Th(i)nkful in Great Change

June 29, 2026 / thinkfulkarin / 1 Comment

Moving Stats

Moving is a huge adjustment, and moving to a new country is even more demanding.

Here’s an interesting statement:

Moving to a new country is a monumental life event, ranking among the top life stressors alongside divorce and job loss. The transition involves a complex blend of psychological, logistical, and financial hurdles.

Having experienced such a move recently, I would agree. Our move was perhaps a bit easier since we moved to a place that spoke English, an area where we had lived 31 years earlier, and we also had family nearby that helped immensely.

However, change comes in a variety of ways and is hard. You sometimes get the privilege of preparing yourself, but at other times, change is thrust upon you suddenly, without warning due to a bad accident, bad news regarding your health, civil unrest, or the outbreak of war. All changes are great opportunities for prayer-soaked wisdom and biblical meditation. They are also great opportunities to be th(i)nkful.

Preparing Yourself

TIME. If you had the privilege of preparation, what could a person do to get ready for change? Part of the preparation could be to realize that adjustments to this change are going to take time. I have to allow myself to adapt to a new normal. It’s ok to grieve the loss of the last normal, but I need to also embrace the new season God is bringing me into.

PHYSICAL CARE. Remember that the physical side of things matters greatly. Our physical, emotional, and spiritual gauges are linked to each other such that a spike or drop in any one of them affects the others. When we are tired, we tend to be more emotional, etc. So, a check on my physical condition is important.

How am I sleeping?
Am I making sure I eat nutritionally?
Am I fighting isolation, getting out with people even if it is not for very long?
Have I had a physical checkup recently?
Am I exercising? Maybe take a walk and pray as I walk. I heard yesterday that Adoniram Judson had a habit of walking and praying in the early morning each day for many years, and that it was of great physical and spiritual help to him.

Adoniram Judson https://thomaskidd.substack.com/p/exercise-and-the-writing-life

SOUL CARE. After addressing the physical side, I turn my attention to the soul care that is needed. First on the list, in my mind, is to write out a list of things that I can think thanks about, regardless of my new struggles, or any circumstances, for that matter.

I am redeemed by the blood of the Lamb (Ephesians 1:7)
God never changes even if my circumstances do (Numbers 23:19)
I have access to the Word of God (Romans 10:8)
God is God and I am not (Isaiah 40, 55:8-11)
God often asked His faithful servants to go through great change (Hebrews 11)
God is faithful and trustworthy (Psalm 103)
God is good (Psalm 34:8)
God is merciful and gracious (Exodus 34:6)
God has given us promises that we can lean on like that He will never leave us of forsake us (Hebrews 13:5)
He promises supernatural peace when we bring our concerns to Him wrapped in thanksgiving (Phil.4:6)
Change has to happen for growth to occur (2 Corinthians 3:18)
I can find His sweet fingerprints in my every-day life (they are all over the place if you search)

CHOOSING AN ANCHOR. When my mom passed away years ago, someone wisely told me to ask the Lord for a special verse I could cling to as an anchor for my soul. I did that, and meditating and leaning on that scripture was of great comfort. God uses His Word to keep us settled in Him. I often make up a little chorus using the words of the verse, and then sing it to myself for self-counsel. Great habit!

When you rehearse these stabilizing truths, it paves the way for steadfastness even if going through great change.

Earthly Changes Through A Heavenly Lens

Change is made traumatic when it involves the loss of something you identified with – I was an accountant and lost my job, or I was a Virginian but moved out of state. If we summon up our biblical identity, earthly changes don’t hold as much weight.

When I trusted in Christ, my old self, with its earthly identities, died (Colossians 3:1-4). I am now a citizen of heaven (Philippians 3:20-21). I am now part of the embassy staff as an ambassador (2 Corinthians 5:20). I am a stranger here, a foreigner walking this earth, this valley of shadows and dust, longing to go home to an unbroken country and a celestial city with rivers and gardens better than Eden ever had (Hebrews 11:13-16, Revelation 21-22).

I need to live lightly in this world and heavily toward eternity. I need to frame earthly life through eternal realities, viewing changes and losses here as inevitable in a broken world. This world has lost its charm, so I will set my affections on things above, things to come.

Yes, big moves are important, and we need to navigate them correctly, but I need to live my short todays in light of the eternal tomorrow. An international move from one home to another is not so big when neither place is really my “home.” The Lord is my real estate; He has been our dwelling place in all generations (Psalm 90:1). Goodbyes are temporary, and when we get home those goodbyes will be no more.

God’s Track Record

It seems to me that when I begin to look for all the things God has done, and is doing, that my focus changes from irritation to calmness. He is in control! He knows how many hairs are on my head. He knows what I am going through right now and even has a purpose for all of it. He does not waste pain or discomfort. I can rest in the fact that He wants me to be conformed to Jesus, and that all the changes I may go through have an end goal of accomplishing that.

If there was never any change, there would not be growth. Dead things don’t change. We must have change! It is crucial. Meditating on that truth has been edifying. So even if it may be uncomfortable and I may cry from time to time, change is necessary. I must embrace what God has for me today, at this moment.

I do not know what changes you are going through, but I want to encourage you to set your mind above and to embrace the new normal with deliberate joy. Emotions may take a bit longer, but deep joy comes from within. Knowing that you have done what the Father has asked of you is a great foundation for deep joy.

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”

Joshua 1:9

Frame It!

May 25, 2026May 25, 2026 / thinkfulkarin / Leave a comment

Heaven’s Perspective

How do you frame your experiences?

By framing, I am referring to the way that you interpret something. Think of the mental lens in which you process your experiences and conversations.

We must interpret or frame earthly life through eternal realities. How does heaven evaluate my job….my troubles….our politics….the wars? It sees eternal values, eternal plans, and an eternal timeline…..over which God is in full control….and it interprets things differently. Having heaven’s perspective results in several things:

Sinning Less – the priority of purity
- I Peter 2:11 – “Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the the soul”
- 2 Peter 3:13-14 – “But according to His promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by Him without spot or blemish, and at peace.”
Suffering Well – Eternal rewards dwarf earthly pain
- 2 Corinthians 4:16-5:8 “This light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory.“
- Romans 8:18 – “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”
- Heaven gives earthly sorrows a different proportion – it resizes our suffering. Present suffering is not ultimate.
Saying Goodbyes – Every goodbye is temporary
- Colossians 3:4 – “When Christ who is your life appears, then you also with appear with Him in glory.”
- Heaven means the best fellowship is still ahead. This is especially meaningful to me at present as we leave living in Africa for the new season that awaits us.
- Heaven is heaven because Christ is its center – it is precious because Jesus is there. One day, all Christ’s people will gather around His throne from every tribe and tongue and nation.
- There will be no more departures, no more funerals, no more farewells or final sermons, no more tears, and no more sin or pain. We will see Christ as He is. And when that day comes, the years we spent serving together here will seem like a very inferior ghetto existence.
- Heaven is better than the garden of Eden. It has rivers and gardens and trees (like the tree of life) and streets and dwelling places for you and for me. The Great City will come down and plant itself into the earth, and national delegations will visit and bring offerings for the King. It is another dimension that we have not been able to detect. And it will last forever.

Christians are people learning to live their short todays in light of the long tomorrow.

The crucial aspect of living differently is thinking differently – framing makes a big difference.

We rethink our experiences over and over. It’s good to journal and process, but it is vital that we rethink with the framework that God knows every tiny detail and is doing things for a purpose (Romans 8:28-29).

Numbering Gratitude

I have a dear kindred friend, Dawn, who actually counts her th(i)nkful posts. She sent this to me today because she hit 5000!!

She is framing her experiences in life through the lens of gratitude.

Take Joseph in Genesis. He was able to resist bitterness towards his brothers who did him such harm by selling him into slavery in a foreign country (Genesis 37-50). He instead framed all that he went through as actually designed by God to help preserve the family line from starvation (Genesis 50:20). That takes a lot of grace and trust in the sovereignty of our God.

I was inspired and have started numbering my daily th(i)nkful listings. Just think of rereading thousands of things for which we thank God and being encouraged all over again. Sounds a lot like Colossians 2:7.

“rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.”

Grateful While Suffering

I want to be clear about the fact that being th(i)nkful is not just being happy. You can be going through a very hard season and yet think thanks. Those two things are not opposites.

Faith does not force us to choose between honest grief and genuine gratitude. We can bring what is painful before God while still rejoicing in His goodness and grace.

https://www.biblicalcounselingcoalition.org/2026/05/15/when-it-could-be-worse-but-its-still-hard/

Yes, I don’t have to pretend everything is just perfect as I count my gratitude. I can lament my sorrow and tell the Lord that it hurts like crazy.

But I can call to mind that Jesus knows all about great sorrow. He has been there, tasted that, and knows all about those feelings of heaviness.

What a deep inner joy to know that although this life is full of very heavy boulders of grief and sorrow, we have a Saviour who has overcome. When He rose from the dead , He won over sin, and death and sorrow. Living with Eternity stamped on the back of our eyelids helps us remember that mindset.

My momma wanted this verse on her tombstone when she passed.

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

Revelation 21:4

Serving Others During Suffering Builds Gratitude

Anxious thoughts are often propelled away by thankful thoughts. The battle is really fought in the mind. What do we think about? What is our focus?

We find joy in choosing to frame our lives with God’s perspective and learn to abound with thankfulness. When we become interested in how we can encourage and help someone else, it does something to us personally. Reaching out and helping others have a way of edifying ourselves. That mindset gives purpose to hard seasons we may be going through. Perhaps this is something God is giving me to bridge into other people’s lives?

Joni Eareckson Tada wrote an article subtitled, “How Quadriplegia Prepared Me to Carry Others.”

When we long for heaven and the joys set before us, the things of this world grow dim, loose their importance and lustre. We can focus on others and how we can help them.

Let’s number our gratitude into the thousands.

“But we your people, the sheep of your pasture,
will give thanks to you forever;
from generation to generation we will recount your praise.”

Psalm 79:13

Let us frame our lives with God’s grace and gratitude to Him, looking for that Celestial City (Hebrews 11:16).

Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.

Colossians 3:2

Wow, God!

April 29, 2026 / thinkfulkarin / Leave a comment

Th(i)nkful

Do you ever just write down things that you are thankful for? It doesn’t have to be big things, but it could be. It could be the breeze on your skin, the sound of water, or birds singing, or a friend’s laughter. The list could include having enough money to buy groceries this week or to put increasingly precious fuel in your car. On and on the list goes … if, and only if, you take the time to sit and think. And that’s what th(i)nkful is all about.

Making a th(i)nkful list was an exercise that we did at a conference we we attended recently. We were to write on little post-it notes one thing we thanked God for and then stick it on the big “Wow, God” board. It was so fun to walk by that board and read new things that were added throughout the week.

It was inspiring. It felt like good peer pressure, prompting the thought, “Certainly, I can think of more things to write down.” It might be a good idea for your home or a Sunday school class or a Youth room.

It seems to me that the more I look for God’s fingerprints and glory, the more I recognize it and want to express gratitude.

Some Things Are Hard

It’s one thing to write down things you are thankful for, but it is another thing to write down things that are hard, that you need help with. Most of us have no problem thinking of things for which we need the Father’s help. The Bible calls these “supplications” – asking for God’s supply to meet your needs. If you ask on behalf of others, the Bible calls that “intercession.”

He has told us in Matthew 11:28-30 to come to Him with our burdens. He also says in Philippians 4:6 to present our concerns to Him with thanksgiving.

“… do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” Philippians 4:6

When you develop the th(i)nkful muscle, you can take those things and wrap them up with a thankful cloth. Yes, you really need God’s help to do this, but it is possible. It is not taking away the yuckiness, but instead saying to God, “This is hard for me, but I am thankful that You love me and am with me every moment, God. You will help me navigate through this test as I acknowledge You in my life and think correctly even about the super yuck things.”

Rooted and Built Up

There is a requirement, though, for you to wrap the difficult, prickly things in your life with thanksgiving. That requirement is that you have to be “rooted and built up in Him.”

rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

Colossians 2:7

Those roots need to grow deeply into the soil of God’s Word. Down in that soil, we tap into the nutrition of the character of God and the life-giving water of the Spirit. That is the key to thriving in hard times.

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. He is like a tree planted by water that sends out its roots by the stream and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.” Jeremiah 17:7-8

To know God well is to fear Him, love Him, and trust Him. And because we trust Him in all things, we can thank Him in all things. This is one reason why Christians study the Bible so much – to know our amazing God better, and by knowing Him, to be able to frame our circumstances correctly and respond to them as we should.

“God in His love always wills what is best for us. In His wisdom, He always knows what is best, and in His sovereignty He has the power to bring it about.”

Jerry Bridges

Wow, God’s

Of the many things I have thanked God for this past year, some of the greatest are that David and I have been able to train, mentor, and encourage young couples who were recently married. Relationships are a mess worth making because redeemed souls can mature into capable servants of the Lord who will spread His Truth to the new generations that are coming up.

What a joy to pour courage over them to know, love, trust, and thank the Lord … and to be flexible, to learn to selflessly love one another, and to be a picture to the world of Christ and His beloved bride.

Everywhere you look in your life there are “Wow, God’s.” He is coming soon. Let us provoke each other to think thanks – to cultivate the habit of thankfulness – firstly, because He commands it (Ephesians 5:20; I Thessalonians 5:18), and secondly, because it helps us to thrive and produce fruit, even in hard times.

What are your “Wow, God’s?”

Anxious or Anchored?

January 19, 2026May 4, 2026 / thinkfulkarin / Leave a comment

We Are No Strangers to Storms

The wind was howling. Its strength visible by the leaning of the trees along the coast of the Indian Ocean. Storms here come in such varieties. Some park over the sea and churn buckets of water on the earth below reshaping large rivers and beaches overnight. Some have gusts that shake the very foundations of the earth, twisting infrastructure and edifice alike. And some have all of the above.

How do you feel in a storm? Do you remember cosy times cuddled by a fireplace reading and not worrying an iota? Perhaps you have a different recollection of a storm that wreaked havoc on your life and took precious things from you?

Rescue workers go on high alert during such storms. They have been trained to know what are the first and foremost things to get accomplished. They have tools and equipment that are essential, and tough vehicles that can chew their way through the rubble and high waters to get into ravaged places to rescue the perishing. So thankful for these people.

How wise is the person that prepares ahead of the storm so that when it hits, he is ready. This is true when you are at sea perhaps more than any other place. Whereas the ground tends to be firm, and can even be burrowed into for safety, the sea can be a merciless place that tosses you about for days and even weeks without a break.

Almost the very definition of hopelessness is someone adrift at sea in a horrible storm with no motor, no sails, no oars, and no anchor.

Anchored

Maybe you feel that a storm is raging inside you. Outside, you may appear just fine to others. But in your thoughts and emotions, you are in a horrible storm battling the foreboding winds of change, loss, challenge, or uncertainty. Dark clouds on the horizon vow that even more is coming. Alone, your tears fall like heavy rain. Your thoughts spin and lurch like a rudderless ship with the sails all torn. Hope seems like a bad joke. You don’t know what to think or do next. I know. I have been there, too.

Emotions are real, but they are not reality. When we are in a storm, we must send our minds down beyond our circumstances, down to a deeper reality … and give our emotions a bit of time to follow. You see, we have an anchor. Our minds have a chain of truths that go down deep and are connected to an anchor set firmly into a Rock that does not move. We are connected. We are held. We belong. We are tethered in the storm by the Author and Measurer of the storm. The storm teaches us the power of the Rock and underscores the need for a good anchor that can hold us fast in the dreadful waves that throw our souls back and forth. ⚓️

“We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain,”

Hebrews 6:19

Go from Anxious to A.N.C.H.O.R.E.D.

I came across a helpful tool recently. It gives a simple reminder to the person who is the midst of a storm of anxiety, but desires to gradually leave that state and feel anchored.

A — Acknowledge God’s Sovereign Presence — Psalm 23:4; Psalm 139:1-12; Joshua 1:9; Isaiah 41:10,13; Psalm 46:1

N — Name the Fears and Lies Beneath the Anxiety — Psalm 139:23-24; Psalm 19:14; Lamentations 3:40

C — Confess Unbelief and Self-Dependence — I John 1:9; Psalm 32:5; Psalm 51:10; Proverbs 28:13

H — Hold Fast to God’s Promises in Christ — Proverbs 3:5; Isaiah 26:3; Hebrews 10:23

O — Orient Your Mind to Scripture — Lamentations 3:21; Psalm 119:11; Joshua 1:8; Psalm 1:2

R — Redirect Desires Toward God’s Kingdom — Colossians 3:1-2; Matthew 6:33; Psalm 37:4

E — Entrust Cares to God Through Thankful Prayer — Philippians 4:6; Psalm 37:3,5; I Peter 5:7; I Thessalonians 5:16-18; Psalm 28:7; Colossians 4:2

D — Do the Next Faithful Step — Psalm 37:23; Proverbs 3:6; Micah 6:8; Philippians 3:13-14; Proverbs 4:25-27

@Biblical Counselors Society

Are You Anchored?

You may think you are anchored, but when a raging storm threatens your tranquility, your anxieties become apparent. Perhaps your anchor and chain of truths are not sufficiently strong. Perhaps they are not set into the Rock but are unhelpfully dragging along the bottom. You are being thrown and tossed, bruised and broken.

The world becomes a strange, mad, painful place, and life in it a disappointing and unpleasant business, for those who do not know about God. Disregard the study of God, and you sentence yourself to stumble and blunder through life blindfolded, as it were, with no sense of direction and no understanding of what surrounds you.”

J. I. Packer,

Knowing God

The world experiences peace circumstantial, but the Christian’s peace is not anchored in happenstance or circumstance but in the character of our Heavenly Father.”

Jonny Ardavanis, Consider the Lilies

“Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all.”

2 Thessalonians 3:16

I want to end by encouraging you to write out the acronym for A.N.C.H.O.R.E.D. and look up the verses that support it. It will be a step of establishing a secured anchoring in TRUTH.

Christ The Sure And Steady Anchor

Christ the sure and steady anchor in the fury of the storm
When the winds of doubt blow through me and my sails have all been torn
In the suffering, in the sorrow when my sinking hopes are few
I will hold fast to the anchor, it shall never be removed

Christ the sure and steady anchor while the tempest rages on
When temptation claims the battle and it seems the night has won
Deeper still then goes the anchor though I justly stand accused
I will hold fast to the anchor, it shall never be removed

Christ the sure and steady anchor through the floods of unbelief
Hopeless, somehow, o my soul now lift your eyes to calvary
This my ballast of assurance see His love forever proved
I will hold fast to the anchor, it shall never be removed

Christ the sure and steady anchor as we face the wave of death
When these trials give way to glory and we draw our final breath
We will cross that great horizon, clouds behind and life secured
And the calm will be the better, for the storms that we endured
Christ the shore of our salvation, ever faithful, ever true
We will hold fast to the anchor, it shall never be removed

Matt Papa

Thanksliving

December 22, 2025 / thinkfulkarin / Leave a comment

Daily Giving Thanks

He showed up!!

What an incredible thing!!!

The Father fulfilled the promise He made. The Son came as a baby to live a perfect life and then die, not for Himself, but for me and you so we could have forgiveness, reconciliation, transformation, and hope (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Thank You, Lord Jesus!!

My friend, Karen Tinsley, alerted me to this quote:

“Incorporating thanksgiving as a daily habit will translate into ‘thanksliving.'”

“Feature” A Daily Bible Study Guide

Love this concept of incorporating thanksgiving as a daily habit. Thanking Him for coming to die for our sins, not just at Christmas time, but all year long. Thanking Him for His grace and mercy, His many blessings every single day, His voice in His Word, His fingerprints in my circumstances, His closeness and promises in the refiner’s furnace ~ thanksliving.

My Th(i)nkful Friend

Every Monday I exchange thinkful lists with others who are learning to cultivate thinking thanks even when it’s so hard. I have done it for years with Grace, but recently I have started with another dear friend Cherie. Look what she texted me this Monday morning:

Thinkful
God’s will for my life doesn’t need to be found; it needs to be obeyed. And His will is that I’m thankful in all things. I certainly struggle with this, so I’m trying to train my mind as often as I can. These Mondays help so much. In everything give thanks for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

By God’s Spirit and God’s strength, I’m a thankful person. He is helping me to be thinking about being thankful.

When I struggle to find things to practically be thankful for, I remind myself of this:

My salvation. God saved me so I will rebound my gratitude back to Him. 2 Corinthians 4:15.
⁠The sovereignty of God. He is not only in control of every kingdom but over every part of my life.
⁠Thankful that God forgives me. Psalm 103:12 / 1 John 1:19.
⁠I’m thankful for the love of God.
⁠God’s word. Scripture stirs us up.
⁠The people of God. The people God puts into our lives. Ephesians 1:16 / Philippians 1:3
⁠The promise of heaven. John 14:2-3. Rejoicing that our names are written there.
⁠His provision. Philippians 4:19
⁠The faithfulness of God. Psalm 92:1-2. Great is the faithfulness, standing with Him is never unknown.
⁠He answers our prayer. Isaiah 65:24 / Psalm 4:3
⁠God is with us. Psalm 139:7-10

My list for today

I was able to ask my son Seth for forgiveness
⁠I was able to forgive him and restore our relationship
⁠In these, showing him Christ and what Christ has done for us
⁠We are praying about a little dog Seth wants, but we have to wait on a few things and it’s an opportunity to teach Seth to pray and trust God
⁠I was able to do a walk this weekend and one day of gym last week
⁠No headache today
⁠Summer is here
⁠I am redeemed
⁠Jesus is coming soon 🙌🏻🙏🏻🕊️

*Cherie gave me permission to share this*

Thanksliving in Action

Wow! Cherie is an inspiration to me. I know her life is not easy. She has great challenges, but she is willingly thanking God anyway. She chooses to focus on Him and His Word, His character and His promises. Good example to follow.

Lord, I need You. It’s so hard for me to have this thanksliving way of life. Please help me. Remind me of Your love for me, how You know everything about me and yet desire a relationship with me. Thank you for Cherie’s testimony. May I do likewise as we both run this race of life and long for Your return.

In Jesus name,

Amen

Be a thinkful Cherie now and going forward into 2026!

Put On the Brakes

November 26, 2025 / thinkfulkarin / 2 Comments

Slow Down!

Screech….

The brakes did their job, but you could smell burnt brake pads. The accident did not happen, but man, was it close. My heart rate was accelerated and I felt uncomfortable.

Have you ever been extremely close to a wreck? It instills a deep desire in you to try to avoid those situations in the future. I remember my Driver’s Ed teacher in high school saying we should stop with enough distance to see the tires of the car in front of us.

Let me introduce you to a really cool word!

Are you familiar with the word sophron?

Such a great word!

Quick meaning could be ~ put on the brakes ~ according to Nancy Wolgemuth in her book, “Adorned: Living Out The Beauty of the Gospel Together” (p. 163).

Sometimes there are natural pauses where it is easy to use the time to reflect on the things you are thankful for. Like we just finished a weeklong module of teaching in Egypt. It was easy to stop, during the week and after the week was done, to recount what we were thankful for.

That we had the joy of teaching this material to godly adults
The students were enthusiastic and loving toward us and the teaching
That we ourselves were encouraged by reviewing the truths from God’s Word
That we had a chance to help buy new TV’s to replace the old small ones, improving future visual learning in that classroom
Camaraderie with fellow staff and teachers

But sometimes, it is not so easy to stop and list things you are thankful for, especially when something or someone needs fixing! The Apostle Paul was concerned for the churches every day (2 Corinthians 11:28), yet when he wrote to those churches about urgent issues they were facing, he would put on the brakes and begin his letters by giving thanks for them before he would address different matters.

Self-Controlled Th(i)nkfulness

Reading through Titus 2, we find an exhortation for sober-minded self control.

Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled (Titus 2:1-5).

Paul’s words are commending seriousness. There is a need for women to exercise self-control. Leaders in the church also need these qualities.

A new song we sang a few Sundays ago at our Phoenix Fellowship here in Durban, South Africa, drove home this point. The unusual title of the song was, “Give Me Self-Control.”

Self control is curbing your impulses and emotions, but it also includes controlling your pace, your pauses, and your pondering such that you keep a sane and sound mind. So many people are “run” by their job, their children, their pets, or the expectations of family and friends. Putting on the brakes to think thanks is an integral part of regaining a sound mind.

Resolutely untangling myself from the anxious demands of the next item on my to-do list, I have an opportunity to regain a balanced perspective, to see the strong hand of my sovereign God above all that is happening, to be mindful of hasty choices I am making, and to recommit myself to live slowly enough to discern His will and way for me.

I know that He desires me to think thanks in every circumstance because He tells me in His Word (I Thessalonians 5:18). But most often I need to stop in order to think. The impulse to be driven by outside demands must be controlled. So, choosing to be characterized by sophron, I am in a good place to develop a practice of thinking thanks.

Putting on the brakes in my life doesn’t mean I am not still busy doing the job set before me. It means that I am allowing the Holy Spirit to help me proceed with self control and wisdom.

When we’re not sophron, we don’t have any margin or heart for kindness.”

“Adorned,” Nancy DeMoss Woldemuth

A Little Introspection

Are you sophron? Does that describe or characterize you? It should.

Why not start fostering that quality in your life today?

Take a moment to put the brakes on. Slow down your pace and emotions, cherish your pauses, and meditate on truth. Regain a sound mind through self-control. You did that by stopping to read this blog post. Well done! The Holy Spirit is with you, inside you, and can help you become peaceful and trusting of the Lord’s sovereignty in your life.

Write down seven things that you are thankful for right now. And a step further share those seven things with a good friend. It’s edifying to them, too.

Thinkful Muscle

October 21, 2025October 21, 2025 / thinkfulkarin / Leave a comment

Using Those Muscles

“Don’t give up! Lean in! Use those muscles!” We had the privilege to climb a mountain in Norway recently. As our age climbs, the mountains are harder to climb. We had to reawaken muscles who thought they had reached retirement.

The view was worth it as we looked out over a seaside town through sunshine and light hail. But it was hard going up … and then hard in a different way going back down.

You have to want to achieve the goal. Then you push and take steps to make it happen.

One foot in front of the other, step by step, you push forward. It was my first time to use hiking poles for balance and support. Very helpful! Felt professional.

Thinkful Muscle

Choosing to download grace from the Lord to think thanks about every circumstance in my life takes muscle. It takes the heart: “I want this change in my life.” It takes the will: “I will choose daily or as often as needed to stop and speak or write out things I am thankful for.” It takes the mind: “OK, now looking back through this day or this circumstance, what can I be thankful for?”

This does not come naturally, at least not to start with. But after those muscles have been engaged and used repeatedly, it does begin to come more automatically. That is a benefit of being “in th(i)nkful shape.”

Friend, when you choose to ask God for grace to process things with gratitude, you are exercising yourself towards godliness. You are obeying God’s command to give thanks in everything.

But honestly, it can feel like climbing a mountain. Every step feels hard and you have to choose to pursue your goal.

If you practice being grateful, even under duress, that can help you develop the attitude that makes you resilient as you move through tremendous difficulty.

Dr. Jordan B. Petersons

Even people who are not believers realize the importance!

Muscle Development

To get fit, you need a plan. David and I tried to take lots of walks on the hills around where we live to prepare for our mountain hike. We chose hills that were steep to begin to push our thigh muscles to get ready. Yes, it was a bit uncomfortable. We would sweat and breathe heavily, and some people who watched us pass by wondered if we would pass out, or pass away, before reaching the top … but slowly, it got easier.

The same is true with developing your thinkful muscle. Although it may feel awkward and unnatural, you choose to write down some things you are thankful for. Maybe it’s just one a week at first, but you build up to one a day, maybe even three+ a day.

As that gratitude muscle gets fit, it will amaze you how quickly you can blurt out one thing after another of what you are thankful to God for, even during difficulties.

That is climbing the Thinkful Mountain!

Joy Along Life’s Path

As I was pushing my leg muscles climbing up the mountain, I would take a pause and turn around looking how far I had already gone and the view from where I was.

It gave me inspiration to go on (and needed oxygen). We also met some who were descending because they were afraid of getting caught in a heavy downpour. Fully understandable! The one lady looked at me and said in Norwegian that she had some regret though that they had turned around.

If you pursue getting your thinkful muscle fit, I believe you will have no regrets. Becoming more of a natural at giving thanks to God for Who He is and all He does, will pour courage and joy in your heart.

Joy multiplies when exercising with friends

Embrace with Joy!

August 25, 2025 / thinkfulkarin / 1 Comment

A Divine Appointment

David was doing his simple magic trick for some little children during an evening fellowship meal at Fellowship Bible in Springdale, AR. The kids were intrigued that the wad of paper that disappeared could, seconds later, be pulled from their ear.

While David was keeping these little ones spellbound, a lady introduced herself to me and we began chatting. Cathy and her husband knew some of the same people we did from Citadel Bible College years ago. She had grown up as a MK in Congo, and then later with her husband, they had served the Lord for thirty years in Mindanao, Philippines. They moved back Stateside about six years ago.

When I asked how that transition had gone, she smiled and said it was very, very difficult.

Change is Hard!!

And a big change, like changing countries, is even harder.

Many people moving cross-culturally have fought heart-wrenching struggles. Exchanging the familiar for foreign, replacing routine with constant trial-and-error, and discovering new types of humor, privacy zones, and communication styles is exhausting. All the changes slide them down into a spiral from which they can’t find their way out. Culture shock is mental-emotional trauma, and even more tricky is “reverse culture shock,” because people don’t expect to feel like strangers when they return to their old “home.”

Mentally choosing to go down the different path of trusting in God’s Word and His promises, instead of the natural path of worrying thoughts and doubts, takes a huge and persistent amount of effort.

“Trust is not a passive state of mind. It is a vigorous act of the soul by which we choose to lay hold on the promises of God and cling to them despite the adversity that at times seeks to overwhelm us.”

Jerry Bridges

The New Motto

As Cathy continued her description she mentioned something that intrigued me.

“It was like a never ending funeral leaving the Philippines for me. Till my kindergarten roommate Marilyn wrote me. She said, ‘I know it’s hard coming home. But I want to challenge you to embrace this new change with Joy.’ That made a whole big change in my thinking and emotions. I have had such Joy here embracing what this season has brought.“

Cathy shared how she decided to follow the advice from her friend and “embrace with joy” this new season. It was a mind game. Instead of recounting the hardships, sorrows, and frustrations, she would look for the joy, the gifts from the Lord, that were all over the place just waiting to be discovered.

She chose to journal and write down these gifts. Some gifts were hard, but it was amazing to find nuggets of joy embedded even in the hard things. I was reminded that in the gold mines under Johannesburg, gold appears as black spots in the otherwise gray rock. The black is chiseled out and with heat the gold takes on its familiar color. God’s hard things have to be refined with thankfulness to draw out their true color and worth.

Terry and Cathy now do a Neighborhood Bible Club where they live. Cathy also gets to spend time with her grandson teaching him.

Why Embrace New Seasons?

Why do we need to embrace new seasons with joy? Because it gives the honor and credit to the One who made the change and controls all things in my life. To fuss and fight and complain and lash out is an empty effort to seize control.

Down deep, we believe God has done something wrong – He has left things too ambiguous, hasn’t fixed what I want fixed, has been too slow, isn’t listening, doesn’t care – and we embrace a host of slanderous thoughts and lies. We say we are frustrated with our circumstances, but actually we’re frustrated with the God behind those circumstances.

God knows what He’s doing! He can be trusted! We need to say this over and over to ourselves as we wait upon Him and His timeline. He is the sovereign, dependable Shepherd who is micromanaging the details of our lives, even through the valleys of dark shadows.

It is best to let God be God as the Author of our lives and the changes He leads us through. Scan the names in the Hebrews 11 “Hall of Faith” and see how many of those people God took through massive changes and cross-cultural moves. God moved them to new places and into new seasons … and they stayed faithful because they trusted in God’s character!

How Do I Embrace New Seasons?

If He has allowed a difficult change in your life, go to Him and pour out your heart before Him because He is a refuge for us, but make sure you TRUST Him!!

“Trust in him at all times, O people;
pour out your heart before him;
God is a refuge for us.“

Psalm 62:8

So if I was to begin to try to embrace a new season in my life, how should I do that? Can I suggest baby steps?

Firstly, maybe ask for God’s help and get a journal to record just three things a week that have brought you joy and for which you can be thinkful. Then after a few weeks, try to find one or two joys each day. I think you will discover them when you put the right glasses on. They are all over.

When a person gets a proper view of how infinite God’s mind is, how steadfast His love and faithfulness to us is, how comprehensive His knowledge of our details is, and sees how much the whole creation is filled with His glory, it results in submission to whatever He ordains. There is blessing and praise that come with that mindset (Proverbs 31:30). This is a beautiful thing that happens to a person who fears the Lord.

Learning How It Works

When David showed the little girls how the magic trick worked, they became so excited to try it themselves. They struggled at first – it was a new skill – but with practice they, too, in time would be able to give joy to others.

Governing your thoughts is no easy trick, but in time you, also, can learn the “magic” of embracing your new season with joy. Step by step God is teaching us to trust Him and embrace whatever He sends.

“Be still my soul the Lord is on thy side

Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain

Leave to thy God to order and provide

In every change He faithful will remain”

God’s Journal

June 23, 2025 / thinkfulkarin / 2 Comments

Thankful Remembrance

“Then those who feared the LORD spoke with one another. The LORD paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the LORD and esteemed his name.”

Malachi 3:16

God is God. He doesn’t need to write something down to remember it. But this passage states that God is listening to certain human beings. He listens with interest and delight as believers who are in awe of Him talk about Him and think of ways to honor His name. He has ordered that a “book of remembrance” be written about those believers. It seems that this is His ongoing journal covering centuries of conversations between believers.

There are a few verses that talk about books in the Bible:

Exodus 32:32 says that Moses referred to God’s book
Psalm 56:8 refers to a book where the Lord keeps count of our tears
Psalm 69:28 references a book of the living
Daniel 7:10 says the books being opened
Daniel 12:1 mentions names being written in a book
Revelation 13:8 mentions the Book of Life
Revelation 20:12 mentions the books being opened
Revelation 20:15 The Book of Life and the books are opened

It is interesting to note that ancient kings, like the kings of Persia, had books to keep track of memorable deeds that needed to be rewarded.

On that night the king could not sleep. And he gave orders to bring the book of memorable deeds, the chronicles, and they were read before the king. And it was found written how Mordecai had told about Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs, who guarded the threshold, and who had sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus. And the king said, “What honor or distinction has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?”

Esther 6:1-3

In Malachi, God is dealing with Israel because of their sin. He addresses their empty, hypocritical worship, teaching error, adultery and murmuring. But then as a great encouragement He says that He has been listening to the faithful ones. Of course nothing is hidden from the Lord. He sees our hearts and motives. He knows us better than we know ourselves. But He has apparently directed an angelic scrivener to keep an ongoing Book of Remembrance about the faithful ones and their conversations.

God is thinking thanks!! What!?

The Lord states that He remembers. He even says that those who feared the Lord and spoke to each other about God would not only be remembered, but also be His own special and treasured possession, like jewels were in ancient times.

They shall be mine, says the LORD of hosts, in the day when I make up my treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him.

Malachi 3:17

The Lord God doesn’t need to thank anyone. He is the author of all! He deserves the praise, the gratitude, the worship. That is why it is so fascinating that He, God, would “write down” the names of the faithful ones.

Searching For My Name

But … is my name in His journal? If I could do a word search, could I even find my name? If so, what was the quality of my words, and were they unmixed with self-interest? How many times has He listened while I spoke to others about Him with joyful amazement and high esteem?

Or have my sentiments about the Lord and His works just been private and kept to myself? Private feelings don’t get recorded. A journal entry requires the Lord to hear us talking to each other about Him.

Your Book

To be “godly” is to be “god-like.” God keeps a journal of people and conversations He is thankful for. Do you have a book of remembrance? Do you write down things for which you are remembering to think thanks?

I also wonder if those words in Malachi 3:16-17 were written for us to remember that God will reward righteousness. The Bema Seat is coming. And the beauty in all this is that whatever we thought, said, or did that was pleasing to the Lord we could do only with His help. Yet, He says that we will be spared as a man spares his only son.

The Lord Jesus exhorted His disciples to rejoice because their names were written in heaven (Luke 10:20). In Colossians 1:12-14 the Lord exhorts us to give thanks because He has delivered us from the domain of darkness.

“… giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.“

Delayed

God’s reward is delayed. It is like the student that works hard all year and then at graduation is granted an award. The Israelites in Malachi had grown weary from waiting on the Lord. They felt like He didn’t see, He didn’t really care. They grew envious of the wicked.

We, too, can begin to grow weary and feel like it doesn’t really matter. “The Lord doesn’t see what I do, what I think about and treasure in my heart.” But that is a LIE! He does see. He does know all things, and nothing can be hidden from El Roi (the God who sees).

Be encouraged, you who fear, esteem, and converse! The Lord knows who you are, faithful ones. He will remember and reward. He wants us to keep on keeping on till the end. Even our precious Lord Jesus kept the end in view.

“looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Hebrews 12:2

Start them young!!

A Knife At Her Throat

March 31, 2025March 31, 2025 / thinkfulkarin / Leave a comment

The Attempted Hijacking

All four ladies were chatting pleasantly as they drove up to the intersection. Adaleen’s window was halfway down due to the hot temperatures outside. Out of nowhere the assailant’s hand reached in through the open window and pulled the keys out of the ignition, stalling the car. Shock gripped all the women. Adaleen crossed her hands on her chest and became completely still.

Her coworker in the front passenger seat quickly locked the doors as the assailant had forced the locks open. The war of unlock – lock went on for a second or two. Then the hijacker put a knife to Adaleen’s neck. She did not see the knife, but the passenger in the back saw it, and proceeded to throw her lunch pail at the man, which caught him off guard. At that very moment, a security guard drove up behind the car being hijacked. When the attackers saw the guard, they ran. The guy who had taken the keys threw them behind him as he ran.

A Guard’s Witness

The guard came up and checked on them. After telling him that no one was hurt, he asked them to drive up the road a bit to get out of this dangerous area. He wanted to chat with them. They did so. The guard said, “God protected you. I never come down this way, but for some reason I did today” (thank you, God!).

Wow! All four of the women were so shaken up. The one lady who had thrown her lunch pail, realized that her ID as well as her brother’s insulin medicine was in the pail that the men had taken. So they needed to go to a chemist (pharmacy) to get more medicine.

The Test of a Wrong Response

The first pharmacy was located right next to a liquor store. Adaleen was the only believer in the car. She is a young Christian who was baptized only last December, but before Christ, she struggled with sinful addictions. One of the other ladies said she would run over to the liquor store and buy some alcohol for Adaleen so she could stop shaking, but Adaleen said no, she would instead go home and talk to God to calm her.

That phamacy didn’t have the insulin needed so they had to go to a second pharmacy which was located right close to where Adaleen used to buy weed (marijuana). She was again tempted, but refused to run to those sources to cope. She dropped off her friends and headed home to her little flat, where she lives alone.

Th(i)nkful – The Right Response

That evening was the time that we normally met online for counseling, so a little after 7 pm, I got the whole story. Our church text group lit up with thankfulness and prayers for Adaleen because we were all sure that she wouldn’t sleep so well that night.

My heart was so touched with all that Adaleen had experienced just a short time earlier. As some of you may remember, I also experienced an attempted hijacking years ago in Johannesburg with my daughter Elly. When you have a traumatic experience like that, it is so easy to go right back to the emotions you experienced when you later hear a similar story. I sought to help Adaleen as much as I could. We read Scripture and we prayed. I shared what had been helpful for me to think about when I went through that test. Adaleen was shaken, but it was amazing to me that somehow this young believer was so fully conscious that the Lord had been with her and helped her.

I asked her to write down things that she was able to thank God for in the ordeal. I said to please send me screenshots of what she wrote down. Adaleen wrote down twenty different things for which she thanked God. She was able to go to sleep and even slept well. Praise You, Father!!!!

The next day Adaleen went to work again, and her co-workers could not believe how calm she was. They said she must be in denial or not processing the trauma correctly. Adaleen used the attention she had to give God all the glory. She said that God had saved her. God helped her. God had given her good sleep and was giving her peace.

The Aftermath

The aftermath of a very traumatic experience is delicate and important. To choose to take every thought captive is extremely difficult.

“We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,”

2 Corinthians 10:5

It involves thousands of decisions. We can do the right thing initially – the first big decision is usually the hardest, but then the reinforcing echo-decisions are of critical importance.

I have found that having a friend to walk through that pivotal time is so helpful. Just touching base with a daily text on how things are going can be the thing needed to stay on track with choosing to think thanks.

Ataraxis, Not Anxiety

Ataraxis: (Ancient Greek), a state of tranquility, freedom from anxiety and mental disturbance

Ataraxis was a new word for me. I love the meaning. However, true tranquility can only come from one source! When Paul exhorts the Philippian believers to not be anxious, he wrote that they should instead pour out their specific burdens to the Lord with thanksgiving, and then the ataraxis of the Lord, which defies understanding (as it did with Adaleen’s coworkers) would keep, hem in, shield and protect them (Philippians 4:7).

I wonder if you have ever taken God up on His challenge in Philippians 4:6-7. When a new challenge comes your way, I urge you to try. It may not be an attempted hijacking with a knife at your throat, but whatever is trying to hijack your thoughts and lead you to despair, arrest it! Emotions are real but they are not reality. Still, they can be wild animals that continuously claw and bite at your soul.

Choose to take those thoughts captive. With strength and clarity, think thanks for God never leaving or forsaking you during the incident He chose in order to build your proven character. Thank Him for using every and all things to conform you to the image of Jesus Christ (Romans 8:28-29). It may be a wresting match in your mind, but as you win with the Lord’s help, ataraxis comes. It may seem illusive at first through the fire and fog of the trial, but it will eventually come into focus.

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Adaleen gave me permission to share her story