Thanksgiving

Seek the Sun

November 26, 2025 by Nancy 17 Comments

If you ever long for more sunshine in your life, follow a cat around. These feline finders never miss the chance to bask in a burst of sunlight, and all of us will need to do that more as the days grow shorter and the sun sets earlier this winter.

This has been a year of valleys and peaks for our family. If you’re a regular reader and you’re just now realizing you haven’t heard from me for a while, it’s because the valleys seem to have drained my creativity so my writing and my cooking, which l came to understand is also a creative endeavor, have suffered. And yet we’ve also had a joyful wedding, a new baby born, and an engagement this year! In all of it, we know God is good, now and forever, and that we are richly blessed.

But like a plant turning toward the sun to soak up as much as it can so it can grow and bloom as designed, we can’t grow if we just sit in the dark. That’s no way to thrive. Those of us who are blessed with sound mental health (well, most of the time) realize that grief is not a destination. It’s not a place to stay, but a place to travel through in time, incorporating the loss into who you will now be but not letting it define you completely. And as we travel, we look for the sun, the positive, the eternal hope that lifts our heads.

It takes discipline to turn away from the dark into the light. And it takes a full reliance on the power of the Holy Spirit. The Bible passage I often turn to when I need to shift my perspective is Phil. 4:8—Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

The fact that you’re reading this means healing is happening. I’m especially grateful for Thanksgiving this year as the timing of the celebration is nothing less than perfect. As Chuck Swindoll wrote: Thanksgiving is a time of quiet reflection upon the past and an annual reminder that God has, again, been ever so faithful. The solid and simple things of life are brought into clear focus, so much so that everything else fades into insignificance.

So if you are feeling down this holiday season, seek the sun and seek the Son, Jesus Christ. Bask in all the blessings for which you are grateful. Have a happy and blessed Thanksgiving!

Grumpy or Grateful?

November 26, 2024 by Nancy 16 Comments

Once a week I gather around a table in an assisted living facility nearby with a group of seasoned saints to go over a lesson from The Hope of Glory. This is just the most recent of several groups I’ve been privileged to meet with over the years, but I’ve gotten to know and cherish these ladies in a special way.

As with most volunteer assignments from the Lord, I feel sure I am blessed more by our time together than they are. I breeze in from my busy life with a report on the daily weather or other happenings in the “outside world” about which they are curious, and then we settle down to our lesson. We always close with prayer requests, and this is when the blessings just seem to pour out on the table like so many cups of spilled coffee.

Of course there are the normal complaints about slow service in the dining hall or delayed response times when they push a button for help. We discuss everyone’s latest aches and pains. Concerns are expressed about a prodigal adult child or grandchild, and more often than I’d like, we pray for someone’s illness or impending surgery. Yet no matter what needs we share, before we bow our heads to pray someone always expresses a sentiment of gratitude, and that grateful spirit permeates the room.

“I’m so grateful my son calls me now and we have a better relationship,” Nan reports. “Of course it’s not as often as I’d like, but it’s more than before so I’m grateful.”

“My family is moving me to Kansas to be near two of my daughters,” June announces. “I don’t mind because they are doing all the work and I know it will be a good thing. I’m so grateful for how they take care of me.” With tears in our eyes at losing her from our group, we still share in her gratitude.

“When I think back over the jobs I’ve had in my life, it amazes me that I’m able to live in a place like this,” Myrth reflects. “I mean I never made a lot of money, but God has provided this for me, and I’m grateful.”

All these women have experienced significant losses in their lives. They all have reasons to be grumpy, yet they choose gratitude instead. I’ve learned from them that it’s their faith, their personal relationship with Jesus Christ, which makes this possible.

So this week our lesson is titled “Attitude of Gratitude” and our key verse is from 1 Thessalonians 5:18: Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. As I read these words from the lesson, I’ll say a silent prayer that they speak to each of our hearts, including mine:

A grateful heart doesn’t search for what’s missing, but delights in what’s present. A grateful heart expects the best from others, and gives its best in return. A grateful heart forgets what might have been, and enjoys every moment of each new day as it comes. A grateful heart is a prayer of its own—one that fills the heavens with praise!

May we all be less grumpy and more grateful this Thanksgiving.

Deeply Grateful (2)

November 24, 2023 by Nancy 12 Comments

(Dear Subscribers: Due to a glitch with my website host, many of you weren’t able to open this yesterday. If you already received it, please know I’m doubly grateful!) I grew up in a personal land of plenty. My sisters and I had a mom who tied the sashes on the back of our dresses, took us shopping for new school shoes and handed us a piece of crisp bacon folded in warm buttered toast as we went out the door to school. Our dad was a patriot to the bone. He loved the law and the Lord and always insisted on taking our photo near every American flag we saw when we went on vacation. We ate fresh tomatoes, green beans, corn and strawberries from our garden, and could hop on our horse and go for a ride on a whim. A land of plenty.

When I look back over all the blessings I’ve had in my life, they don’t stop with my childhood, but more and more I’m drawn back to when life seemed simpler, everyone was proud to be an American, truth was truth and evil was evil. These days it’s easy for me to look at all that’s happening in our culture, our country, and the world, and become discouraged. Although I’ll never stop trying to make a difference where I can, the injustices and depravities run so deep that I’ve shifted from being a passionate patriot to a curious observer—wondering why God is allowing all that He is and what He intends to do through it all. But I trust Him. And though my concerns run deep, my gratitude runs deeper.

By God’s grace, I’m coming into this Thanksgiving season grateful for the small, often overlooked blessings in my life as well as the big ones. One morning as I was reading Jeremiah 31:35—He who appoints the sun to shine by day…the Lord Almighty is his name—I glanced up to see a glorious sunrise. Our orange cat was snoozing on my lap, trusting me with her presence. Deeply grateful.

Every Tuesday morning I meet with a group of sage older women for devotions, and I always walk to my car afterwards enriched and encouraged by time spent with these dear ones. Deeply grateful.

Within our ever-growing family two little souls are in their mothers’ wombs preparing for their spring arrival into the world. Great-grands three and four for us. Deeply grateful.

The list goes on and on. Every person in our family. Caring friends. A warm home. Friendly neighbors. Church fellowship.

And at the top of the list, a husband who loves, protects and provides—my traveling companion this past year as we visited both Pearl Harbor and Omaha Beach honoring those whose sacrifices for our freedom are now too often forgotten. Deeply grateful.

Will you join me? Can you set aside your worries about the fate of our country and the world for at least a day and let your gratitude run deeper? Even if, as a popular praise song says, all we have to offer is a hallelujah, we must offer it. Praise God through whom all blessings flow! And have a Happy Thanksgiving.

Deeply Grateful

November 22, 2023 by Nancy 6 Comments

I grew up in a personal land of plenty. My sisters and I had a mom who tied the sashes on the back of our dresses, took us shopping for new school shoes and handed us a piece of crisp bacon folded in warm buttered toast as we went out the door to school. Our dad was a patriot to the bone. He loved the law and the Lord and always insisted on taking our photo near every American flag we saw when we went on vacation. We ate fresh tomatoes, green beans, corn and strawberries from our garden, and could hop on our horse and go for a ride on a whim. A land of plenty.

Every Tuesday morning I meet with a group of sage older women for devotions, and I always walk to my car afterwards enriched and encouraged by time spent with these dear ones. Deeply grateful.

Within our ever-growing family two little souls are in their mothers’ wombs preparing for their spring arrival into the world. Great-grands three and four for us. Deeply grateful.

The list goes on and on. Every person in our family. Caring friends. A warm home. Friendly neighbors. Church fellowship.

‘Tis the Tweason!

November 28, 2022 by Nancy 4 Comments

Here we are in the in between. Thanksgiving is over and Christmas is still a few weeks away. So how are we to spend this tweason if you’ll indulge my coining of that word? How can we hold on to the best of the last holiday while eagerly anticipating the next?

Holding on to the gratitude we felt at Thanksgiving is certainly a start. Sure, we are to be grateful at all times. But gratitude is more top of heart when everything we read or ponder has a thankfulness theme. I Thessalonians 5:18 encourages us to give thanks in all circumstances. Not necessarily for all circumstances but finding something to be thankful for in the midst of our situation no matter what it is. Perhaps writing with this verse in mind, Sarah Young wrote in the November 28 entry in Jesus Listens: “I give You thanks, regardless of my feelings, and You give me Joy, regardless of my circumstances.”

So give thanks. When we are able to purchase a gift for everyone on our Christmas lists, let’s give thanks for the resources that make those purchases possible. If a harried shopper cuts us off in traffic or takes the parking spot we were aiming for, let’s give thanks we aren’t going home with a dented fender. Give thanks.

I love that Sarah Young reminds us of the promise of joy because that’s something else that spans the seasons. As we move into the first week of Advent, the time we anticipate celebrating the coming of Christ to the world, we begin a four-week journey that helps us focus on hope, love, joy and peace. All four should fill our hearts and minds during this tweason, but joy can be a part of every week, every celebration, and every memory. I have four friends who have lost their soulmates, their life partners, their husbands this past year. In the midst of their grief, may the memories they have bring joy. Or so I earnestly pray.

Before we know it this tweason will have passed away and it will be Christmas! Christmas, a time for remembering that out of His great love for us God sent His son to dwell among us. Emmanuel. God with us. May the anticipation we feel now be centered more on Him and less on the harried hustle and bustle to come. During this in between time, let’s set our hearts on the true meaning of Christmas and let the rest be just the colorful trappings of the holiday.

So Happy Thanksgiving, Joyous Tweason, and Merry Christmas! God bless us one and all.

A Dose of Holiday Healing

November 9, 2020 by Nancy 24 Comments

It’s been a tough year. A pandemic, demonstrations, violence, elections, all with varying effects on each of us. But we need a break from all that. The holidays are upon us—Thanksgiving and Christmas with all their joys and traditions. This year as never before we need to open our hearts and minds to all the healing that can come when we concentrate on gratitude, giving, and God coming down to earth in the form of a tiny babe in a manger. The gifts of the holidays can heal us deep down, where we need it most.

So what should we prescribe for Thanksgiving? Maybe an acceptance that it probably won’t be as it’s always been. My daughter-in-law’s family traditionally gathers at their family farm in Pennsylvania. Most years around 22 people congregate from several states. This year due to travel and health concerns that won’t be happening. But she’ll host a smaller gathering in their home and make new memories for her husband and kids.

The location will be different, but the aroma of a turkey roasting in the oven, the table set with the best tablecloth and silverware, the excitement that builds as hungry diners come in and out of the kitchen to sample this or that favorite dish, will be much the same. There will even still be a couple of dogs circling around in hopes of finding a morsel or two on the floor. And as those in attendance bow their heads to pray around the table, the love and gratitude that encircles this precious gathering will deliver a dose of healing to all.

And what’s the recommended dosage for Christmas? Usually we talk about “paring down” the Christmas trappings in order to concentrate on the true meaning of Christmas, but this year maybe it’s an overabundance of everything Christmas, everything celebratory, that will nourish our souls. Time to increase the number of twinkly lights, candles, large red bows, and tins of fudge and cookies! Time to send more cards, not less, in order to tell those you care about that they are in your thoughts and prayers. And yes, time to spend more time than in years past in front of our own hearths, circling our own trees, and thanking God for the miracle that is Christmas.

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). As we celebrate this timeless truth may we feel healed—and ready to face whatever 2021 brings.