Thankfulness and Gas Works

Last night was quite the stormy night here, and so I felt like posting some things I am thankful for. 
I am thankful for...
a warm house.
Cars that get me from A - B warmly
My loving wife
Getting to live in such a beautiful part of the world
Friends that recommend friends to us for photos.

On Saturday Deb and I went to Gas Works because we are going there in a few weeks for a engagement photo shoot.  We wanted to scout it out a little, since it has been a while since we have been there.  It was cold, snowed and windy, but it was still a good time.  We saw an Eagle flying, but it was snowing too much to have the camera out at that time.  It was so windy the tripod couldn't keep the camera perfectly still for these night photos. 

Thankful

This year has been so great and I have been blessed in so many ways.  As Christmas and new years draws closer, I feel it is good to reflect on what a great year it has been. 
Today I am thankful for a great job, with an awesome class of kids.  They have been great to work with and so many days have made work less like work and more like fun. 
I'm thankful for my great wife, who gives me so much love and support, especially during this tough quarter where we didn't get to spend as much time together as we would have liked.   I am thankful for our larger family, their love and support as well, so awesome to have around.  I'm thankful they are close and we get to spend Christmas with them.
I am thankful for living in such a beautiful neighborhood, with the beach so close and the warm shelter of my house. 
I'm thankful for our small group that read C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity this fall.  Looking forward to world religions in the coming months. 
Thankful for great friends and time spent with them.  I wish there was more time. 
May God Bless you this Christmas. 

Psalm 95:1-6
O Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. For the LORD is a great God, And a great King above all gods, In whose hand are the depths of the earth; The peaks of the mountains are His also. The sea is His, for it was He who made it; And His hands formed the dry land. Come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker.

Fountain

We have a fountain in our courtyard where we live and every day it has been freezing more ice builds up.  Its pretty cool to see.  The first photo shows what it looked like when the snow first started falling.  I accidentally focused on the snow and not the fountain.  I mean, I meant to focus on the snow.  Anyway, I thought it looked cool, and then as we go to the following images you can see the snow build up.







Happy Thanksgiving to all,we have so much to be thankful for.

Contentment and Joy

The fruit of the Spirit is Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, goodness, faithfulness and self control.  -Gal 5:22

So I have been spending some time thinking about being content, and the whole happiness thing. 
I am going to define that happiness is temporary, it is a feeling that comes and goes like any others (just like sad, and angry).  Joy is something altogether different, it is something that is a way of living.  I haven't quite figured out how to define it exactly yet.  Joy is more than happiness, one can be a joyful person, but feel sad (kind of an odd concept huh?).  Paul even goes as far to say that Joy is a fruit of the spirit, it is something that we should all (as Christians should produce).  To produce fruit it has to come from within.  Nothing from the outside can make us a joyful person.  Just like something outside the apple tree can not make an apple, it must come from the tree. 

I do know however, that it is almost impossible to be a joyful person without being content (I'd say that it is a requirement of being joyful).  Talking with my wife about it, she was curious if that meant not wanting anything else.  And I don't think that is the case, I can be content and still have goals in my life. I want to be a joyful person, but I feel like joyful people are so hard to find.  I'm kind of curious, but how many people do you know that you would qualify as a truly joyful person, a contagiously joyful person.  I'm not talking about a fake happy person, its easy to see through those people.  There are a lot of people that I can see joy in, but not to the extent that I feel like I should.  I feel like so often people are trying to get joy by things.  When you notice that it is easy to see why no one is happy, let alone joyful.

Joy also needs love through relationships.  Love is such a funny word I think, I mean, who decided to use the same word for my feelings of ice cream as for my wife?  I think that love is a so many things that it is almost necessary to qualify what you mean each time you say it.  I love (like to eat) Ice cream. I love (feeling and/or a way of life) my wife. Anyway, I think you get it.  I recently read that people view of marriage is becoming obsolete. However, I think it is more because people don't understand the fullness of love.  Love has come to mean a feeling. It is about how I feel.  I am 'in love' (in the post modern sense)  And as soon as I don't get what I want or I don't feel like it anymore I can move on.  If that is being in love, of course that is going to go out.  It is only in building a long term lasting relationship that one can experience the fullness of love.  Love (in out post modern world) has become about me, love was never meant to be about me, it was and is supposed to make me think outside of me.  Love is an action, a lifestyle, a fruit that I produce (thus it has to come from with in me and can't be something I look for and find).  It is supposed to push me to think more of others.  If one is going to look for 'love' (Post modern love) everyone is going to be disappointed (the other person is human and will let you down) and of course marriage will become obsolete.  That isn't what marriage should be based on or about.  It's hard to be joyful if you are looking for love (and not producing love).   
Anyway, I think that is enough rambling for now.  Today I am thankful for the promise of life everlasting.  That can and should change the way that I live my life. I am no longer bound by the rules of this world, Christ has redeemed me.  Now its my turn to go and produce fruit. 

(btw - I turned on Anonymous comments, so anyone can add comments to the blog)

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is only one week away.

Today I am thankful for all the little things that make life so good. Food, cold water, warm water, ice cream, milk, OJ, heaters, blankets.

I have no clue who this guy is but I thought this was a killer quote. I have been trying to talk to one of the older kids at my daycare about this very concept. It's definitely easy to say and harder to practice.

“We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have.”
-Frederick Keonig

Maybe the Grinch said it best, "maybe Christmas, he said, doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas means a little bit more." - Dr. Seuss.
Life isn't really about the things its about us and whats on the inside. One could be content with very little, and one could be unhappy and have 'everything' imaginable.

Ecclesiastes 4:8
There was a man all alone; he had neither son nor brother. There was no end to his toil, yet his eyes were not content with his wealth. “For whom am I toiling,” he asked, “and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?” This too is meaningless— a miserable business!

Everything is amazing and Nobodys Happy

We start today off with a hilarious video about how amazing our world is and how people just complain about it. Caution: one swear word and its beeped out, otherwise its a clean video.  One of my good friends shared this with me.



It's far too funny, I think, because it's true.  When was the last time I got upset on my way home because traffic was bad (lets see, friday).  I was still going 30+MPH.  A whole lot faster than if I was walking, plus I had a roof over my head and a heater so I wasn't even cold.  It's humbling to me to see video of people around the world appear to have a genuine joy for life and contentment, and here I am struggling, ungratefully for every last thing I want.  I really do believe that joy (the spiritual fruit) comes from being thankful, being content.  It is impossible in my mind to be a truly joyful person without being a thankful person.  May I learn to contentment.
Today I am thankful for my family and friends who have helped shape me into the person God wants me to be. Also I am thankful for technological advances that make my life easier.

 Two bible verses to end today with. 

Philippians 4:12 (New International Version)

¹² I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.

1 Timothy 6:6-9 (New International Version)

 ⁶ But godliness with contentment is great gain. ⁷ For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. ⁸ But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. ⁹ Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.

Sixpence

Philippians 4: ⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 

Today I am thankful for my family who has been so important in my life and development.  They have blessed me so much and I thank God for the great family I have been given.

On Thanksgiving Day we acknowledge our dependence.  ~William Jennings Bryan

This quote goes along with what we have been reading in my Mere Christianity study, that we need to acknowledge our bankruptcy to God.  That anything we give back to God was already his, and that we can't give him anything he hasn't already given us.  

Lewis talks about the story of a dad giving his daughter a sixpence, because she wanted to buy him a gift.  When he receives the gift he is over joyed, but only a fool would think the dad is sixpence richer. Thus the quote, sixpence none the richer.  

Thanksgiving

Psalm 136:1
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever.

Today I am thankful for the love and support of my wife.  She is so good to me.  

Thanksgiving may be in a couple weeks, but leading up til than I will be posting what I am thankful for, hopefully it will give you a moment to pause and be thankful for something in your life. 

Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough.
-- Oprah Winfrey

Not quite sure what I think of the Oprah quote, I've been working with a kid at work who has had a hard time being thankful for what he has been given, he always wants something else and lets it keep him down.  If he would just enjoy the things he has he might be happy.

Thankful for...

Thanksgiving is coming up, but I feel like being thankful is something I need to be better at practicing.  So from time to time, there will be a short post about what I am thankful for.  And I hope it will cause you to stop and pause your life and think of something you are thankful for.

Last night as I laid in bed, I could hear the rain pouring down and the wind blowing.  It was quite a stormy night.  And I thought, I'm sure thankful for this nice warm place to call home. 

So...what are you thankful for?