Living out the Thanks...

So, when the  Thanks-giving gets hard...

Perhaps we just get on with the Giving.  And we find to our amazement that the Thanks flows Abundant.

Anger and Bitterness.  They just melt under the heat.

Truly... It was a gift we gave this past weekend that had our hearts overflowing.  In God's gracious upside down kingdom... this is truth.

Several months ago, one of our dear friends lost her father.  Grief.  It ran hard and deep. 

Her mother, widowed and now alone on the family farm... Keeping it together, praying through the tough, walking the journey.

And there was this dry creek on the farm.

Swollen wide when the rains came thru in season, it had become bogged in with broken branches and twisted roots and sodden leaves.  Each rain bringing more messy burden to the tiny creek.

It needed help.

And so we gathered.  Friends with saws and pruners.  Gloved hands and welcome wheelbarrows.

It was a gift to fellowship together as we made light of the work.

As the day meandered past noon, the little creek began to smile.  Shaggy limbs were trimmed back, dead growth whittled away, rotting leaf litter raked clean...

 

The tiny footbridge made whole again...firewood stacked for the coming winter...

 

We laughed through water and brownie breaks...

 

And enjoyed the warmth and love of lunch prepared by the sweetest of souls.

The Giving turned to Thanks.

It is not a hard thing to

"Carry one another's burdens"

                                Galatians 6:2

It is a glorious gift to share in one another's journeys... even the most difficult.

God knew.

He knew we'd need each other.

And out of our obedience to His call,

He blesses with a Giving of Thanks.

Hearts tendered to Him,

Souls ministered to out of infinite Grace.

Learning to Live out the Thanks,

Day by Day

Moment by Moment...

Graced with Thanksgiving.  Truly!

It is a Privilege...

Somewhere along in every journey, we are destined to meet kindred souls who make a difference in our story...

Glenn and Cheryl are two such friends who have touched me deeply.  Although we've never met in person, I have found an abiding inspiration in their journey.

As we near the end of our 31 Day Challenge on Grace for the Caregiver here are a few of his thoughts on Caregiving...

"I have found since we began this journey in Nov 2012, that the little things that inspire the soul are really important to the person fighting the battle. To Cheryl, sunsets and sunrises are gifts of beauty that raise the spirit for the next battle, the next day. A snow fall here makes everything pure and white, and she loves to look out over the fields to see the fresh little animal tracks that were made during the night. We have a little red fox that teases our dogs every day, and Cheryl actually gets a kick out of that. So the first day of her chemo in January, I found a little plush red fox at the gift centre and took it to her. It is her constant companion now both day and night. I firmly believe now that one of my jobs, no, one of my privileges as her care giver is to help her find these spirit and soul-lifting things... Glenn"

So beautifully said...and I believe it is the heart-song of Caregivers everywhere.

It is truly a privilege of immense proportions

to walk out our love every day along this journey.