The Light in My Window

The Light in My Window

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Thoughts on Gratitude

Happy Thanksgiving week! Honestly, I hadn't thought I would be able to blog this week, with family coming in and the busyness of the week, but today God has been impressing on my heart some thoughts about gratitude.  Last week in my post I gave you a little glimpse into my home this Thanksgiving, and shared with you some of my decorations and recipes. This is my last quiet morning for a few days, and as I have been setting up the Pack N Play and cleaning the high chair in anticipation of our youngest granddaughter being here for Thanksgiving with her two sisters, it made me realize once again how much we have to be thankful for this year. The last year we lived in Illinois, we spent Thanksgiving alone because it was too far for any of our children to travel for such a short time. Thinking about that Thanksgiving made me think about the element of genuine gratitude. When our homes and our tables are full, our family healthy, and life is going well, it is easy to have an "attitude of gratitude." But what about when times are not so good? In those times, gratitude doesn't come so easily but I think it is even more necessary, because a thankful heart is a safeguard against depression, fear, and bitterness. Gratitude and ingratitude are both contagious - try spending time with people who are either full of gratitude or full of complaining, and you will see what I mean.

So how does one cultivate a grateful heart? I think the secret lies in the fact that realizing gratitude is not something we conjure up or put into practice when the circumstances in our lives make it easy to be thankful, but true gratitude is a lifestyle. It is a choice, and it is Biblical. It comes from realizing how much God has done for us, and what He has given us in Himself if we know Him. Over and over again, the apostle Paul talks about "abounding in thanksgiving." The book of Colossians mentions thanksgiving in every chapter. Ephesians 5:20 says "giving thanks always for all things." And the best-known verse that comes to mind is 1 Thess. 5:18 - "in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." The end of that verse about it being God's will for us is key. We are told in Romans 5:3-5 and 8:28-29 that we can give thanks because everything that enters our life serves His purpose to perfect us. Maybe we have a tough time giving thanks for the problems in our lives, but we can give thanks because of the One who is always gracious, wise, and good. Ingratitude is offensive to God because not only are we not obeying Him, but we are showing a spirit of failing to acknowledge the fact that His ways are perfect and wanting to be independent of Him and His desire for our lives.

This year as you sit at your Thanksgiving tables or attend the Thanksgiving service at your church, I hope you will expand your idea of what you are to be grateful for. It isn't only homes, jobs, food, family, and health. Because if that is what drives our gratitude, what happens when those things fail? We can be grateful for God constantly being at work in our lives to accomplish His plan for us, and for His love, peace, joy, grace, wisdom, and so much more.

Have a Christ-Centered Thanksgiving!

Love,
Kathi


Thursday, November 20, 2014

Thinking Thanksgiving

Good morning! How are you adjusting to this drastic change in the weather? It feels more like December outside, but the calendar tells us that Thanksgiving is a week away. Our daughter and her husband and their 3 little girls - ages 5, 3, and 5 months - are coming for Thanksgiving and I am getting so excited! I love Thanksgiving because it is all about family and reflecting on our blessings, two of my favorite things, and is without all the commercialism of Christmas. I thought that in today's post I would give you a little glimpse into our Thanksgiving, because next week I will probably be too busy to write!

I enjoy decorating my table and other areas for the special day, and here is a peek at my decorations:










My daughter-in-law gave me the "eat pie" sign because it is very significant in our house! I have been known to make as many pies as there are people. I try to make everyone's favorite and before you know it, I end up with half a dozen or more pies! Ask any of my kids! But then we enjoy pie and coffee every evening they are here!





I also am purchasing the ingredients for my little granddaughters to make these darling turkeys:
As far as the meal itself, I am pretty traditional when it comes to Thanksgiving dinner. To me, it is not the time to experiment with new foods or recipes. My family loves the traditional turkey, stuffing, gravy, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, etc. In thinking about what recipes I could share with you that are still considered traditional, I do have one side dish which is really delicious and traditional, yet a little different. It is extra-nice that you make it in the slow cooker so you can fix it and forget about it until dinner is ready. The recipe originally came from Allrecipes.com.

Slow-Cooker Cream Corn
16 oz. pkg. of frozen corn
1 stick of butter or margarine, cubed
8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, cubed
1/2 cup milk
salt and pepper
Just throw all the ingredients in the slow cooker and cook on low for 4-6 hours, or on high for 2-3 hours. Stir well. Everyone loves it!
And in case you are in the mood for pumpkin (who isn't?), I am sharing my recipe for pumpkin bread.  I got this recipe many years ago from my mother in law and it is still the best pumpkin bread I have ever had. It makes a lot, so you can freeze some or give some away.

Pumpkin Bread
3 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 cup oil
2 cups pumpkin puree
3 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. nutmeg
2/3 cup water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Blend with mixer sugar, eggs, oil, and pumpkin. Whisk together dry ingredients and blend into the pumpkin mixture. Add water and mix. Pour into greased pans - makes 2 regular loaves or about 7 mini-loaves. Don't overfill the pans, or you will have trouble getting it done in the middle. Bake regular loaves for 50 -55 minutes, and mini loaves for 35-40. Cool slightly in pans before removing onto racks. Enjoy!

Whether or not you are doing any special decorating, baking or cooking isn't the most important thing. The most important is to cultivate a grateful heart - something I could write an entire post on. Learning to have a grateful heart is something that can't just be turned on and off for Thanksgiving Day. It is a daily choice. In thinking about gratitude, I love this quote from Nancy Leigh DeMoss: "Is the gratitude that flows out of your life as abundant as the grace that flows into your life?"

I will leave you with that. Happy Thanksgiving!

With a grateful heart,
Kathi


Thursday, November 13, 2014

"Same-Same, But Different"

I know, I know. What kind of a title is that, and what in the world does it mean? Let me explain. "Same-same, but different" is a Cambodian proverb. I don't know exactly what it means to the people of Cambodia, but I know what it means to me. Today, November 13, is the 4-year anniversary of the day I suffered a serious ankle injury while on a missions trip to Cambodia. My husband and I spent 2 weeks with Ron and Tina Fruin in the Phnom Penh area, and it was a life-changing experience. Today I got out the journal I kept while we were in Cambodia, and relived some of the memories. I am so glad I kept that journal, because in reading it all the sights and smells and emotions that I experienced on that trip come rushing back to me as if it were yesterday.
 
From my journal, November 12, 2010 (4 days into our trip): "Yesterday was a long day - market and "grocery" shopping in the morning meant an hour-long ride into Phnom Penh in the tuk-tuk. Seeing the meat with flies on it in the market and some of the other sights and smells made me queasy in the stifling heat. When we went to the store, I couldn't believe the prices and the lack of selection, compared to the states. Back home after another long tuk-tuk ride, Bob went to the youth volleyball activity while I helped Tina in the kitchen all afternoon - washing and disinfecting meat, slicing and grinding meat, washing and sanitizing the kitchen afterwards, making food from scratch and improvising for missing ingredients, all in the heat from which there is no relief. She works so hard every day. I couldn't sleep last night and was thinking about what purposes God has for me being here."

Little did I know. The very next day was Saturday and we had planned a day of sight-seeing in Phnom Penh. We toured the palace and the grounds, and it was while in a restaurant for lunch that I fell over a drop-off of the floor and severely injured my ankle. I lay on the floor in agonizing pain, surrounded by Cambodian women chattering in Khmer and rubbing mysterious potions on me and pulling on my foot. Finally I was carried to the tuk-tuk and endured the hour-long ride home, only to have to again be lifted in and go out a second time for an x-ray. There was only one x-ray machine in the entire city, and there was no one there who knew how to operate it. In the providence of God, He sent a man who was able to operate the machine. In the providence of God, there was an American missionary doctor, Dr. Tom, to read the x-ray and determine that nothing was broken. I had suffered torn tendons and ligaments. Not having access to a walking boot or brace, Dr. Tom made the decision to cast my foot, ankle, and lower leg in order to immobilize it. In the provision of God, Dr. Tom had exactly enough materials to make an old-fashioned plaster cast.

And so it was that I spent the rest of that long-awaited missions trip in a cast, mostly confined to the house. Over the next couple weeks I had a lot of time to think, to read my Bible, to pray, to write. I came to the understanding that God's purposes for me going to Cambodia were very different than mine. I was unable to do many of the things I had gone there to do. I couldn't go to church or teach the children or conduct the craft classes because they met on a roof-top. I never got to see my husband preach or teach even once. I had to learn to trust God that when His plan is different than mine, that His plan is best. I learned to trust God that He would use all of it for a purpose. I learned to depend on God's strength - so many times I was at the end of myself. God provided crutches for me to use, which was another miracle in a 3rd world country, and our room was on the 3rd level of the house, and I had to crutch up and down all of those staircases. My foot and leg swelled terribly because of the heat. Over and over I had to call on the Lord for strength.

God put me on a very different journey than the one I envisioned. It was a journey of learning to trust and to depend on God. But it was a life-changing journey, and I will never forget the lessons God taught me. When I got home, I had to go through months of wearing a walking boot and a brace and physical therapy. To this day when my ankle hurts, I remember what God taught me in Cambodia. Truly I am "same-same, but different."

Gratefully,
Kathi

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

The Door of Hospitality

Good afternoon! Can you believe it is November? Turkeys and ingredients for pumpkin pies are abundant in the grocery stores, and Christmas decorations are everywhere.  I feel like I just put the Christmas decorations away! Where has this year gone?

Last month I got busy decorating our home for the fall season, putting little touches of fall throughout the house. One of the things I had fun doing was making a fall wreath for our front door. We had seen a similar wreath in a shop when we were on our mini-vacation in the mountains, and although we really liked it we did not feel like we could spend the amount of money on the price tag. I also had seen some wreaths on Pinterest (love Pinterest!) that I liked. So I went to my favorite home crafts store, Hobby Lobby, and bought what I needed for about $20, which was less than half of the price of the wreath we had seen in the shop. And this is how it turned out:
If you would like to make one, you will need to purchase a plain grapevine wreath, three large fall decorative picks, several packages of artificial leaves, a package of small artificial assorted pumpkins and gourds, a wooden alphabet letter, and some acrylic craft paint. You will also need a glue gun. Begin by painting the wooden alphabet letter so it can dry. Then start making your wreath by positioning the three large decorative picks symmetrically on your wreath, allowing the stems to be secured by the vines of your wreath - I put mine on top, bottom, and left side. Don't glue anything down yet! Then start positioning one layer of leaves. Once you like the arrangement, glue everything down. Continue by positioning another layer of leaves, and glue them down. Once your wreath is nice and full, arrange and glue the pumpkins and gourds evenly on top of the leaves, leaving a space for your alphabet letter. Finish by gluing your letter onto the wreath. This is how our front door looks:
Doors make me think of hospitality, which is what I want to talk about briefly in my post today. Hospitality seems to be a lost art in our world today, even in our churches. And I think that is very sad, because did you know that God commands us to show hospitality? 1 Peter 4:9 says, "Use hospitality one to another, without grudging." Ouch. How many times do we practice hospitality, but grumble and complain about the work and effort involved while we are doing it? What else do we need to understand about hospitality? Consider the following:

1. Practical hospitality analyzes needs. Remember the Shunamite woman? She was the one who prepared a special room for the prophet Elisha in 2 Kings 4. She thought about what he would need, and how she could best meet those needs. A little thinking is often all it takes.
2. Hospitality has no selfish motives. You don't open your home or prepare a meal with the thought that maybe there will be reciprocal invitations, or that people will admire your home or cooking.
3. Hospitality requires simply an open heart, and an open home. If you wait until you paint the dining room, or have new furniture, or matching china, or can have a gourmet menu, you will never do it. People don't care about those things. It is the warmth of your smile and your welcoming home that ministers to people. Hospitality is just making use of what you have!

The problem with practicing hospitality is not lack of opportunity, but a lack of vision. (Beneth Jones) We are so busy, and we are so focused on our life and our little world that we fail to notice those around us who we can be a blessing to. As always, when we obey God, the blessing is ours.

Hoping you will seek someone out and bless them,
Kathi