Radical Thanks

There are different levels of thanks. We say thanks to the clerk runs the register or the family member who passes the salt. We say thank you for gifts, and may even write a note. We thank the boss for a raise. We thank our family for understanding when we need to ask forgiveness.

You may thank your spouse for helping with household chores or filling the car with gas. We thank guests for coming to see us. We may also thank them when they leave.

When my first child was a week old, I thanked my mother for all she did for me. I had no idea, and I was only beginning to learn.

Usually an expression of thanks comes with a smile. Our glad hearts shine through our happy faces.

But sometimes gratitude reaches us much more deeply. Sometimes we can't smile. We are humbled. We understand that someone has sacrificed for us, loved us through our indifference, persisted past our pride. That kind of gratitude hits us at the core.

A grateful woman came to Jesus, as he reclined for dinner at someone's house. She came up and stood behind him, crying so profusely that her tears dripped on Jesus's unshod feet. She bent down to wipe his feet with her hair. She opened her expensive bottle of perfume and poured it over Jesus's feet. In her gratitude, she was broken. From the root of her soul, she expressed her thanks to Jesus. She was broken emotionally for the One who had made her whole. She was beginning to understand the depth of Jesus's love for her. And her heart overflowed with loving thanks.

Have you ever been moved to tears with gratitude? Such is the heart that truly understands thanks.

Happy November!

Now that November has arrived, our culture turns to thoughts of thanks. 

Yes, there is "No Shave November."  I just looked that up, and learned that not shaving has a cause.  By not shaving, men (and women?) seek to start conversations about cancer.  As I think about those who have engaged in this cause, they have probably told me about cancer experiences.  The money saved by not shaving should be donated to No Shave November, which shares proceeds with The American Cancer Society, St. Jude's Children's Hospital, Prevent Cancer Foundation and Fight Colorectal Cancer.  Learn more at https://www.no-shave.org/.

There is also Nanowrimo, http://nanowrimo.org/, encouraging fiction writers to buckle down and crank out 50k words this month.  Sometimes writers need that extra encouragement to push through writer's block.  Many writers face the tension of having something to say, but not grinding it out on paper.  That's a lot of work.  But the best writers fight past the blinking cursor and dull syntax to breathe life into their ideas.  After all, God uses words to create.

But overall, our society thinks about thankfulness in November.  At Crossroads yesterday, we hung a large Thankfulness Sheet--an actual bed sheet--on the wall, encouraging people to write down what they are thankful for.  It will hang there all month, inviting written or drawn expressions of thanks.  I can't wait to see it full of gratitude!

So, whether you write or shave or not this month, please be thankful.  More than that, express your thanks to God and people. 

Gratitude builds relationships and that's what life is all about, Charlie Brown.

New Friends

We arrived back from Uganda on April 11, late in the evening.  I think everyone on the trip had a once-in-a-lifetime experience.  Nearly every night since our return, I have dreamed about the people in Wakiso, the district outside of Kampala, Uganda.  Meeting these folks has struck a chord deep in my soul.

Thanks to the work of Scott and Erin Littleton with The Mighty River Project, relationships were established long ago.  On this trip, the Littletons introduced their friends from the U.S. to their friends in Uganda.  It felt like a family reunion.

We visited Sunday through Wednesday in the village, spending the nights at a guesthouse in Kampala.  Every day we were talking with the basket makers, playing with the children, and working alongside the young men.  They received us with warmth and gratitude like beloved extended family. 

On the last day in Wakiso, we shared gifts with them.  The basket-making women received gifts from their personal sponsors and The Mighty River Project.  All the kids received backpacks filled with pencils, notebooks, stickers and toys.  It felt like Christmas.  We were a big family who love each other, sharing gifts from the heart.  They also shared gifts with us.

These relationships have been cultivated for four years.  With this trip, the relationship has reached a whole new level.  Already folks at Crossroads are planning the next trip.  We are planning who will go, whom they will meet and what gifts they will bring.

For me, my prayer is that I will never be the same.  I have seen the world as never before.  I have seen the gospel at work as never before.  To Jesus be the glory!