Giving Thanks

Yesterday on Thanksgiving eve at work, many customers wished me a Happy Thanksgiving. Sometimes they said it first, other times out of obligation, I said it first. Due to the busy-ness of the day and other events, I wasn't really in the mood to offer happy wishes.

As Murphy's Law would have it, I wished someone a happy Thanksgiving and as soon as the words were out of my mouth, she could tell that I was floundering for what else to say under the conditions. She graciously rescued me and said, "Yes, it's going to be a tough couple of months but I'm trying to get through. I'm working tomorrow." She had tragically lost her teenage son a few months ago.

The last customer of the day had lost the love of his life last year. They had a love so strong and visible. I saw it every time they came in together. She was much younger, and he never expected her to go first. He still honors her memory every day.  He is coping but he misses her dearly.

This puts it all in prospective. As most of us are running around cleaning, cooking and preparing to sit at our annual feast, the holiday just makes the lonely more lonely, the ungrateful more ungrateful and the hurt, hurt more. My mother knows pain around the holidays. She has always tried to emphasize, knowing that pain will come at times, 'It's just another day of the year.'

We can still celebrate but in reality, we should be celebrating and thankful every day. We never know what holiday will be our last or even what day. Let your words that are spoken leave you with no regrets. Let your actions echo what words can't say. Greatest of all, be thankful to God every day for the blessings. Treasure friends and family and your own precious life.

May not only your Thanksgiving be blessed but tomorrow and the next day and the next.

Relating

I've been watching some of the many 9/11 documentaries on TV. They all pull at the heart strings--stories of courage, stories of loved ones lost, so many stories of so many lives. We will never know all of the personal effects of 9/11 on people. I feel a need to remember the tenth anniversary of the tragedy.

Our town sold luminaries that we have purchased to put out at the end of our driveway the evening of the 11th. We will do that. During the day, if the weather is good, our American flag will be waving, as it usually is. I am hoping to be at a church service that honors that day in memory. Other than that, I'm not sure what I can do. We have been to the Sherwood Island State Park in Connecticut to see our memorial to the 149 Connecticut people who died. I know it will be crowded, if it is able to be opened after the effects of hurricane Irene. I would reserve that right to those who lost loved ones on that day.

As I was watching an interview with former Governor Rowland a couple of days ago, he said some words that stuck with me. I don't have the direct quote, but he said on that day we were vividly reminded that every day we walk out the door may be the last time that we see our family or friends. He said it served as a reminder as to what is important in life, "Faith, family and friends". That sums it all up.

Life is busy and I know we won't be able to be with our family and friends on that day. The important thing is that we know we love and care for each other. Feeling that I had to do something, I am focusing this month (as I may not finish by Sunday) on writing to my family and friends who are not on facebook or email. Facebook and email friends are certainly not any less, but I am in contact with them more. For the others I am going to hand write a personal letter. I am not going to say anything about 9/11 or even anything very deep. It will be just a handwritten note to say, "I am thinking of you." Life here on earth is all about the relationships. That is the word I would use if asked to describe life in one word, relationships. It is how we relate to those we love and those who are hard to love, those we chose to be with and those we chose not to include in our lives. It's memories of those who are gone and the relationships we had with them.

It is also our relationship with God. Evidence of Him is in the beauty of the rivers and mountains and the oceans around us. He is in the innocence of a new born baby or in the faithfulness of a dog. His Spirit is in the kind actions of others when we are in need. Our lives should be based on our faith. We each know how we believe. I also know that although I have the faith, I have failed in that relationship. It is one thing to believe that God exists; it is another to build a relationship. Prayer is easy--that is my letter to God and He gets those all the time...especially the ones I send up express mail, the urgent ones that I want taken care of immediately--in my time, not his. He also gets the routine ones, like paying bills, "lead me through this day, bless my family, etc." And he gets the thank you notes, "thank you for your blessings." He also gets apologies for my wrong doings.

The other part of that relationship is listening to His direction, especially in the Bible. I'll admit that in that part of the relationship I have failed in. I have let the busy-ness of life take over. Life is too busy and I can't change that. It is overwhelming to claim that I will read a book a week or even a chapter a day. Yes, I could read that much, but reading and digesting are two different things. I do realize that I have let life here push me around and dictate my direction. I have to go to work every day and other commitments, but there are other parts of life that are made up of conscious choices of time and efforts and money.

So, in my effort to focus on the relationships of life this month, I will read the Bible with no commitments as to how many chapters by a certain date. It will be quality not quantity. The final aspect of that is to act upon my faith.That is why I chose to title this blog with a verb, "Relating". I feel writing the letters is one way. There are other ways to help people to reflect God's love and I hope to continue to be open to see when needs exist and to act upon that and to be an encouragement to others.

I hope the anniversary of 9/11 will somehow motivate you to do something too. Just as New Year's eve, we make resolutions to change our lives, I think 9/11 should be remembered by making resolutions to help others, a reminder that life is too short and focus needs to be on what is important--faith, family and friends--relationships.

"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." Matthew 5:16

Crossing T's

I am left handed. I will say things are much better now from when I was growing up--that, or I've adapted. I couldn't cut things at all. Scissors were definitely made for right handed people. I wonder if I had been given the same opportunities as others, maybe I would be more gifted in making crafts or maybe I would have learned how to sew. When you can't cut anything, it kind of slows you down. Later in life I got left handed scissors. It's great to be able to cut--simple pleasures.

I haven't been bothered much by a right handed world in recent years until last week. I bought this new type of correction tape that I saw someone use. It looked nicer than white-out. I was anxious to try it out. I looked at the directions--you had to press down as you guided it over the part to be covered. Well, it didn't take me long to realize that it is designed to be held in the right hand. That is not good for me--have you ever tried to draw a straight line with your non-dominant hand?

My worse memory of discrimination for my left-handedness came in 3rd grade--maybe it was 4th, I can't be sure because I had the same teacher for two years in a row--and it was two years of torture for me. I would have quit school if I could have. My only day ever of playing hooky was that year.

Anyway, in retrospect I am not sure my dilemma was due to being left handed or that I was just different. Nevertheless, the teacher told my parents at the conference that there was a problem. I would not cross my t's from left to right. I always did it right to left. Yes, this is a true story. Fortunately, my parents thought this was foolishness, as I did, and stood up for me. I guess I should be grateful that the teacher didn't slap me with a ruler every time I did it. To this day I cross my t's from right to left and I'm proud of it. To me it's a natural movement to catch it on the way back and you wouldn't know if I hadn't told you. I defy anyone to look at a piece of paper and decipher which way the person crossed their t's.

I've been thinking about t's this year. It started with my Christmas cards. I thought it was neat to put a star over the "i" in Christmas to represent the star that the wise men followed and I crossed the "t" up high to represent the cross.

As the new year started, I decided that this year (perhaps a resolution), I will cross all my t's high like a cross. This is helping me to daily remember Jesus and what He did for us. It reminds me that He should be in my life every day. It takes a conscious effort to do it, but I am enjoying the challenge and appreciate the chance to find God in all I do.

I would like to challenge all Christians out there to do the same. I think it would be neat for the word to spread and for people everywhere to be seeing the subliminal message being sent with all the "crosses" in our written words. In a world where God is being omitted or neglected, let's bring Him him back in even the littlest ways, such as crossing t's--and it doesn't matter whether you do it from left to right or right to left.

I love my sunrises

 
 

This week many of the days started the same. There was a beautiful glimpse of the sun before it hid behind the clouds for the day. It reminded me that God is with us each day although we may not see Him clearly in troubled times. Start each day with a new hope.