Much to be thankful for...

Thankfulness around this time of year is expected and, therefore, perhaps a little less-than sincere? I'm speaking to myself here. Around Thanksgiving I think I most often have a vague feeling of thankfulness for circumstances and people that I genuinely love, but I don't know that I'm genuinely thankful. Make sense? Not to me, either. That's okay, though, I'm still trying to wrap my head around it.

Needless to say, this year I'm finding myself grateful in a more tangible sense. It's been a season of change. A season where things that I've taken for granted have somehow been misplaced. A time of extreme busy-ness and subsequent exhaustion...and then subsequent rest. It's been that way a lot lately. There will be something that comes up that throws your whole life out of whack...and then something just as unexpected comes along to counteract and recalibrate everthing.

In a season where family situations have been unpredictable at best...we unexpectedly have more family within a twenty mile radius than ever.

In a time where layoffs are rampant...I got a promotion rather than a pink slip.

In a month that's eight weeks past our original move-in date of our new place...things are 95% done and much more affordable than if we were "on schedule."

In what's supposed to be one of the most hellish times of any profession...Katie's knocked out one semester with much success and acclaim.

I don't bring up any of these points to boast. Quite the opposite in fact. If one thing's been made evident this year, it's that blessings sometimes come when we least expect or deserve them. And who knows, the wheels could all fall off tomorrow and everything could take a drastic turn for the worse. I'd like to hope that we'd still be able to find things to be thankful for.

We snapped a couple shots of the new place this weekend. It's small, but it's home...almost.

Now That's What I Call Immersion

Thanks, Mom, for the link. You gotta check this out.

A paradox or two and a premature taste of Christmas

More from Grenz's Created for Community:

As the narrative of the Garden of Eden indicates, God desires that we be able to enjoy the divine presence. But instead, we flee from God. We live in fear, presuming that he is hostile toward us. In fact, however, we are the hostile ones and project our hostility on God. We run from the only one who can overcome our fear, brokenness, and hostility. We seek to get away from the only one who can fulfill our deepest needs.

If only that changed at some point. The more I am allowed to know Jesus, the more I feel I project onto Him sometimes. I wish there was a milemarker on the road of discipleship past which we no longer run away from but only toward the Great Physician. Don't get me wrong, it's not as if I'm choosing rebellion. It's much more subtle than that and therefore much more tricky. It's the presumption that God's default position towards you is one of disappointment...and it sneaks into your mind undetected and smudges the lens through which you see him...and you forget that he's the one who reaches out and wants your companionship. He's the one who wants us. And then Tozer's paradox comes to mind and you remember things from a wholly different perspective: "To have found You, and still be looking for You; it's the soul's paradox of love." Ah...the complexities of the human heart and the depths of that of God...

And no for something completely different:

I know it's insanely early to be thinking of Christmas. The department stores alone are already making me sick. But, to be fair, it's never too early for a good song. Came across this version of Silent Night by David Bazan and it made me remeber how much I love the song and how much I miss listening to Pedro the Lion.

Hey...it works!



Now I'm not one to do product testimonials, but I'll throw my good name (for whatever that's worth) behind this one anyday. Not only is it created by a school teacher (I'm not biased there), but it's the lesser of great evils when it comes to chalky, icky tasting cold meds...and it actually works!! Katie's been sick as a dog the last few days. I've felt her germs trying to invade my space box for the last week, but to no avail. Not with Airborne as my shield!!

Now I know what you're thinking. "Why didn't Katie take Airborne?" Well...she did...but not "at the first sign of cold symptoms" as indicated on the box. She'd already been infected by her kiddos. I, on the other hand, actually read the instructions on something for the first time in my life and dodged the bullet. So here's to medicating and breaking sterotypes!!

*Results may vary