays, smiling on the outside, but knowing grief has left a seemingly never-ending-wake-of-sorrow in our heart. But wakes don’t last forever. They eventually ebb and are absorbed by the changing tide.
I watched fancy sailboats maneuver around these large ships. Their 
sails catching the wind and pushing them quickly over the white caps. Wouldn’t we love to be like those sail boats? Zipping here and there, turning on a dime, dressed in beautiful colors against the sky and sea. But these fragile boats are built for calm waters and gentle breezes.
Just like we were before trials and tribulations became part of our vocabulary.
The tankers moved steadily across the bay waters into the Port of Houston. Sitting low in the water upon arrival yet taller when 
their mission was accomplished. Dark, rusty hulls marked each ship from the battering of oil and salty waves. They moved in soldier lines, waiting their turn, then departing in the same manner. The object of their journey? Getting to the other side.
Just like our journey on this earth—we too are traveling to the other side. Sometimes across calm waters, but more often across
oceans filled with swells and storms. Our objective is the same as these powerful ships—getting to the other side.
In years past we’ve all been like those snazzy little sail boats, pretty on the outside but no inner strength, no power to endure lashing assaults from the deep, no thought of God’s purpose for our life.
God knows we must be transformed into ocean worthy vessels. Vessels engineered to maneuver safely through storms, weighted by
the filling of the Holy Spirit. Guided by the compass of God’s comfort and love. Protected by His mercy and grace until He calms the turbulent waters.
How does this transformation happen? One swell, one gale wind, one raging storm at a time. Paul tells us in the first chapter of Romans: “The righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith.” Surviving a storm teaches us that God is faithful in the midst of every storm and He will see us through the next storm too. And the next…and the next. Because we don’t develop courage and strength paddling around in the secure mirrored waters of a lagoon.
Like those freighters lined up in the bay, waiting their turn to
go into the Port of Houston, our position in the residue from the storms of life is to do the next thing.
The morning after our daughter died I couldn’t get out of bed. My husband picked up the telephone and called my prayer partner.
Barbara prayed for me as I lay there sobbing, depleted of strength, my heart breaking. Then she said, “DiAne it’s time to get up. Your family needs you.”
“I can’t.” I wailed.
Her quiet, steady voice instructed, “You must. Roll over and put your feet on the floor.”
And I did the next thing. I groaned, rolled over, and put my feet on the floor. Your next thing may be as simple as putting clothes in the washing machine or brushing your teeth.
“Now I want you to remember,” she explained, “God will see you 
through what He already knows you must go through. But, He never gives you the ticket ‘til you’re ready to get on the train.” And thirteen years later, I’ve come to understand God has an unending ticket supply, tickets given to me, to you at the exact moment we need to do the next thing.
So, dear one, whatever the state of your mind and heart this evening, however strong the gale, however deep the pain and wreckage of your heart, however flustered you are, remember God will give you the strength, wisdom, knowledge and ability to move forward to accomplish your next thing.
You were created to travel stormy seas and to carry heavy loads, but He is right beside you, ticket in hand, even when you don’t see or hear Him. And He will carry you to the other side—from faith to faith.
Posted in A Nation Divided, tagged Family relationships, Memories, possessions left behind, thankfulness or regret, trash or treasures on November 26, 2013| 6 Comments »
It’s that time of year when the aromas of heart and home come from the kitchen. This afternoon I pulled yummy banana breads from the oven and plopped them on hand crafted trivets my Daddy made to cool.
Suddenly memories mesmerized me—times I had used these trivets. Unthinking, take-for-granted times. Times I had treated them like trash. But today I am thankful. Thankful for my Daddy’s thoughtfulness and love to construct these necessary tools for me. A part of him that endures and I felt his love even though he’s
been gone fourteen years.
I look around my home and remember the treasures we enjoy from my family and my husband’s family. And I am thankful. For them, for their love, and for the precious possessions they left behind.
Mama’s recipes have fed my family and friends. Her investments in my life become more evident with each passing day. Years ago my teenagers laughed at me one evening and confirmed, “you’ve turned into your mother.”
My home is blessed with her favorite things: porcelain figurines, dishes, furniture, silverware—things she loved and used everyday. Things that evoke sweet memories. Things I pray my children and grandchildren will hold dear.
Dick’s mother lived with us in her final days and brought many of her cherished antiques to Texas from North Carolina. I’ll never forget the day we held that first garage sale in Carolina before the move. By all measurements I’m short, but Grandma Gates was even shorter. And that little woman toted stuff back inside faster than I could move them out for the sale.
I finally stopped, sat her down, and attempted to explain, yes, everything was bigger in Texas, except our house. We couldn’t take it all.
Today I’m so grateful I have a portion of her things to remind me of Grandma’s tenacity and fierce love of her family. I’ve rocked my grandchildren in Grandma’s rocking chair and fed them from their Papa’s baby spoons. Treasured memories.
Were they all pleasant recollections? Oh my, no. We’re not perfect people, just people with memories—the good, the bad, and the ugly. And I marvel what God has given, taken, and molded out of the multiplicity of cracked-pot lives that fill our family albums. I’m thankful.
What about you? As you approach Thanksgiving Day 2013, which is longer? Your thankful list or your regrets list?
The only thing going into eternity will be folks. Your folks. My folks. Family. And friends. Not stuff. While I enjoy Mama’s and Grandma’s stuff, all their things just loop me back to our relationships and times spent in their presence. Living, laughing, lamenting. And I’m thankful.
Regret steals thankfulness when we waste our lives chasing objects that will one day be destroyed, only to wake up—often when it’s too late—and realize we’ve ignored the important things. Relationships with family, friends and acquaintances. Because we were too busy, too foolish, or too self-absorbed to understand the difference between trash and treasure.
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:19-21 NAS).
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ||||||
| 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
| 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 |
| 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 |
| 30 | 31 | |||||
MOVING THE ANCIENT BOUNDARIES 