One more reason why I’m weird

Hey y’all, can we chat? I am, without a doubt, one of the strangest people I know. I could list a myriad of reasons why that is so (and I’m picturing a whole host of people who would love to offer their help with such a list) but here is just ONE. It’s about that last post– the one with the super cool picture I found– the one I see as Jesus wrapping me up in His word– yeah, that one. I haven’t wanted to blog ever since I posted it because I loved that pic so much I wanted it to be the first thing anyone saw should they wander by here. So, right, I realize that challenges the very concept of a blog. Here’s the definition of a blog I just pulled off the trusty Mr. Google:

Blog: A frequent, chronological publication of personal thoughts and Web links.

Hmmm…pretty sure I don’t meet the criteria of either “frequent” or “chronological”. Fortunatley, I do enjoy sharing person thoughts with y’all and I do post other links occasionally else my credentials would surely be in danger of being yanked by the blogging authorities, should they exist.

That being said, I just looked at my site stats and noticed that a ton of sweet souls have been by, and back by, since that last post. No doubt y’all are looking for something new. Therefore, I bring you this late night monoglogue about my current thoughts. (It might behoove y’all to remember that beggers can’t be choosers. Just sayin’.)

I thought I might tell y’all about my current Bible study. If you’ll remember, when I was writing on Obedience, (or what I called The Big O until my BFF said it sounded like I was writing an expose on Oprah), I considered it the most delicious topic I had ever studied. Then I got hooked on studying, writing and speaking on “How to Love Him Like a Girl” and realized just how wrong I was. That topic was clearly my favorite. Next up was my study on Hope which I quickly decided was the choicest bread, ever. Is anyone noticing a trend? Well, it continues…

My latest obsession is this study on Gratitude I’m preparing for my ladies Sunday School class. Wait, that’s not entirely true. I’ll share it with them, but I’m studying it for me. Yes’m. I’m feasting on this thing, y’all, and it’s good eating.

If you are still with me, (and if so, I commend you for your concentration), I’m gonna break one of my rules on this sort of thing and post right here an email I sent this week to my husband and grown kids. In it, you’ll find a taste of this gratitude thing. I hope you enjoy.

Morning family, I’m knee deep in a glorious study on gratitude and Father just keeps showing me the most amazing things. Here’s a bit of what He was showing me yesteray for y’all to consider because, well, I just LOVE it when we’re all on the same page. I hope it’s not too long, but I clipped out a little before I started talking about the babies to give y’all context. Loving y’all– Keggie

Gratitude

Giving thanks is mentioned early, often, and throughout the Word of God. We’re admonished to be thankful, to offer thanksgiving, even to abound in gratitude. The last few years I have begun to feel gratitude building in me as I follow Christ. But I want to “up the ante.” Father is calling me to a fuller gratitude, one that can give thanks in everything. I know it is scriptural but I’ve always left that concept, that principle, on the shelf because it seemed so undoable. No more. I’m here to look at it face to face. I want to understand how I can count all things joy when life feels anything but joyful. I want to know how to be thankful when I’m feeling anything but gratitude. Can I learn to react this way? What could the practice of giving thanks for everything do in me? What could it do for you? If it is a learned behavior the Spirit wants to teach me, I want it. I want it all. Do you? Well, let’s start at square one. Teach us, Lord.

“Thanks” and “thanksgiving” both come to us from the Greek word eucharisteo, meaning to be grateful, to feel thankful. To give thanks, to give eucharisteo, is to express it.  It’s the idea behind the English expression “to say grace”, as in to express appreciation for a gift or favor, or what we southerners fondly refer to as “saying the blessing.”   Saying grace, saying the blessing, then is to acknowledge the source of the gift. Interesting, I’m immediately struck by the word acknowledge.

My first thought is how desperate people are to be acknowledged, for someone to know that they lived, breathed, and died. Last night I watched a man on a talent show, dive from a thirty foot platform into 12 inches of water­–all for acknowledgement. He lived thru the experience and promised the hosts that if they would send him on to the next round, he could dive from even greater heights-­-all for acknowledgement. I’ll run faster. I’ll jump higher. I’ll write more books. Just pick me, acknowledge me.

Is this not the misguided quest of the human heart, this need to be acknowledged, when all the while the fullest life is found in acknowledging God and learning to live in that acknowledgement?  What if, when our children begin seeking acknowledgement for themselves, what if we were conscious of the opportunity before us, the ongoing and constant opportunity, to train them up in Him by turning their little thoughts into the acknowledgement of Him instead? Would this be the “training them up in the Lord” that pays such dividends that they never have to stray, run, experiment or rebel before they seek Him? Could that look like this:

“Look at how fast I can run, Daddy.”

“Wow, little boy, you can run fast indeed. Let’s thank the Lord for those legs of yours.”

“Mama, mama, I can say my ABC’s” 

“You sure can, sweetie! I’m so glad God gave you a sound mind!”
 
By definition, acknowledge has a two-fold meaning. It is to a) recognize the rights, authority or status of and b) express gratitude or concede obligation. A few telling antonyms of acknowledge would be to deny, dispute, reject, or refute.

First point: The choice of whether we will acknowledge God and His rule and therefore concede that we are therefore obligated to yield to Him is the first and major crossroad of every life…

Okay, it’s me again. Sorry to end that so abruptly, but I hope y’all enjoyed sharing a taste of the word with me tonight. Oh, and by the way, have you see the picture in the last post? 🙂

Hugs,
Shellie

P.S. What are you studying right now?