Post Thanksgiving List.

Today, I'm thankful for the time I got to spend with my brother.

I'm thankful for the time with Dad, and with Mom on Thanksgiving.

I'm thankful for love in families that says, "I know you love me, even if we don't see each other often.  And you know I love you, too."
I think that same love applies to watching football games together- you most likely aren't talking, but the time together is appreciated.

I'm thankful for silly youtube videos that break the ice in conversations.

I'm thankful for my dog-- how he randomly jabs his nose in my leg or my face to say hello, for his company on walks, the way he makes me laugh, and his great example of taking naps in the afternoon. Even though it isn't a great smell, the way he smells is comforting!... I'm thankful for that, too.

I'm thankful for my grandparents' home out on the farm.  The views are breath taking, the wind blows strong, birds sing even yet, and the smell of earth and manure, though not pleasant, becomes a hearty one that you might actually find yourself welcoming in its familiarity.  The best part about the home is the people who live there.  I'm thankful for two grandparents that are amazing, loving, brave, witty, and selfless.

I'm thankful for flowers still blooming despite the cold.

I'm thankful for having amazing people in my life I don't deserve to know.

I'm thankful for bear hugs.

I'm thankful for phone calls with family and friends.

I'm thankful for the example people around me set for me-- like my friend Amber shaved her head to support someone who has cancer;  my father helps my elderly neighbors cheerfully; my mom visits a sick friend; elderly neighbors mentor those whom regularly visit them and are cheery despite physical pain.

I'm thankful for writing and lines.

I'm thankful for warm socks.

I'm thankful for the chance to learn about a variety of things with books and the internet.

I'm thankful for how sometimes a good night's sleep puts things in perspective.

I'm thankful that God is my trust, and I can cast my anxieties on Him, because He cares for me.

I'm thankful for laughter and tears, because they all are genuine expressions of our heart.

November 23

Dear Lord,

How Great Thou Art.

Victory is Thine Alone.

Your people are protected and safe

Because of Your Great Love.

We praise You for Your Mighty Love.

We stand and we rest knowing You are Our God.

Matthew 22. Lesson on Love # 1, the Mind

³⁶ “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

³⁷ Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’^[a] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’^[b] 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

From Matthew 22

On the MENTAL aspect of loving the LORD:

We are asked to love the LORD with ALL our mind.  What are some ways to love God with your mind?

--Learning:  Study of the Word, of truth, and of other things that lead to edification.  Writing these heavenly things on our hearts and minds- like a song that gets stuck in your head!  It jumps to mind easily.  What verses jump to your mind easily?  What quotes can you recite readily?

(one quote I can't forget even if I wanted to is "No matter where you go, there you are."  I don't know how many times my mom told me this.  It is true, though, idn't it?)

--Where Thoughts Dwell:  If your mind were a room, what would be hanging on the walls?  Photos of family?  Photos of NASCAR and the soda you are addicted to?  Scriptures?  People you look up to? 

What would a "room of the mind" that honored God look like? These would be things you dwell on regularly, or are in the practice of trying to dwell on regularly. Maybe Scriptures.... things you are thankful for.... worship music..... prayers...... bold dreams and recordings of brave "faith steps"... etc, fill such a room.  (I hope you aren't picturing a drab boring place.  One could be full of colors, photos of peoples of the world, lively worship music, journals and journals of recorded prayers and praises to God, a jar of tears, a cross where one can leave dreams, treasures, and joys; or sins they admit, next to disappointments, fears, etc....)   The room could have lots of great aspects to it!

 What does your mind look like? To be honest, mine has a coffee station, for better or worse. I like coffee a lot and thank God for coffee.

(Further:  What cobwebs do you have to guard the room against, e.g., negativity, lust, preoccupation, worry? )

--Communication:  Are we in prayer with God through the day?  Or are we texting all the time?  If you could chart where most of your mental energy were being poured into, what things do you think are getting the "highest measures"? 

We can love the LORD with our minds.  God commands us to.  Why? To hog our thoughts?

Nah--The commands God gives are because He wants the best for us.  Check out what it says in Joshua chapter 1:

⁷ “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go.⁸ Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful."

The Bible repeats this sentiment again and again.  God asks us to love Him with our minds for one reason because it is what is best for us, the ones He designed and loves, calling us sons and daughters. 

-----
UPDATE

A relevant sermon I just came across, by Eric Ludy of Ellerslie Ministry, is here:

http://www.ellerslie.com/Eric_Ludy_Sermons/Entries/2012/10/21_The_Five_Arts_of_Intimacy.html

Ever considered intimacy with God?

Waiting!

It was hard to hand it over.

The little girl looked down at her most favorite stuffed animal.  It was a beanie-animal cat, the color of buckskin. "Olly" had blue stitching eyes, a tail with a white tip, and little rounded feet with big toes.  It was her favorite kitten, and well-worn; how many adventures they had seen together.

Car rides-- to the store, to grandma's house, and through the perilous octopus carwash;
To the wild, where the kitten "helped" Tally dig for treasure in flower beds;
To the park, where laid-back Olly watched Tally fly a kite, or lazily rocked in a swing next to Tally's.

Now, this was a trip they couldn't take together.  She looked at her friend tearfully and fearfully.  What if she lost Olly?  What if the place they left him got compromised?  Mom said once they landed in DC, she would be reunited with Olly.

Dare she trust such circumstance?

Her parents were resolute yet gentle, letting her know it would be safest for Olly to not sit with her on the airplane or be carried in her arms through the airport.  Olly could easily get misplaced or lost.  "Wouldn't that just be awful?"  Olly would certainly be safe, though, where her parents were going to put him.

So they said.

Little did Tally know that her parents merely wanted to put Olly into THEIR own luggage cases :)

Tally did hand Olly to her parents that day, and tears were wiped away.  The crying did not last long; perhaps the worry stayed in the back of her mind, but the decision had been made.

She actually had forgotten the situation for a while, such as during lunch after the plane landed.  They ate at a yummy cheeseburger place that had a HUGE playground, and so many colors and animals on the walls!!! She felt like a jungle woman!  It was so fun.  Plus her grandparents met her there, and it was so great to see them!  They went to walk downtown after that, exploring statues and stores.  A few were boring but lots of them were really neat to Tally.

The car pulled into the gravel parking lot of her grandparents' home.  It was night time, and Tally was a happy and sleepy gal.  Her mother tucked Tally into bed, beneath cool, fluffy covers. Her eyes were already closed when Dad walked in holding a bundle in his arms.

Feeling a soft weight on her chest, Tally opened her tired eyes.

There was Olly.

She had forgot!  Oh!  She was ecstatic!  Something had been missing going to sleep, she knew, but Oh!

She rejoiced in having Olly back.

----------------

Sometimes God withholds things from us, or doesn't give us things, for a while because he wants to take care of them better than we can!... until we are ready, because he has something even better planned, or He is preparing that something....  That can be hard to imagine or hard to "sit in." But God?
His plans are the BEST because He loves us so.

What are you waiting for God on?  Take heart.....  He doesn't "misplace luggage" !!!

Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.  Psalm 27:14