thankful thursday - what i learned in 2015

Today is the last day of 2015 - a time for reflection, of looking back over the year remembering fun times as well as hard times, old friends and those I've just met. It is one of my favorite times of the year.

In no particular order, here are some of the things I learned (or was reminded of) this year:

1.  Grandchildren, aka Sweethearts, are a great, big, humongous blessing. Whether they live in the next room or across the country, invest time in getting to know them. Spend time with them one-on-one, play together, do errands together, just talk with them. Technology makes it easy to stay connected long distance - let them teach you how to use FaceTime, Skype, email, instant messenger and texting; you can teach them your phone number and show them how call or how to send real mail. Their lives will be richer as will yours!

Ben (8), Hannah (1), Christopher (12), Nick (10), Ellie (2) and Lexie (7)

Hannah lives in the same city we do; all the rest live on the East Coast.

2.  Pay attention to the details. Trying to do things on "autopilot" seldom works for long.Whether it's making a new recipe or putting a Lego set together, reading the directions and paying attention to what you're doing always pays off. Make the effort to get it right.

This "sand castle" was my favorite at the World's Best Sand Sculpting Competition in December at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick. Each contestant was given a pile of 10 tons of sand and 3 days to create their sculpture. This builder was the only one to use ALL of his sand as he meticulously worked to get the angles just right. Although he didn't place, his was my favorite and reminds me to pay attention to the details.

3.  Life is an adventure - embrace it!  Richard and I took off on a drive on a forest road (read: rutted dirt road) in southeast Arizona. We decided to do the drive backwards not realizing that not all the roads were marked on our map nor were the roads themselves well marked. It didn't take too long before we were quite lost and I'm pretty sure we were inches from the Mexico border. Instead of worrying about being lost, we enjoyed the spectacular scenery and saw a part of Arizona we had never seen before. After an hour or so we were able to get back on track and reach our destination. 

Part of this drive was where they filmed the prairie scenes in the musical/movie Oklahoma! It was different from any other area of Arizona I've seen - and breath-takingly beautiful!

4.  The years go by faster and faster - remember to take time to enjoy the moments! It's easy to get caught up in the things we "have to" do until pretty soon we are just moving from event to event without really enjoying anything. This year I spent some time each day doing an activity our oldest daughter and her husband have done with their kids - three good things. The idea is to think of three good things that happened that day - usually it is something seemingly trivial, like getting the closest parking spot at Costco - to help you remember the great moments, even in a "bad day."

Watching a beautiful sunset is sometimes one of my three things. Arizona is, after all, the self-proclaimed sunset capital of the world!

5.  Don't save the candles just for birthdays - use them just because.  It is the perfect ending to a "bad day" and we all have those from time to time. They make any occasion a celebration, even if the celebration is "I made through the day and I'm happy to be home!" 

Candlelight makes even an ordinary dessert look fabulously festive!

I am thankful for the lessons I've learned because they remind me of the many ways God has blessed me and that life is good.

thankful thursday - wise men

I have been reading the biblical Christmas story found in Matthew 2 and Luke 2 everyday the past week or so. I get something new from it every time I read it. The Bible is like that - always fresh and applicable.

I spent some time this week thinking about the wise men, the magi, that traveled hundreds of miles to find the Christ-child. Who sent them? How did they know? Where did they come from? What can I learn from them?

The Bible tells us that "some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, 'Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose and we have come to worship him.'" (Mathew 2:1-2 NLT) King Herod was disturbed when the wise men showed up at the palace and called a meeting with the leading priests and teachers of religious law to find out where the Messiah was supposed to be born. They quoted Micah 5:2, saying he would be born in Bethlehem in the land of Judah. (Matthew 2:3-6 NLT) King Herod then met secretly with the wise men, telling them to search for the baby and then come back and tell him where the baby was. (Matthew 2:7-8 NLT) Then "the wise men went on their way. And the star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were filled with joy! They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshipped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh." (Matthew 2:9-11 NLT) "When it was time for them to leave, they returned to their own country by another route, for God had warned them in a dream not to return to Herod." (Matthew 2:12 NLT)

Although Christmas songs and nativity displays indicate there were three wise men, their number is not mentioned in the Bible. Neither is their homeland specifically. Some theologians speculate that there were probably more than three and that they came from different nations. Perhaps some of them came from Babylon where the Israelites were exiled and that's how they new about the prophecy.

What I do know is that God sent them. He provided the star that was so different from anything else they had ever seen or heard about that they followed it. He ensured they had access to the prophecy - they knew about "the newborn king of the Jews."

The wise men sought the newborn king of the Jews and worshipped him. They recognized his deity. They were filled with joy. And they recognized God's voice and obeyed when He warned them not to return to Herod - they returned home by a different route.

These foreigners, the wise men, recognized the baby Jesus for who he was even though the Jews, the people who were expecting the Messiah, did not.

I am thankful for the magi mentioned in Matthew 2 because they show me the proper response to Jesus - to bow down and worship Him! They persevered as they traveled a great distance, they listened to God and obeyed Him. They were wise men, indeed.

Merry Christmas!

thankful thursday - gifts

When I was a small child, Christmas was all about the gifts... for me. And I wanted "things"... like a ViewMaster slide projector, a new bike or roller skates (the kind with a key!).

I think most kids are like that.

But somewhere along the way to adulthood, I came to appreciate the gifts of Christmas that aren't "things" I can unwrap and hold in my hand. Things I don't have to wait until Christmas morning to have. Things like:

1. Frost on the ground and a chill in the air  - In Arizona there is no guarantee that it won't be warm on Christmas Day but sometime in December we almost always have a "cold spell" where the temperatures dip down into the 30's or 40's with highs in the 50's or 60's. I can hear you people from Minnesota snickering but that's pretty chilly for  the Valley of the Sun. And I relish it!
2. Vehicles accessorized for Christmas - We have all seen them. Cars and trucks with reindeer antlers made out of plastic attached to the roof with a big red nose above the front bumper. Or battery-operated Christmas lights adorning nearly every part of the vehicle - wheels or windows or the outline of the car. We may think they look cheesy but they always make me smile.
3. Shoppers and clerks who are friendlier, smiling and making small talk - It seems that lines are longer everywhere from Thanksgiving to Christmas, not just at mall. But I've noticed that people, both clerks and customers, are a little friendlier. They make eye contact and smile. Most will chat. I went to the post office to mail a package and the line was very long. The woman behind me and I began chatting and before I knew it, 45 minutes had passed and it was my turn at the window where the clerk greeted me with a smile. What a gift!
4. Hearing Christmas music in stores - Most stores play music all the time. Some of it is obnoxious to me and I avoid those stores. Others stores play music I enjoy but it can be distracting. But during the Christmas season, most stores play Christmas music including both secular songs like "Here Comes Santa Claus" and Christian hymns like "Away In a Manger." Some are festive and fun; others remind me what I'm celebrating.
5. God's love in sending us a Savior, the baby Jesus who was born on that first Christmas - I see reminders of Jesus everywhere at Christmastime... candy canes remind me of the shepherds, the first people told of Jesus' birth by the angel. And evergreen Christmas trees remind me of eternal life that Jesus promises to those who put their faith and trust in Him alone. Wreaths on doors remind me of the thorny crown Jesus wore on the cross when He died for our sins and Christmas lights remind me of the star shining bright over the stable where Jesus was born. Giving gifts reminds me of the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh the wise men brought to the baby Jesus.

I am thankful for all these things. Christmas gifts are everywhere... you just have to look for them.

thankful thursday - christmas lights

As a child I always looked forward to that time of year when the Christmas lights on houses in our neighborhood would get flicked on, usually sometime right after Thanksgiving. Back then everyone had the same type of outdoor Christmas lights - the big C-9 bulbs that were strung on your house. Most people just followed their roof line but the "really cool" ones wrapped them around tree trunks and windows.

Fast forward to the 21st century and there are all kinds of different outdoor Christmas lights - C-9 lights, icicle lights in various color schemes, mini lights, rope lights - and all with various options (LED, flashing, cool or warm white, ...). And then there are lighted lawn decorations - Santa, reindeer, candy canes, manger scenes, you name it!

This week as I was driving home and saw houses lit up with Christmas lights,  I was reminded of another Christmas light - one that shone in the sky over two thousand years ago. It was the star that guided the wise men to Bethlehem and stopped over the place where a baby, the newborn king of the Jews, the Messiah was. When the wise men saw the star, they were filled with joy and when they saw Jesus, they bowed down and worshipped him before giving him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. (Matthew 2)

I am thankful for Christmas lights and displays because although many of them are of a secular nature, their brightness reminds me of the star of Bethlehem and the Christ child. 

And that fills me with peace and joy.

thankful thursday - music

Several years ago, a friend of mine introduced me to Lunch Time Theater at the Herberger theater Center in Phoenix. For only $6 you can see a one-act show lasting about 45 minutes. Lunch is available at an extra cost or you can bring your own. Most of the shows are musical in nature and always entertaining.

This week we invited another friend to go with us to see "Fruitcake Follies," a musical review of Christmas. The five women performers were excellent as they sang and tap-danced their way into the Christmas holiday. We heard some familiar favorites as well as some fabulously funny new ones.

After the show was over, the audience was invited to stay for a free performance featuring Opera Joven, a group of young operatic singers from Mexico City. In addition to singing a few opera excerpts, they also fused their operatic voices with traditional Mexican music for a very unique and delightful sound. I couldn't understand the words because of the language barrier but the music was hauntingly beautiful. One of my friends said she got goosebumps listening to them! If you ever have the opportunity to see and hear them, go!

In the car driving home, I listened to Christmas music on the radio (thank you XM Radio for the FREE week!) - traditional Christmas carols as well as popular Christmas songs sung by a variety of artists (jazz, country, pop,...). Pretty soon I was singing along and tapping my fingers on the steering wheel in time to the music.

Then I started thinking about why I listen to music. Scientific studies have shown that listening to music has many benefits for most people including reducing stress and anxiety levels, elevating mood, improving cognitive performance, enhancing blood vessel function and improving sleep quality. While I believe all that is true for me, I think the number one reason I enjoy music is because it is fun!

As we enter into the Christmas season with all its potential stressors (finding the right gifts and wrapping them, holiday cooking and baking, entertaining, ...), I am thankful for the gift of music - for beautiful melodies and for talented performers who share their gift with the world. Besides the many genres of music (rap, hard rock, soft rock, classical, jazz, etc.) we listen to all year long, we get to add a seasonal topic to the mix during this time of year. Singing about the birth of Jesus (O Little Town of Bethlehem, Away in a Manger, Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, Mary Did You Know, and the list goes on and on) fills my heart with gratitude.  Singing about wanting a hippopotamus for Christmas just makes me giggle. Listening to Garth Brooks sing Belleau Woods or Capital Lights sing His Favorite Christmas Story brings tears to my eyes.

Yep, I am thankful for music.