Thanksgiving Thoughts

As I noted in my last post, it's been a busy fall. Keeping up this blog has been one of the things that I've let fall to the wayside. But this, the first day of December, is the day of my return. I'm sure dozens of you will rejoice. 

In all seriousness, I thought I'd share an article I wrote for our local paper. It was our church's turn in their rotation to have a feature on the backpage. 

I knew this would run the week of Thanksgiving, so I offered this to them - and now to you. Some Thanksgiving Thoughts:

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Before we start decking the halls, stringing up lights, and putting Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas is You” on repeat, can we take some time to fully celebrate the current holiday?

While Thanksgiving may get overshadowed from the annual “Christmas Creep”, I’ll try to do my part with these reflections and share some of the things I am grateful for this year.

Let’s start at home. I am deeply thankful for my family. I am grateful for my wonderful wife who works as a counselor part-time, lives as a mom full-time, and has chosen to be a partner with me in our life’s journey. I am thankful for our two boys, nearly 4 and 6 respectively. They bring so much adventure, chaos, and fun into daily life. Parenting them is so exhausting but so rewarding.

I’m very grateful to serve as pastor at our church. We are a congregation that takes our calling seriously to impact our community. We are not necessary a real “young” group of people but God has blessed us with enough energy and vision to do what Christ wants us to do and be who he wants us to be.

I am especially thankful for the Milford community. And it is not just because of Harry’s Pork Tenderloin which is the best I’ve ever tasted. No, there’s more to it. We are a friendly town that is generally comprised of people who genuinely care about each other. I appreciate how local businesses and organizations partner together to organize community events and foster a caring spirit among our people. I don’t take it for granted either that two other churches (First Christian, Wawasee Bible) have consistently joined our weekly Prayer Tent endeavor. If you can use some encouragement, stop by on Thursday afternoons where we’re stationed next to the Housing Authority building.

Lastly, I need to mention just how grateful I am for God’s provision. As I take stock of 2023, I realize just how faithful he is. And not just generally. In our family, we had several significant unexpected medical bills – and God’s provided. The more I walk this Christian path, the more I see God showing up when I need him. He has done that ultimately with His Son Jesus – the greatest gift we could ever receive. But there I go, creeping into the Christmas season myself.

Hopefully these reflections can help you embrace this Thanksgiving for all it’s worth.

Some 'serious' thoughts to consider about Thanksgiving

I realize Thanksgiving has come and gone, so I may be tardy in sharing this video below. 
But if you are like me, you still have a full belly from all of the feasting you did late last week. 

So why not consider these wise words as you look back on all the good times you had. 

A Turkey's Plea from Andy Waddell on Vimeo.

(h/t to my peeps at the Brethren National Office - https://www.brethrenchurch.org/articles-stories/what-would-jesus-eat?utm_source=Brethren+Church+Weekly+Updates&utm_campaign=79c9dd398b-11-26-2019_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_d565756c49-79c9dd398b-141981353)

Music Mondays

Rend Collective's newest album was my latest purchase on iTunes this winter. It's probably my first purchase in a year and a half actually. It's a complicated story, but needless to say, my Windows had a corruption that, of all things, prevented me from signing into the iTunes store and purchasing any new music.

Weird, but I was thankful to get it fixed recently when my laptop required professional attention because the issue began affecting it's WiFi receptivity. 

You could accurately say, I was counting my blessings when it was fixed and I discovered my iTunes was working properly.

That's kind of a lame lead-in, but this week's song is in fact "Counting Every Blessing" by Rend Collective. So far it's my favorite track off their excellent album.

Enjoy:

Music Mondays

As I shared in yesterday's sermon, I am a little OCD when it comes to the holidays. 

By that I mean that I get annoyed when stores stock their shelves with Christmas stuff in early November. I also quickly switch radio stations when I hear Christmas carols before Thanksgiving.

But now that we have enjoyed our turkey, stuffing, and the other elements of our large meals with families, we can look ahead to decorative trees, colorful lights, snowmen, gifts, and more large meals with our families. And of course I can now allow my OCD-self to enjoy  Christmas music. I do have to consciously 'flip the switch' in my mind in a way, but I also have to consciously guard against letting the trees, lights, gifts, and family get-togethers from getting in the way of the true meaning of this holiday.

Thankfully the best Christmas music makes this exercise a little easier. The best Christmas music is worshipful and Christ-focused. A new single out on  Chris Tomlin's Christmas Album is both of those things. It features new-ish artist Lauren Daigle absolutely nailing the uplifting vocals on this re-invented version of 'Noel'.

If that can't get you in the proper Christmas mood, there's something wrong with you.

Music Mondays - Thanksgiving Edition

I was well on my way to post a fairly pedestrian video of a fairly pedestrian song that expresses the admirable quality of biblical thanksgiving. There's nothing wrong with the song and it can be utilized in a very worshipful way in the right context.

Then I came upon another song on youtube that emphasizes a similar heart with a  little more musical and lyrical variety. It still is not the most exciting song in the world and it does go on for 7 minutes...but the main reason it caught my eye and made me decide to include it this week was the advertisement before the actual video. 

I'm not sure if the ad will be permanently be the same, but when I looked it up, it was a movie trailer for an upcoming comedy. A very crass comedy - to the extent that the trailer had several swear words and off-color jokes. 

The contrast between the two couldn't have been more stark. A serene yet sincere song expressing gratitude to God vs. a worldly and vulgar movie. 

My wife will tell you, I often let this kind of thing slide, consuming it without much conviction. Maybe my conscience was stirred because we are entering the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons. Hopefully it is because the Spirit is working on my heart and mind to not be so tolerant of what God deems as sinful. 

Maybe that's not where you are at. But maybe this can provoke us to consider these things a little bit more during this holiday season.