Thanksgivings...

The other day I was admiring a tree on the street that had started to change colour, with beautiful orange leaves. They were bright and colourful, begging to fall and be crunched by feet. The longer I looked, the more details I noticed. Red, oranges, yellows, browns... My initial reaction was "That's so freaking beautiful, I should paint it!" Then, out of nowhere, I could hear or sense the presence of God in that instance, say something along the line of "Thank you, glad you like it too."

At the moment, things are going fairly well for me. I'm "happy" in the worldly sense of the world, things are seemingly on the right track, and I’m healthy... When we are enjoying our lives, I think its praise to God. However, I also know that I may not feel this way tomorrow. I might be hurting or sad, under-the-weather... Tomorrow may bring something tragic or unjust my way. I'm slightly concerned how I will act then... I struggled so long with struggling, and then had to really work to get things going okay, and, now I'm worried about what will happen when things aren't going perfectly. How will I act? When things are going well, I remember to thank God for beautiful flowers, a cozy bedroom I share with a wonderful sister, my amazing friends, Jesus, etc., but sometimes, when the pain is strong and the going is though, I don't really feel like doing those things. In fact, I don't even think about it at all.

It's so much easier to be thankful when things are going pretty well. However, there is so much heartache and pain in this world, it would not be wise to forget that struggles exist, and we also need to be prepared for the hard times--not prepared in that we know they will come, but prepared in that we know what to do when they come. James 1:2 says,

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds

Is that how we typically feel when our lives are in a mess and our world is crashing down around us? I know I don't. So then, how do we do that? How are we supposed to be joyful when going through struggles? I think part of the answer is to be honest with ourselves and with God. The pain is real, and it sure-as-heck hurts. The worst is that sometimes it feels as though there is no purpose behind the pain. I believe (at least I think I do...) that there is a purpose even to the seemingly pointless pain... Perhaps this pain is actually a perfect opportunity to give glory to God. I think of Job, and what Satan said about him... "Job only prasies you (God) because things are going well with him! Take it all away, and see how he will curse you." When things are going badly for us, and we find the strength in us to still praise our Father, I believe this is what brings Him great glory. I think, if we remember glorifying God, it will be a little easier to "thank god in all things".

Happy Thanksgiving!

lol (aka Laugh out Loud)

Philippians 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!


I have always heard the term 'laugh therapy' in counselling, and even occasionally with regular doctors. I once heard a story (fact or fiction?) about a lady who was healed by a steady diet of The Three Stooges. Although there isn't very much scientific proof when it comes to laughter as medicine (at least, not that I can find... Want to do some digging, Matt?), researchers are gathering evidence that the way we feel can drastically affect chemical chances in our bodies, influencing everything from our brain to our heart. Laughter is thought to decrease stress and lover blood flow. In my opinion, it may even increase blood flow (which makes sense, right?) and act as a natural pain killer.

Even though this medical stuff is relatively new, King Solomon wrote about it thousands of years ago in Proverbs. "A merry heart does good like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones."

The Bible says a lot about joy and laughter. As I have been reading over the past few days and weeks, there has been a strong theme in what God has been telling me over and over again... The source of my joy is not to be found in what I own, how much money I have or even how healthy I feel. I could be walking through hell on earth, and according to scripture, I should still be able to lift my hands, sing and rejoice!

The source of my joy is God. He is Good. He is full of grace and love. I find that when I put my trust in Him, even when things don't make sense, I still have peace, I view life from a different perspective, I see things how He sees them and I am able to laugh.

The apostle Paul knew this better than anyone, in my opinion. He was whipped, beaten, tortured, shipwrecked, imprisoned, falsely accused and suffered illness, yet through it all he was able to rejoice. Amazingly, he even wrote the above verse while in imprisoned in a dark, damp and cold jail cell.

The trick of the enemy is to keep focused on the things around us, because he knows that when we do, we take our eyes off God and off the source of our joy. Eventually our strength will fail and we will fall.

Thankfully, my God is the God of second-chances, and He is always there for me, so even when I do fall, I am able to get my head back up, lift my hands and voice, and laugh out loud.

On a side note, there will be a Thanksgiving post tomorrow at 1 PM prompt!

I will be out cheering my father on as he runs in the marathon, so be thinking

of me as I'm out FREEZING my butt off. :] Stay tuned for more epicness...