Author: thinkfulkarin

Negative Th(i)nkful

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Dennis

This is Pastor Dennis.  He was our co-worker in Johannesburg, SA.  He would often start our worship services at Sandton Bible with the question of: “Aren’t you thankful that you didn’t wake up in the hospital this morning?”

“A help toward personally fulfilling Eph. 5:20 & I Thess. 5:18 may be to continually thank God for all the things that could have gone wrong AND DID NOT; and, for all the things that went well BUT COULD HAVE GONE BADLY’!!! Examples- 1) how many things could have kept us from waking up this morning (countless)? 2) when driving on a 2 lane road and a car safely passes by in the opposing lane – it could have veered into our lane!” – Bob Meyers

There is no end to what we can think thanks about in our lives. When you think thanks about all the bad things that could have happened, but didn’t, you are practicing being negative th(i)nkful.  You could have been in a car wreck on your way to work this morning.  You could have a sore in your mouth that will not heal.  You could have severe abdominal pain right now.  You could have never heard about Jesus and the grace that He offers to anyone who wants to believe.  You could have nothing to live for and be looking for a way to die. You could not have access to the Word of God. You could have been born into extreme poverty.  The list goes on and on.

Think of five things that you are so thankful for that are not true in your life right now. Give that present of thanks to the One who deserves it.

Dennis Chapmon was the eternal optimist.  How inspiring he was to be around.  Yes, I am so thankful that I didn’t wake up in the hospital this morning.  Thank you God, that though Your ways are always good, you chose an easier path for me today in so many ways.

 

Thankful?

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Hope in Knysna

On the southern tip of Africa there lies a beautiful bowl-shaped lagoon with the city of Knysna nestled around it.  It is one of the top dream holiday destinations for the country of South Africa.  On June 7, 2017, a fire began to sweep throughout the beautiful dry winter landscape around Knysna. A family died. Thousands of people were evacuated and displaced.  Homes and schools were burned to the ground. People lost all their earthly belongings and even livelihoods.  Life will never be quite the same for those that went through this tragedy. Knysna, South Africa, has gone through a horrendous ordeal.

How can a person begin to think thanks in these kind of circumstances?

At first you feel so numb.  You have to stop the bleeding. People need food and water. Everything seems to take forever.  Things that seemed so important before, somehow have lost their urgency. What really matters?

Coming face to face with tragedies is often the source of people turning their backs on the Lord.  How could a loving God allow it?

Our friends, Dave and Julie Rudolph, are missionaries in Knysna and are forging their way through this devastating time and looking for ways to share the love of Christ in the midst of trial. Here is an update.

Dave Rudolph’s Update from Knysna

You may have your own fire, a hard thing that you have gone through that is difficult to process. It seems impossible to find any sense in it all.  I know I have experienced hard things like that.  I wrote down these 10 things following a talk on why God allows sufferings.  They have been immensely helpful for me personally.  Why does God allow evil and suffering?

  1. God is justly allowing sin’s curse on the earth to take its natural course; the earth is broken and longing for redemption. Romans 8:22
  2. God is jolting me to get me really searching for Him in prayer and in the Bible. Jeremiah 29:13-14.
  3. God is refining me, freeing me from some vice and building virtue in me (the greater good). I Pet. 4:3-4; Job 23
  4. God is equipping me to be a compassionate comfort and strength to others. 2 Cor. 1:4.
  5. God is equipping me for greater service; changing the scope of my influence.
  6. God is freeing me from trust/dependence on things, teaching me that He is the only thing I hold on to.
  7. God is opening a door for me to share my faith and show God’s love.
  8. God wants me to long for a better place. 2 Cor. 4:16-18.
  9. God is privileging us to share in His suffering – reward comes with this.
  10. God is demonstrating that He can sustain and keep His children faithful.

Searching for the things for which we can be th(i)nkful sometimes feels almost irreverent of the incredible pain that we are experiencing.  Formulating thanks through our tears is an act of worship to the Sovereign One that He does not take lightly.  He knows. He sees.  He rewards our effort to download His grace in order to gain His perspective in every circumstance.

purposefully thinking thanks in the midst of tragedy is like beginning to climb a rope out of the hole of despair that you find yourself in.

Antidote For Temptation

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Gratitude pictureRecently I was listening to a lecture by Heath Lambert in preparation for my ACBC certification exam.  Lambert said something that grabbed my attention.  He said that gratitude is the opposite to every sin we commit.

James 1:14 shows how every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Lust is wanting what we don’t have, promising you happiness if you follow its promptings.  It is a lie because when you obey the lust, you are not satisfied, but want more.  It is degenerative, spiraling downward.

Practically every sin we commit is a result of a lack of thankfulness

Gratitude, on the other hand, is headed totally in the other direction.  It wants what it already has, and meditates on what it can be th(i)nkful for in its present circumstance.  Thankfulness is the antidote for temptation.

In Ephesians 5 Paul gives two strong verses on being thankful.  In verse 4, giving thanks is the biblical replacement to wrong behavior. The second mention of being thankful comes later in verse 20 as a description of a person filled with the Spirit.

Lambert continued in the lecture to encourage counselors to sit down with people they are working with and help them write out a list of things to be grateful for.  He said to ask the person to put that list in his/her pocket for easy reference.

If you only ever and always would be thankful, you would never sin. Sin struggles to take root and germinate in soil where thankfulness is pervasive. Do you find it motivating that the more thankful you are, the less prone to sin you will be?

When is the last time you made a list of things that you were thankful for?

Heath Lambert. ACBC Foundations Track. Denver, 2015.

Simply Lavender

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simply lavender

One reason I am doing this blog is to get people speaking about and writing down the things for which they are thankful. Most people wait for feelings of thankfulness, but we should live more purposefully. We can obviously be thankful for big things, but much of the joy in life is found in expressing thanks for little things. Lavender for example.

th(i)nkful list about lavender:

  1. the scent makes me feel expensive and classy
  2. lavender has a natural ability to sooth and relax
  3. lavender grows well on the hill around 7 Rivers Farm
  4. lavender is growing presently around our home in Atlanta, GA
  5. I love how God has created herbs to aid the well-being of humans
  6. lavender is the herb “spikenard” referred to in Song of Solomon 4:14
  7. Mary anointed Jesus’ feet in John 12:3 with costly spikenard (lavender oil)
  8. lavender can deter moths in stored clothing
  9. lavender grows usually in neat compact mounds
  10. lavender seems to have insect repellent properties, and maybe even repels snakes
  11. sprinkling lavender flower heads in bath water is such a treat to refresh

Th(i)nkful Lessons In Knysna

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FullSizeRender

Elephants used to roam freely in the forests around Knysna, South Africa.  Today those magical creatures of old have forged their place in legend and literature, as is the case in J.R.R. Tolkien’s oliphants in Lord of the Rings.  Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein, S.A. in 1892, and spent the first three years of his life in South Africa. Olifants is the Afrikaans word for elephant.

Last Saturday I had the privilege of visiting one of the elephant sanctuaries around Knysna, S.A. and took this picture.  They are gentle beasts mostly, as long as food is part of the deal. Touching the tough and scratchy hide is fascinating.  Their massive ears are filled with blood vessels used as a cooling mechanism when they flap. Elephants spend most of their time eating and very little time sleeping, especially if they are in the wild. Elephants are always on the move.

The following day we heard a minister speak on James 1:1-12. He connected count it all joy with verse 5’s asking for wisdom in a way that I had not seen before.  We are to think thanks, or count it all joy, in whatever trial we are in.  When we are being tested, we are to be grateful. Why? Because of verse 3. James says that because we know that the test is for our good, we can engage being th(i)nkful.

Our faith is exposed in trials. If we have compartmentalized our lives, putting our faith in one department, and our everyday living in another, it will be painful to connect the two when difficulties come.  However, if we have synced the two, our faith in that God is using this situation in my life for good, will enable us to respond in trusting joy and to be thankful.

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask God in faith, and it will be given him.  The quest for wisdom is in regard to how we can count it all joy in difficult times. We build our thoughts on the sure foundation that God is in control, trusting in His wisdom and incredible love for us, and then count it all joy. We think thanks.

Just like that elephant who is always on the go looking for food, I should always be on the move looking for what I can think thanks about in my present situation, whether easy or not.  My brain pattern of th(i)nkfulness is increased in strength every time it is exercised.

elephant

Today I am th(i)nkful for:

  • having a safe trip to Africa and back
  • God writing the story of my life every moment in small ways and big
  • the couples traveling with us being so open and teachable
  • Ros and Rob Warren’s Pepperwood Lodge Bed & Breakfast that soothes the soul
  • Grapetizers that are still delicious
  • the Gospel message changing lives

credit to Billy Gotcher, speaking at Lagoonside Baptist, Knysna, S.A. May 28, 2017

Giraffes

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10468354_10152568691852553_1986898248865593378_nHeaded to Africa today.  Love this part of the world where giraffes roam.  I am so thankful that God made these amazing animals.  So elegant and classy. I love their coat and their incredibly long neck that defies evolution.

There are so many things about giraffes that I can think thanks about.  They have long black eyelashes, huge brown eyes, and their purple tongue is extremely long and slimy. Their brown, patchy coat is so mellow and comforting. I love how if they eat too long at a acacia thorn tree, which is one of their favorites, the tree produces a bitter taste in its leaves to make the giraffe stop munching and move to another tree.  Our God is amazing.  So thankful.

Why Th(i)nkful?

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BeautyBeauty can take your breath away. Soft hues of color and reflection in the water have a calming effect on our souls. This scene is from Northland International University, a beloved place in my heart.  It is a remote location in Wisconsin close to the border of Canada.  It snows a lot there.  Living in this place was very similar to where I grew up in Brumunddal, Norway.  The ground stays covered with snow from late November to mid-April.

This picture also represents great sorrow for me.  Sorrow that took my breath away.  Northland closed in 2015. Our expectations to teach and serve at this university for the remainder of our years were destroyed.  We planned one way, but God directed a different way.  God is God, and I am not.

Here in beautiful, yet breathtaking sorrow that God ordained, th(i)nkful was birthed.

th(i)nkful – a determined choice to download grace/strength from the Lord to think thanks about every circumstance that comes my way and express that thanks orally or in a written form.

I choose to trust in your sovereignty, God. Because You have promised that You will never forsake me (Hebrews 13:5), and the fact that life is a vapor (James 4:14), I can, through Your help, think thanks about even the saddest things in my life.

  • Northland served its purpose
  • David and I had the privilege of developing so many relationships for the short time we served there
  • Sometimes wonderful things have to be birthed out of very difficult origins
  • God is writing the story, not me
  • Bjorkeli, the name we gave our little cottage up there in the northwoods, will always be such a sweet memory

I do not know what you are dealing with at the moment.  Maybe you are doing just fine.  Maybe you are not moving through any specifically trying times at all.  Maybe you are not doing well and struggling to cope. In all circumstances, give thanks. All.

photo credit to Kevin Moses

 

Th(i)nkful In The Storm

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Sarah's tree storySince the Bible is the most published piece of literature in human history, and because I personally trust in it explicitly, I decided to do a thorough biblical study of the word “thanks” in all its various forms (such as thank, thankfulness, thanksgiving, thankworthy).

Let me summarize what I found and then connect it with the event in this picture that took place just last week.

Out of the 135 references I found in the Strong’s Concordance, 67 came from the Old Testament, and 68 from the New Testament. Let’s hit a few highpoints.

The references in the OT begin with the Lord’s thanksgiving offerings which were voluntary and were to express thankfulness to God in Lev. 7:11-21. God designed giving thanks as an essential part of the way His chosen people should worship Him.  As the years and the prophets went by, we can also see that whenever there was a revival, a time of cleansing and restoration in Israel, thanksgiving was an integral part.

The Psalms have the most references to thanks of any book in the Bible – no surprise there. When the psalmist was in distress, discouraged, or overwhelmed, he often poured out his heart to God.  As he began truth-thinking about God’s character and promises, his perspective changed and his thoughts were filled with thanksgiving toward God.

Moving to the NT, Colossians has a verse dealing with thanks in every chapter.  In fact, chapter 3 has three verses in a row (3:15-17), where three Greek words are used that are each connected to being thankful.  Check it out.

The strongest verses, Ephesians 5:20 and I Thessalonians 5:18, actually command believers to give thanks in all circumstances.

  • “Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph. 5:20).
  • “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (I Thess. 5:18).

This is just a small sampling of all the verses I found, but such a strong foundation for pursuing being th(i)nkful.  I am cultivating thinking thanks not just for His glory, but also because my Creator has designed this thinking pattern for my benefit.  He wants me to look for the things that I can be thankful for in every situation that comes my way.

There will be times that are heart-wrenching and stretching in my life. I am to think thanks right then, even through the tears. There will be times when I feel like dancing because I am so happy.  I am to think thanks then, but that will be easy.  However, most of life will be in between these extremes, the vast stretches of mundane, everyday life, but even then, all the time, when I wake, and when I go to sleep, I am to think thanks.

I want to end this post with a story from a former student named Sarah.  She and her husband Austin are very precious to David and me. She had an eventful birthday on May 4th, a stormy day just last week.  This is how she described what happened after she left work that day:

I feel that I need to proclaim God’s grace and goodness. After not being able to leave due to trees down on the road, I came back to the house. I had just walked into the living room when we heard cracking and a massive crash. Walked outside to see this [picture above] where I had been only moments earlier. We don’t always know why God spares us from things like this, or why he doesn’t at times. But like Austin says, there are no other alternatives. No “what if’s,” or “if only’s,” we can only trust that if we knew everything He does, we wouldn’t change one thing (used by permission).

Sarah was being th(i)nkful.  She was thinking thanks in the middle of a very frightening and difficult thing.  Rather than bemoaning the destruction of her car, worrying about insurance claims, or how she would get to work, her thoughts went quickly to giving thanks to God.

Th(i)nkful

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Relating Think and Thank

Did you know that the English root word of “thank” comes from think or feel?

In order to be thankful, you have to first think, to formulate in your mind the things you are thankful for.  It doesn’t seem like such a grand new discovery, but it was to me.  I could not just muster up a general spirit of thankfulness.  I had to think of specific things in my mind.  I had to ponder what I was thankful for.

So … Th(i)nkful

th(i)nkful is a blending of thinking and thanking, and is designed to cultivate thinking thanks.

It is estimated that a person may have up to 50,000 thoughts a day.  Many of these thoughts are automatic thoughts because you have conditioned your mind to do something over and over again.  My desire is to inspire you to develop a brain pattern that makes you automatically look for the things that you can think thanks for in every circumstance that you encounter.

Connecting Good With A Giver

Being th(i)nkful is not just being thankful for; it is being thankful to.  It is delivering that beautiful present of your thanks to whom it is due.  God, first and foremost.  He has given you the air you breathe at this second.  He is ultimately the One worthy to receive our th(i)nkful gift.

What if we just harnessed 5 of those 50,000 thoughts each day to focus on numerating 5 things that we are thankful for and wrap that gift up and present it to the Lord. Let me give you an example:

I am thankful that:

  1. I am able to breathe well right now.  No coughing or wheezing.
  2. My eyes work great.  I can see color and even focus with my glasses on.
  3. My incredible husband helped me get this blog started even though I feel such fear and trepidation.
  4. This afternoon I got to WeChat with our youngest child in China and her face made me rejoice.
  5. I can speak a foreign language. God let me learn that as a child growing up in Norway.  That is just so cool!

Thank You, God.

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