Thankfulnes – Jonah’s Song

In early May, a friend emailed the following to me:

“I was reading something today that Patrick Henry Reardon said:

“Suppose for a moment, that God began taking from us the many things for which we have failed to give thanks. Which of our limbs and faculties would be left? Would I still have my hands and my mind? And what about my loved ones? If God were to take from me all those persons and things for which I have not given thanks, who or what would be left of me?”

“You know…this made me cry and start to thank Him like I never seemed to do before, because I never thought about it as this. We all can think…oh I count my blessings…but do I really?”

I thought about what my friend sent me, and I finally got around this morning to writing her back. I wrote: Hope all is well with you and your husband. I’ve been slacking off lately, and writing only one post a week and letting other things go. I can’t use the excuse that I haven’t the time, as I do. What I have been doing is reading more than I’ve done. I’d love to say it’s been all super spiritual studies, but it hasn’t. There’s a used book store not too far from us and I’ve got several hundred dollars in credit there from having dropped off many of my wife’s professional books a few years ago. From time to time I’d go in there and get a novel or two. A few months ago I went through the shelves and picked titles in the science fiction and mystery/thriller sections, as well as some in the non-fiction section, that sounded interesting. So now I’ve gotten into reading a novel or two a week. I do read slow.

My day’s are still somewhat filled with various projects, in addition to dropping and picking up the two high schoolers. We added about ten yards more of top soil, extending various garden beds this year. We’re adding a small-250 gallon-pond also. The spring rains and cool weather have allowed things to really grow well this year. We hope the summer will be wet and mild, too.

Thanks for all the emails you’ve sent. I read them all with care. This particular one, “Counting our Blessings?” was one that spurred me on to do a lot of thinking. What I had to consider, ponder, is that there are-I confess-lots of things I’m not thankful for at all and would just rather them go away. Yet they don’t. So in those, too, I’m learning, there are reasons for such things to be. I think some times I may be like a child being told to eat his vegetables, and thinking, “I suppose you want me to thank you, Mom, for those?

I did take the opportunity to sail last week on Cassandra, my Cape Dory 25 sailboat that I keep on Lake Lanier. The weather finally warmed up and the winds calmed down to around 10-12 mph with gust only to around 20 or so. I haven’t even cleaned the poor boat up from its winter nap. But for two-and-a-half hours I sailed around the lake just having a grand old time. Only one thing unpleasant occurred: While pulling the starter rope on the small motor I use to go in and out of the marina, I managed to knock my hat off into the water. By the time I got the motor started, the sails furled, and turned around, my favorite hat sank into lake. Oh, well, it was still worth it.

I think the lesson of that day fits right into counting blessings: In then end, even the unpleasant events all fit into the whole is such a way as we’ll eventually conclude that because of Y’shuaJesus, it all has been worth it!

Lord Bless, Keep, Shine upon you all.

It dropped into the lower fifties last night. The forecast for tomorrow and Friday is a drop into the mid-forties. Even now, mid-afternoon, it is only up to seventy. The humidity is down, too, having dropped into the mid-thirty percent range. More and more pine trees are shedding inner needles, that are now covering the ground. The sycamore has lost most of its leave now, and the elms and maples are rapidly turning reddish brown, and will soon fall too. The wind, which just last week, had been so very calm, is beginning to pick up. And that means nice sailing weather in the afternoons.

These fall days and most of the spring days are my favorite. There’s lots going on, and lots of clean up to do from leaves dropping and plants that need to be trimmed. But is also a time that is less intense, some how. It’s like rushing to get to winter, and now being about to just relax as it approaches.

Yet, I can’t help occasionally thinking about the upcoming winter. Last year we had a very mild, wet winter. I don’t think we had too many freezes, and the garden fared quite well, producing nicely in the spring. But we’ve also had some winters that were stormy and cold. One winter we were shut in for five days while we waited for the ice to melt. Schools and work places all stayed closed that winter week, too.

But, winter isn’t here yet, so there’s no need to be concerned. We’re prepared for whatever comes, believing the Lord Y’shuaJesus will be with us through the mild and the stormy times that may come. Now is the time to enjoy the mild and peaceful days, and give thanks to our Lord.

Tag: Thankfulnes

Count your Blessings?

Seems like fall is here at last