{"id":938,"date":"2013-07-05T23:23:48","date_gmt":"2013-07-05T23:23:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/curwensvillealliance.org\/laurel\/?p=938"},"modified":"2013-07-05T23:23:48","modified_gmt":"2013-07-05T23:23:48","slug":"counting-reasons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.curwensvillealliance.org\/laurel\/?p=938","title":{"rendered":"Counting Reasons"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’m listening to her talk as we all work out this morning, these good women from various church backgrounds, except that I happen to know her faith is a personal one.\u00a0“I told God that whatever He decides is fine with me,”<\/em>\u00a0she says quietly.\u00a0“I know He will do what’s best.”<\/em>\u00a0The others shake their heads in sympathy; I slant a smile for her courage, small offering to a wife nursing a second husband through cancer. She looks tired today, but she is here to exercise. The feet keep moving and voices intermingle with the upbeat music, and she is speaking her list of thanksgiving:\u00a0an air conditioner in the apartment, a good breakfast, a daughter coming to visit for the holiday…<\/em><\/p>\n

It seems hard to me that God would ask her to go through this loss again– hasn’t she suffered enough? Learned enough? The others are still talking, her praises still threading through, and when she says she will stay and take care of him herself, whatever it takes, I think maybe this isn’t about her learning \u00a0or growing anything. \u00a0Maybe it’s about her giving what she has already learned– blessing two men with her faithful love and willing service, sharing her faith and courage with these watching friends. And she is still offering up her reasons to praise God, all her reasons to hope and keep on going because He is with her:\u00a0some days are almost pain-free, a new pill to help with nausea, God hears our prayers…<\/em><\/p>\n

My heart can’t help but add to her list of reasons, because if she can praise where she is, how can the rest of us not? …strawberry sundaes,\u00a0a night of rest,\u00a0pink and purple flowers spilling out of a big pot, fireworks, coffee in the morning air, school loans paid off, meaningful work to do…<\/em>\u00a0This remembering is like breathing for our souls– drawing in acknowledgement of the Giver and pouring out thanksgiving– a litany of everyday praise that battles against depression and worry and fear. This choice to give thanks is a kind of spiritual discipline, the exercise that moves our hearts close to the Father in childlike trust, our minds to bow before the Creator. It is grace you can learn to see in the desert places: the sun and rain that fall on everyone, and daily bread.\u00a0“The sun comes up, it’s a new day dawning;\u00a0It’s time to sing Your song again.\u00a0Whatever may pass, and whatever lies before me,\u00a0Let me be singing when the evening comes….” (Matt Redman)<\/em><\/p>\n

When I stop to stretch, change clothes and head out for the day, she waves goodbye from out on the floor, and I think how she shines without even knowing it, and how praise transfigures the most difficult things. And how we could spend our whole lives and not run out of reasons to give thanks.<\/p>\n

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“Praise the\u00a0Lord,\u00a0my soul,\u00a0and forget not\u00a0all his benefits….\u00a0For as high as the heavens are above the earth,\u00a0so great is his love\u00a0for those who fear him;\u00a0as far as the east is from the west,\u00a0so far has he removed our transgressions\u00a0from us.\u00a0As a father has compassion\u00a0on his children,\u00a0so the\u00a0Lord\u00a0has compassion on those who fear him;\u00a0for he knows how we are formed–\u00a0he remembers that we are dust.”\u00a0(Psalm 103:2, 10-14)<\/em><\/p>\n

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“You’re rich in love, and You’re slow to anger,<\/em>
\nYour name is great, and Your heart is kind;<\/em>
\nFor all Your goodness I will keep on singing,<\/em>
\nTen thousand reasons for my heart to find.<\/em><\/p>\n

Bless the Lord, O my soul,<\/em>
\nO my soul;<\/em>
\nWorship His holy name.<\/em>
\nSing like never before,<\/em>
\nO my soul;<\/em>
\nI’ll worship Your holy name”<\/em>
\n(10,000 Reasons, Matt Redman)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’m listening to her talk as we all work out this morning, these good women from various church backgrounds, except that I happen to know her faith is a personal one.\u00a0“I told God that whatever He decides is fine with … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-938","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-roots"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9XvNH-f8","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curwensvillealliance.org\/laurel\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/938","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curwensvillealliance.org\/laurel\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curwensvillealliance.org\/laurel\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curwensvillealliance.org\/laurel\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curwensvillealliance.org\/laurel\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=938"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.curwensvillealliance.org\/laurel\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/938\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":941,"href":"https:\/\/www.curwensvillealliance.org\/laurel\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/938\/revisions\/941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curwensvillealliance.org\/laurel\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curwensvillealliance.org\/laurel\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curwensvillealliance.org\/laurel\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}