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Thanksgiving: Are You Rich? Take This Test.
Repeat after me: “I am filthy rich.” I know. I know. I learned this week that we need $15,000 to replace the cooling system in our home. And that’s the off-season price. I know you have bills and pressures that are probably even more pressing. But still…. Thanksgiving is a great time to reflect on how much we have for which to be grateful. So I’m thinking some categories from leadership expert Robin Sharma, author of The Greatness Guide, might provide us with some structure for thinking how much we have. He identifies seven forms of wealth: · Inner wealth · Physical wealth · Family and social wealth · Career…
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Give Thanks With A Grateful Heart
Thanksgiving is a time to give thanks…or is it? For some people Thanksgiving means nothing more than the kick off for the Christmas holiday season. Decorating, baking, shopping, and standing in long lines at the local retail stores all usher in the beginning of that busy time of year we call Christmas. A few weeks ago I was shopping at a popular craft store in our neighborhood. “Isn’t this a bit early for the lines to be so long,” I thought to myself? The store was extremely busy and the lines were excruciatingly long. After searching for any line that appeared shorter, I finally decided to stay put in my…
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Make Your Heart and Home a Place of Grace
True welcome and nurturing homes seem like a thing of the past. Our homes no longer hang signs of “Welcome,” instead they communicate, “No Soliciting.” I often tell my family before any get-together, “Leave the drama at the door” for fear of tension, confrontation or unpleasantness. When did I start avoiding messiness? Our culture seems to encourage self-preservation as opposed to taking chances, risking and investing in others. But Jesus said, “Love each other as I have loved you.” Instead of avoiding the hard, we need to take the risk, make messes and love each other with no conditions. This holiday season, we have the opportunity—a gift—to incarnate…
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Sit and Brine Awhile
I brine a turkey for Thanksgiving. When the bird sits in a salty, savory water bath overnight, it absorbs the flavors of the brine and the chemical composition of the turkey is changed to make it juicier. Delicious, juicy turkey—what’s not to love? Except when you learn the hard way that all giant brining bags are not created equal, and your bag opens up in the refrigerator, spilling a gallon of brine all over the fridge and the kitchen floor. Which my rock-star husband cleaned up without complaint because he’s just wonderful that way. Our Thanksgiving turkey was still delicious because the remaining brine did its magic on the bottom…
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A Heart of Thanksgiving
I love this time of year. I especially love how time turns as we head towards Christmastime. I have especially enjoyed reading the “…thankful for…” tweets and Facebook posts from my friends. Wordless pictures on Instagram simply thanking God for everything filled my days with smiles. God made such creative people! I didn’t do any social media things this year. I decided after last year’s Thanksgiving, to skip it this year. What you need to understand is that I fell into the trap of trying to find the most creative way of communicating my thankfulness for the wrong reason. I saw that I played the part of feeling thankful…
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A Thanksgiving Dare
Did you know that thanksgiving is another definition for the word Eucharist. The meal we consume this Thursday can be a gathering that reflects Eucharist living. Ann Voscamp’s book, One Thousand Gifts, explores in poetic prose the power of this simple and biblical concept, gratitude. Ann discovered the pattern of thanksgiving that runs throughout the scripture. Not just the challenge to “in everything give thanks” (I Thess. 5:18) but how thanksgiving to God is exampled by so many biblical characters as well by the Jesus himself. Then a friend challenged Ann with a dare, “Could I write a list of 1000 things that I love. To name 1000 blessings—1000 gifts,…
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Quit your Whining! Entitlement or Thanksgiving in Disasters
The news reports of the power outages in the eastern part of the U.S. in the wake of Hurricane Irene last week include a lot of whining. Knowing that reporters tend to go for the dramatic, it is likely that such people are in the minority, but the stories bother me. We have many relatives and friends in southeast Texas who have dealt with longer outages from previous hurricanes who refrained from whining, realizing that repair takes time when damage is widespread. So far reports that I have seen from this week’s Texas wildfires focus on people thankful for their lives, even while they mourn the loss of everything they…
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Thanksgiving a time to reflect…
Thanksgiving a time to reflect…. Thanksgiving is upon us…and on this day many cooks, men and women, will rise early in the morning to put the turkey in the oven, make the pumpkin pie, and set the table with beautiful china and crystal in preparation for a celebration. Once the meal is ready, families will sit down at the table together and enjoy food, fellowship, and give thanks to God for all of His provision and the blessings He has provided throughout the year.
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Turning Thanksgiving Inside Out
Time to be thinking about the holidays. Next one up, Thanksgiving. Oh joy. It’s not too hard to come up with a list of reasons to grump about the Thanksgiving holiday: • Lots of work in the kitchen • Lots of cleaning to do • Lots of cooking to do • Lots of buying food to do • Spending time with family where the worst in people easily spills out • Crowds in the stores as we prepare • The stores already have their Christmas decorations out—like since Halloween • Too much football on TV • Too much food But to cultivate a biblical mindset, we can take this list…
