Red Light, Green Light, and Thanksgiving

As I am writing this, we are just a few days away from Thanksgiving. This year we are looking forward to a short (very short) time of celebrating Thanksgiving with our daughter, son in law, and their three girls in another state. We are going there for Thanksgiving rather than them traveling here because our daughter is due to give birth to their fourth child in just a few weeks! We are excited to soon be welcoming our 10th grandchild!

Being a grandma is such a privilege as well as so much fun! When you are a grandma of 9, one of the things you become re-acquainted with is playing some of the childhood games. It starts out with toddlers playing Ring Around the Rosy, Duck Duck Goose, and Simon Says. Now our older grandchildren like to play board games (and they are really good at some of them!), but they still enjoy playing Hide N Seek, Tag, Mother May I? and Red Light, Green Light when we can play outside.

In case you don't remember how Red Light, Green Light is played, all the players begin together at the same starting line. There is a pre-determined distant goal for them to reach. When the leader in charge calls "Green Light!" everyone runs as fast as they can toward the goal. Then the leader calls "Red Light!" and everyone has to freeze in their tracks. Whoever doesn't, or the last one who freezes, has to start over back at the beginning.

Lately I have been feeling like my life resembles a game of Red Light, Green Light. We have good things happen, we thank God for the answers to prayer and blessings, and feel like we are well on our way toward our goal of becoming settled in our new life. And then an unexpected red light causes us to halt, or even to start all over again. Sometimes we can feel like we are stuck in the red light position for a very long time. Most of the time it catches us off guard. It began 5 months ago when my husband left his position as pastor under difficult circumstances. We were unsure where we were going to go, what we were going to do, and had no income - a big red light. He was unable to find a job for two months. Another red light. Then we sold our house the first week it was on the market. Green light! And my husband got a job, plus we found an apartment to live in! Green light again! But then the day before closing and after we had already moved out, the sale fell through. Huge red light, and we were back to square one. We moved back into the house (somewhat), the house was put back on the market and shown frequently, I began a new job. More green lights. Right now, we have been given a green light after another sudden and big red light having to do with the sale of our house, and there is the potential of many more red lights before this season is behind us.

I was thinking about this when I was reading in Acts 16 this week about Paul and Barnabas. They knew what it was like to have an uncertain future and constantly changing plans. Paul had plans to go in one direction to give the gospel, but God didn't permit it and re-directed those plans to Philippi instead. In Philippi they saw fruit from their ministry in terms of Lydia and the Philippian jailer both getting saved, but they also had great trials to endure in being unjustly accused, persecuted and even thrown into prison. They also knew what it was to have both green lights and red ones. This was a great reminder to me that just because we follow God's will it doesn't mean it's going to be easy, fruitful, or successful in our eyes. Sometimes it may seem we have more red lights than green. But going through hardships and adversity doesn't necessarily mean we are out of God's will or have missed His direction. He sends the red lights for various reasons and to accomplish purposes that are sometimes known only to Him.

Which leads me back to the thought I began today's blog with - Thanksgiving. This week, as I contemplate the events of the past year and what I have to be thankful for, I am challenged to be as thankful for the red lights as I am for the green ones. That seems impossible, and without the grace of the Lord, it would be. But I am reminded of the verse "In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." (1 Thess. 5:17)  Knowing that this is God's plan for us helps us to be able to give thanks. There are so many things to be thankful for even among all the red lights - His presence, His word, His strength, His grace and help, His wisdom and leading, the lessons He teaches us and the gifts He gives us - that if we keep our focus on those things, thanksgiving is the result.

Wishing you a blessed Thanksgiving,
Kathi