Thankful Thursday

I'm thankful for answered prayer.

Sunday Hymn:

O that I had a thousand voices
To praise my God with thousand tongues!
My heart, which in the Lord rejoices,
Would then proclaim in grateful songs
To all, wherever I might be,
What great things God hath done for me.

O all ye pow'rs that he implanted,
Arise, and silence keep no more;
Put forth the strength that he hath granted,
Your noblest work is to adore.
O my soul and body, be ye meet
With heartfelt praise your Lord to greet!

All creatures that have breath and motion,
That throng the earth, the sea, and sky,
Now join me in my heart's devotion,
Help me to raise his praises high.
My utmost pow'rs can ne'er aright
Declare the wonders of his might.

O father, deign thou, I beseech thee,
To listen to my earthly lays;
A nobler strain in heaven shall reach thee,
When I with angels hymn thy praise
And learn amid their choirs to sing
Loud hallelujahs to my King.

Trinity Hymnal #11

Thankful Thursday

I'm thankful for so many, many things tonight:

I'm thankful that Tom is home from his business trip.

I'm thankful for open windows and fresh air.

I'm thankful for our new Sleep Number bed.

I'm thankful for good sleep two nights in a row.

I'm thankful for answered prayer. 

I'm thankful for the trials that God has brought into my life and that I can rest in Him.

I'm thankful for the beautiful, forgiving envelopes I am addressing this week--mistakes can be gently scraped off as if they were never there and the grain isn't even raised so I can letter back over it with no problems.  Ninety-three envelopes into the job and only one wasted envelope. 

I'm thankful for snow drops peeping through the mulch.

I'm thankful for the receding piles of dirty snow.  They'll be gone tomorrow.

I'm thankful for friends who pray for Jake--and for me.

I'm thankful for doctors who care and understand.

I'm thankful for time to reflect on my blessings.

I am thankful.

A different sort of St. Patrick's Day

If you've been reading my blog for several years, you know that normally, St. Patrick's Day is a celebration at our house--the whole day is filled with Irish recipes and menus.  Normally, I research recipes and plan and shop and cook for days in advance.

But this year I am overwhelmed with work and up to my eyeballs in envelopes and deadlines; Tom is out of town and I am out of energy.  So our St. Patrick's Day celebration has been moved to the weekend.  I'm not totally committed to my menu, but there will be corned beef hash for breakfast, steel head trout, and colcannon.

In the Multitude of Words. . .

. . .can get one in trouble.

My friend, John, has a great post today, Let Every Man be Slow to Tweet.

He quotes Matthew Henry on the subject:  

“Those that love to hear themselves talk do not consider what work they are making for repentance.”

An early morning

We're up early this morning because we have to be in downtown Chicago at 7:30 for a whole morning of tests and appointments for Jake with his cardiologist, electrophysiologist, and pacemaker nurse.

We're pretty used to days like this.  They can still be long and sometimes stressful, but after 26 years, it has become part of life in the Shenberger family.  Over all these years, we've seen God at work through Jake's medical problems and we've learned to rest in His goodness and mercy and trust Him with the outcome.  

This morning I learned that a dear blogging friend of mine, Naomi, is with her young son now in the children's haemotology ward at Belfast Royal Hospital.  He may have leukemia.  This possible diagnosis is all new to this young family.  The next fews days and weeks will be filled with so many doctors and nurses and tests and information; late nights and early mornings, lost sleep, missed meals, and phone calls.  The children at home will be cared for by friends and family and they'll be worried and afraid and missing Mom and Dad. Naomi and Tim know Christ and are leaning on Him, but they will be tired and anxious nonetheless.

Please pray for this family and especially for Cameron.  God is good.  His ways and His plans are perfect.  He is at work in this young family.  May He be at work in us as well.

I've been thinking about obedience lately

All my various Bible studies have seemingly merged on a single topic:  obedience.

Jesus said, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."

As Christians we know that we are not saved by our obedience or our righteous works, but that does not lessen the requirement for obedience.  The ceremonial and political law has passed away, but the moral law remains.  And obedience to the moral law brings sanctification and joy.

Question 91: What is the duty which God requires of man?

Answer: The duty which God requires of man, is obedience to his revealed will.

That section of the Westminster Larger Catecism (91-99. . .) reveals just how important obedience is--for the regenerate as well as the unregenerate.

Oh, that I would learn obedience--in the big things and the small things!

Sunday Hymn: Blest are the Undefiled in Heart

Blest are the undefiled in heart,
Whose ways are right and clean,
Who never from the law depart,
But fly from ev'ry sin.

Blest are the men who keep thy Word
And practice thy commands;
With their whole heart they seek the Lord,
And serve thee with their hands.

Great is their peace who love thy law;
How firm their souls abide!
Nor can a bold temptation draw
Their steady feet aside.

Then shall my heart have inward joy,
And keep my face from shame,
When all thy statutes I obey,
And honor all thy Name.

Trinity Hymnal #477

Thankful Thursday 2

What a wonderful day.  Bible study with Dorothy and Carol, time with my grandchildren and my daughter in law, time to relax with Tom and the boys.

Life is good.  

Thankful Thursday

I'm thankful for a day off from work.

The good thing about working from home is that you work from home.  It's a quick walk into the studio and I don't have to even comb my hair before I sit down to work.  It's peaceful work.  I can listen to my iPod or the radio--or not.  I often lose myself in thought and the time slips by so quickly.  It's like waking from a dream and finding stacks of finished envelopes.

The bad thing about working from home is that you work from home.  When the pressure is on, it's too tempting not to work in the evening or on weekends.  When there's a deadline involved and time is short, the job that's waiting in the studio feels like a persistant visitor who hangs around and follows you and pokes you when you try to do something else.  

Being fully booked is a blessing.  It means steady work and steady income.  It means future work and increased share of the market over time.  It means the potential of connecting with a future client with every envelope or place card or seating chart.  

Being fully booked is a curse.  It means crock pot meals when I remember to prepare them in the morning or sandwiches when I don't.  It means a dusty house and piles of mail and laundry.  It means frantically tidying up the house when a client comes for a drop off, pick up, or consultation.

But it also means getting to know new people and sharing in a special time of their life.  It means having a chance to encourage or even delight a bride who is beginning to feel as though wedding preparations have overtaken life as they know it.

It's a great job and I love it, but today I'm thankful to have a day off.

I used to be a blogger

I realized that fact this weekend.  I used to be a blogger.

Now I'm a hymn poster and online quote collector.

It makes me feel sad because I really did enjoy blogging but times change, I guess.  I'm busy with my business and I'm thankful for that.  I really love my job and I am so very blessed to be making a go of it in this economic downturn. 

I'm busy with Bible study and family and being a wife and mom and grandma.  Life is full and life is good--it just doesn't end up getting posted with pictures on the blog.

I've thought of just retiring this blog--sending it off into the ethernet--but I used to be a blogger.  There's a lot of my life on the pages of this blog and even though it feels like a waste of money to keep it going, I'm just not ready to let go of it yet.

So here it sits, neglected.  Forgotten for days at a time.  And when I do think of it, I feel guilty.  

Because the truth is, I don't miss it enough to do anything about it.  I just wish I did sometimes.

Quote of the Week: John Murray

[t]hrough whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, Romans 1:5

The Pauline concept of 'peace' cannot be understood except on the background of the alienation from God which sin has involved.  Hence 'peace' is the reconstituted favor with God based upon the reconciliation accomplished by Christ. . . It is only as we appreciate the implications of alienation from God and the reality of the wrath which alienation evinces that we can understand the richness of the biblical notion of peace. . .

John Murray, The Epistle to the Romans

Sunday Hymn: Ye Holy Angels Bright

Ye holy angels bright,
Who wait at God's right hand,
Or through the realms of light
Fly at your Lord's command,
Assist our song,
For else the theme
Too high doth seem
For mortal tongue.

Ye blessed souls at rest,
Who ran this earthly race,
And now, from sin released,
Behold the Saviour's face,
God's praises sound,
As in his sight
With sweet delight
Ye do abound.

All nations of the earth,
Extol the world's great King;
With melody and mirth
His glorious praises sing;
For he still reigns,
And will bring low
The proudest foe
That him disdains.

Sing forth Jehovah's praise,
Ye saints, that on him call!
Him magnify always
His holy churches all!
In him rejoice,
And there proclaim
His holy name
With sounding voice.

My soul, bear thou thy part,
Triumph in God above;
With a well-tuned heart
Sing thou the songs of love;
Thou art his own,
Who precious blood
Shed for thy good
His love made known.

Away, distrustful care!
I have thy promise, Lord:
To banish all despair,
I have thine oath and word:
And therefore I
Shall see thy face
And there thy grace
Shall magnify.

With thy triumphant flock,
Then I shall numbered be;
Built on th'eternal rock,
His glory we shall see.
The heavens so high
With praise shall ring
And all shall sing
In harmony.

Trinity Hymnal #17

Quote of the Week: Richard Phillips

Strive for peace with everyone  Hebrews 12:14a.

This is a sustained and determined pursuit; as one hunts prey, so Christians are to seek after peace.

Richard Phillips, Hebrews, pg. 555

Sunday Hymn: God, in the Gospel of His Son

GOD, IN THE GOSPEL OF HIS SON

God, in the gospel of his Son,
Makes his eternal counsels known;
Where love in all its glory shines,
And truth is drawn in fairest lines.

Here sinners of a humble frame
May taste his grace, and learn his Name;
May read, in characters of blood,
The wisdom, pow'r, and grace of God.

The pris'ner here may break his chains;
The weary rest from all his pains;
The captive feel his bondage cease;
The mourner find the way of peace.

Here faith reveals to mortal eyes
A brighter world beyond the skies;
Here shines the light which guides our way
From earth to realms of endless day.

O grant us grace, Almighty Lord,
To read and mark thy holy Word;
Its truths with meekness to receive,
And by its holy precepts live.

TRINITY HYMNAL #262

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful for several instances of answered prayer this week.

Sometimes challenges just seem insurmountable.  Some blessings just feel unreachable.  Some hopes and dreams just seem like pipe dreams.

But with God all things are possible.

And I found this where?

On my son's Facebook.

Sunday Hymn:

O THAT I HAD A THOUSAND VOICES

O that I had a thousand voices
To praise my God with thousand tongues!
My heart, which in the Lord rejoices,
Would then proclaim in grateful songs
To all, wherever I might be,
What great things God hath done for me.

O all ye pow'rs that he implanted,
Arise, and silence keep no more;
Put forth the strength that he hath granted,
Your noblest work is to adore.
O my soul and body, be ye meet
With heartfelt praise your Lord to greet!

All creatures that have breath and motion,
That throng the earth, the sea, and sky,
Now join me in my heart's devotion,
Help me to raise his praises high.
My utmost pow'rs can ne'er aright
Declare the wonders of his might.

O father, deign thou, I beseech thee,
To listen to my earthly lays;
A nobler strain in heaven shall reach thee,
When I with angels hymn thy praise
And learn amid their choirs to sing
Loud hallelujahs to my King.

Trinity Hymnal #11

Quote of the Week: Murray on Romans

The apostle lays sustained emphasis upon faith--the gospel is "the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes".  It is not, therefore, a righteousness efficient unto the salvation of all unconditionally and indiscriminately.  But it is one invariably efficient wherever there is faith.  If it is a God-righteousness, it is also a faith-righteousness--these are mutually interdependent because of their respective natures.  It is faith that places us in the proper relation to this righteousness because faith is receiving and resting--it is self-renouncing, it looks away from itself and finds its all in Christ.

John Murray, The New International Commentary on the New Testament, THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

Maddie Cakes for Maddie-Cakes

Maddie will be 1 year old on Sunday!