Today it snows

I sit here looking outside at ... white, the red barns on the other side of the cornfield barely visible at times, but mostly invisible. After years in Japan, it still boggles my mind that I can be warm and comfortable inside while wearing only one layer, despite below-freezing temperatures outside.

Today is my unexpected "hikkikomori" day. The last several years in Japan, that is how I spent my day off ... hibernating inside without going out, and often not seeing anyone until late in the day, if then.

By the time I went downstairs at 6:30 this morning, Jim had left to haul grain to the elevator. It has just been me and a great Christian radio station all day. These "hikkikomori" days are perfect for catching up on accumulated procrastinated tasks, tasks that I really enjoy, but just keep putting off until I have uninterrupted time, tasks such as organizing, sorting, etc. And this "hikkikomori" day came at a good time, too ... after a busy, full weekend and before another busy, full weekend.

1000 Gifts, Vol. 3, #71

These gifts are just that ... gifts!  And not just gifts, but the icing-on-the-cake gifts.  "All I need is Jesus," is not a trite statement.  He truly is the best gift.  He is enough, and I do not need these other gifts.  But the discipline of noticing them points me back to the Giver of all good gifts and helps me give Him my gift of thanksgiving.

To join in on reading others' lists or recording your own, visit the gratitude community at “One Thousand Gifts".

701. early morning quiet with bright sunrise
702. daily bread
703. and more (thinking especially of a warm jacket!)
704. a full heart from this weeekend
705. music! (All-State Honors Band, Chorus & Orchestra concert)
706. family! (birthday dinner and an evening of games)
707. getting to teach! (last minute 1st grade Sunday School sub)
708. small group!
709. missions report!
710. good fellowship afterwards!

1000 ... Posts!

It's hard to believe that I have written 1000 posts here.  

1000 posts, almost 2 1/2 years, life in two hemispheres, single and now married, expat and now resident American (still discovering what that means), the list goes on.

I began with these words:

Searching for a blog title, I flipped through the papers in the back of my Bible.  On a dog-eared piece of paper, I had written out six verses of this hymn, which Piper quoted in his February 2004 talk on Mueller at the Desiring God Pastors' Conference:

He was sustained in this extraordinary life by his deep convictions that God is sovereign over the human heart and can turn it where he wills in answer to prayer; and that God is sovereign over life and death; and that God is good in his sovereignty and withholds no good thing from those who walk uprightly. He strengthened himself continually in his wife's final illness with the hymn:

Best of blessings he'll provide us

Nought but good shall e'er betide us,

Safe to glory He will guide us,

Oh how He loves!

It is my prayer that I will increasingly have this perspective on my life and God's work.  Come share the journey with me as I blog.

Thanks for sharing the journey with me as I keep blogging!

Here I raise my Ebenezer

Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Hither by Thy help I’ve come;

Several months ago I blogged about memorial stones found in missionary cemeteries in Asia.

Recently I read a blog by a missionary doctor in Africa telling of the work of the Spirit heretofore in her family's new place of service...

I can see the cemetery from my bedroom window, and many of the graves are of the children of the early missionaries. Always a cost, and I respect the high price others have paid so that we can land here in a furnished apartment, to enroll our kids in a very decent school, and begin work in a high quality hospital.

 You can read the rest of her post by clicking the word "here."

May we each be faithful in our particular place, relying on the Spirit, counting the cost, being willing to follow, investing in eternity, laying a foundation for those who follow, following in the footsteps of those who have gone before, and mostly in the footsteps of HIM who is our Shepherd.

1000 Gifts, Vol. 3, #70

691. sunshine breaking through on a foggy wintry day when both sky and land are nothing but white
692. leftover lasagna for lunch!
693. a special out-of-the-blue gift from a special person
694. a Panera gift card last week and a Panera lunch date this week ~ with a new friend (a former missionary) ~ the perfect combo
695. a lazy Sunday afternoon and evening (so many of them aren't)
696. little girls ooh-ing and aah-ing over my rings
697. and the opportunity to talk with them about forever promises
698. being ministered to deep in the core of my soul by a "randomly" assigned prayer partner in a Sunday School class
699. the privilege of bearing burdens of people far away, as we pray
700. an out-of-this-world piano rendition of "Count Your Blessings"

Have we no rights?

The other day I caught myself complaining.

Why doesn't that store take American Express?
     (But I have a Visa I pulled out instead.)

Why can't all my mugs be as pretty as this one?
     (But I have a cupboard full of mugs.)

Why is it so hard to keep our carpet clean?
     (But, did you catch that we have a carpet?)

Why is the phone ringing so much?
     (But we have a phone, and we have friends, and even the business calls represent God's many gifts.)

Why can't our laundry room be more spacious?
     (But we have a laundry room!)

Why does our garage door open randomly?
     (But we have a garage ... with a door ... and vehicles to put in the garage ... and electricity.)

After minutes (or hours) of this, I finally heard the Spirit's prompting, reminding me of all the statements in italics above.  And I remembered a powerful, little book God used years ago to help transform my thinking on what I deserve.

Have We No Rights? (https://www.gutenberg.org/files/24528/24528-h/24528-h.htm) is a slim volume (now available as a download) by Mabel Williamson, a missionary in China many years ago.  While I don't agree with 100% of her conclusions, I do agree wholeheartedly that we must train our minds (and help each other) to think counter-culturally about all these things that our culture (and our own minds) tell us are ours by right.

I do not have a right to a garage, electricity, a vehicle (much less two), a phone, friends, pretty mugs, credit cards, carpet, or anything else except the wrath of God.

But, God, in His rich mercy, does in fact give us so much that we do not deserve, both spiritually and physically.

May my complaining be turned to praise and contentment.

1000 Gifts, Vol. 3, #69

681. what looks like diamonds floating and dancing in the sky out my second floor window, as a gust of wind blows sparkly snow off the roof, and more wind keeps it afloat
682. long afternoon shadows on bright sunshine-blazed snow

683. a total makeover of how my kitchen cupboards are arranged (now I know what I have and where it is)
684. purging a few more items ... hopefully blessing others
685. and re-instating a drawer for tea!! (just like in my '05-'09 apartment)
686. continuing to "shop my pantry"
687. a month of soup, salads, and sandwiches (primarily)
688. meeting our neighbors
689. visiting with a few
690. progress in decluttering