POST-THANKSGIVING, PART I
It's 1:25 pm on November 26, 2012, and the kitchen is finally cleaned up. The left overs are all packaged up after a trip to the grocery store this morning to buy more storage containers. A double batch of turkey and rice soup was made, pronounced "good," and put in the freezer for winter suppers.
There were only three of us for the Thanksgiving meal, but we had enough to feed fifteen people. Of course, I wanted leftovers, but I made five times as much food as we really needed! I was having too much fun cooking for people I love, producing a bounty that included everyone's favorite Thanksgiving dish.
It reminded me of a devotional in the book, Joy Breaks, called "Joy Beads" by Barbara Johnson (Zonervan Publishing House, 1997, pp. 30-31). Barbara was told that if she put a BB in her bottle of make-up, it would keep it from becoming thick and gooey. So, she sent her husband, Bill, out to get her a BB. One BB.
Bill returned home and proudly presented Barbara with a container of 10,000 BBs. Apparently, they only came in containers of 10,000. (By the way, 10,000 BBs weighs more than the turkey Tom brought home from the store for our Thanksgiving feast. What can I say -- inquiring minds want to know.)
Barbara thanked Bill, took one BB, and put the container of 9,999 BBs on a shelf in the garage to gather dust. Who wears that much make-up?
Later, she ran across the 9,999 BBs while she was looking for something else in the garage. They reminded her of God's resources that are made available to us through Christ. As one of her childhood Sunday School teachers was fond of saying, God's blessing bucket is "bottomless." In other words, through God's unconditional love and boundless mercy, we have all that we need plus some.
We've been going through a time of scarcity with the economy and the drought. It's easy during that times to turn inward and become anxious. You don't have to be unemployed or a farmer to take on a scaricity mentality.
It's good to remember during such times that in God's kingdom, it's an abundance economy. So when the limited resources I have look like a BB rolling around in the palm of my hand, it's comforting to know that God has at least 9,999 as much to help me through.
And for that, I am thankful!
There were only three of us for the Thanksgiving meal, but we had enough to feed fifteen people. Of course, I wanted leftovers, but I made five times as much food as we really needed! I was having too much fun cooking for people I love, producing a bounty that included everyone's favorite Thanksgiving dish.
It reminded me of a devotional in the book, Joy Breaks, called "Joy Beads" by Barbara Johnson (Zonervan Publishing House, 1997, pp. 30-31). Barbara was told that if she put a BB in her bottle of make-up, it would keep it from becoming thick and gooey. So, she sent her husband, Bill, out to get her a BB. One BB.
Bill returned home and proudly presented Barbara with a container of 10,000 BBs. Apparently, they only came in containers of 10,000. (By the way, 10,000 BBs weighs more than the turkey Tom brought home from the store for our Thanksgiving feast. What can I say -- inquiring minds want to know.)
Barbara thanked Bill, took one BB, and put the container of 9,999 BBs on a shelf in the garage to gather dust. Who wears that much make-up?
Later, she ran across the 9,999 BBs while she was looking for something else in the garage. They reminded her of God's resources that are made available to us through Christ. As one of her childhood Sunday School teachers was fond of saying, God's blessing bucket is "bottomless." In other words, through God's unconditional love and boundless mercy, we have all that we need plus some.
We've been going through a time of scarcity with the economy and the drought. It's easy during that times to turn inward and become anxious. You don't have to be unemployed or a farmer to take on a scaricity mentality.
It's good to remember during such times that in God's kingdom, it's an abundance economy. So when the limited resources I have look like a BB rolling around in the palm of my hand, it's comforting to know that God has at least 9,999 as much to help me through.
And for that, I am thankful!
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