Thanksgiving – I don’t know about you, but for me Thanksgiving is either an exhausting day or it’s a day with nothing much to do, and in recent years, it’s been the former much more than the latter.

• Maybe you will have to work on Thanksgiving Day (just another day).
• Maybe you will have to work, but it will be a busier day than usual.
• Maybe you will be hosting family and/or friends.
• Maybe you will be cooking for family and/or friends.
• Maybe you will be spending the day with family and/or friends.
• Maybe you will be able to squeeze in a few minutes with family and/or friends.
• Maybe you will be traveling.
• Maybe you won’t want to go anywhere.
• Maybe you don’t have anywhere to go.

For many of us, it will seem like too much, or not enough. For many, especially us “Martha types”, it can be more about the “doing” and not the “being,” the “being with,” if we aren’t careful. Be careful.

I pray that you will have a perfect Thanksgiving Day. Not perfect as defined by a great meal, prepared perfectly, and where everyone volunteers to help clean up. Not perfect as defined as being with the people you want to be with, and everyone gets along. Not perfect as defined as the best work schedule for your personal schedule. But perfect as defined by knowing that you are in God’s will wherever you find yourself and with whomever you find yourself with.

My prayer is that regardless of how or where we end up spending Thanksgiving, that we will do it with a heart of ministry. I pray that whatever we do, we do it with a heart of love. Whether we are cooking, or washing pots and pans, or going somewhere, or doing our job at NRM, I pray that we will determine to be a blessing, to reflect the love of Christ, in each and every moment of the day. And I pray that our hearts in each and every moment of the day will resonate with the glory of God. May this be your Thanksgiving Prayer: Doxology (a beautiful version by Phil Wickham).

In Christ,

Judy

“But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob, and he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are mine” (Isaiah 43:1-2).

Last week I had a frustrating experience at a restaurant. I went inside to pick up a to-go salad. I’ve done this before, so I knew to go to the special counter for to-go orders. I was pleased as I approached the counter because there was an employee standing beside a large bag I assumed was mine. Great, I thought, I’ll be in and out in no time at all. Just as I got to the counter, she—without making eye contact with me (and I don’t know how she could have missed me)—left the counter to go speak with another employee. It seemed like they talked a good five minutes, and it appeared to be a casual conversation. They had to have seen me, but never acknowledged me, a customer! A third employee happened to walk out and asked, “Have you been waited on?” When I replied “no” they said, “I’ll go get someone for you.” And I finally got waited on. I know that’s not a big deal. But how hard would it have been for that first employee, or the second one, to have acknowledged my presence and to have done the same thing?

Now, I don’t want you to think I’m a prima donna and that everyone should just stop what they are doing when I walk in the door. Not at all. In fact, I’m typically one to assume that even if we have met before that you probably won’t remember me, so I’ll usually re-introduce myself just to be sure and to not cause any embarrassment. And when someone does remember me that I have only recently met, it makes me especially happy.

I think about this because I am trying to be sure that I don’t offend others by my lack of acknowledgement or recognition of them. This could easily happen because I tend to get absorbed in my thoughts sometimes and am not aware of my surroundings. It used to happen more frequently when I was too vain to wear my glasses. When my husband, then my boyfriend, and I would walk across campus, he would say, “Why didn’t you wave back at that person.” I’d have to say I didn’t see them (because I didn’t have my glasses on). While maybe that’s a good excuse, it didn’t make the person I ignored feel any better. I am trying to pay more attention, because while my acknowledging someone might not make an overall difference in their life, to be acknowledged or recognized could make a difference in their day. At the very least I could spare them the negative feeling of having been ignored or brushed off.

I also write about this because I am so thankful to know that our God, the Creator of the universe, divinely omniscient and omnipresent, the Alpha and the Omega, always recognizes me. He knows me. He loves me. He is interested in me in that He always knows what I am doing and thinking. He cares about me and He cares for me. He listens whenever I speak to Him. God not only acknowledges me, He never fails to recognize me as His own. He calls me by name. What a great and good God we serve!

I love the story about the woman in Matthew 9:20-22. When she touched the hem of Jesus’ garment, he turned and saw her, and spoke to her with compassion.

Our challenge is to bring praise to God by doing likewise with one another. “Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God” (Romans 15:7).

In Christ,

Judy

I was a Brownie Scout in second grade, and I loved it. I wanted to “fly up” to Girl Scouts, but there was no troop nearby, so I bought the handbook and worked through many of the merit badges on my own. My husband was a Boy Scout, and I have jokingly told him many times that he took the scout motto of “Be Prepared” too seriously when it comes to his car. Honestly, I believe my husband could survive for a month with just what you could find in his car at any given moment!

I was a working mom. I began my work career before having children, and then had a baby boy, then another (they were 20 months apart). When they were still young, a coworker came to me in a panic. She was pregnant with her first child, and she asked me “How do you do it?” I told you just had to be prepared for every contingency in advance, and then “go with the flow.” Got to work overtime? Have a backup childcare plan. Sick child? Have a back up work plan. Etc.

“Be Prepared” is a good motto, and it is actually biblical, with at least four applications.

1.  As in the above examples, it is wise to prepare in advance for certain things. We all know the wisdom of saving, storing up necessities, establishing an emergency savings account, saving for retirement, etc. Proverbs 6:6-8 tells us to “Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.” Of course, we know not go to excess in this. Jesus tells us to rely on him for our “daily bread” (Matthew 6:11). In fact, Jesus tells us not to lay up treasures on earth, but instead to “store up for yourselves treasures in heaven” (Matthew 6:20). I believe there is an underlying message here that we should do our part to provide for ourselves and our families. However we don’t need to stress over it, trusting that God will take care of us when our efforts fall short. Also, we should not go to extreme and hoard more than we need of anything, but instead put that extra energy to use in working for the Kingdom.

2. I have found that being mentally and emotionally prepared for the day is very helpful. To me, this means prayerfully thinking through the day and asking God to help me to be prepared. Each morning, I try to have two to three major objectives to accomplish every day, whether it is people that I want to see, a report I need to write, or some project to make progress on. Then I make sure I have what I need and also make sure that I have prayed for God’s will in each endeavor. It also means anticipating the various things that might happen. I will think through potential meetings (both formal and informal) and try to anticipate how the conversation will go, what the outcome should be, and what ask God for wisdom to ensure that I do as He wills.

3. Another example of being prepared is in dealing with temptation. For example, I am watching my calories, trying to lose weight. I know when I go into the breakroom that there might be pastries there. I tell myself before I go that I am not going to even look at them. And I have an apple on my desk if I really get tempted (get it?). Because if I don’t do both those things, I will be taken by surprise and probably decide that I am famished and one little pastry won’t hurt. I love what Rick Warren has to say about being prepared to battle temptation: “When the Devil gives us an idea, it’s temptation. You choose every day which thought you’re going to dwell on. You can change your mind by replacing the temptation with truth, and truth is found in the Bible. The Bible says to resist the Devil. How do you do that? By preparing for the temptation. Ephesians 6:17 says, “Accept God’s salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (NCV). There are two things you need to do in order to handle temptation. Salvation is the first step: “Accept God’s salvation as your helmet.” What does a helmet do? It protects your head and your mind, and that’s where the battle is going on. Before you can say no to the Devil, you have to learn to say yes to Jesus Christ. You’ve got to have his power through salvation.The second step is to receive God’s Word to use as a sword. Truth is the antidote to temptation. You can keep your Bible on the coffee table at home, but when you’re at work and you are tempted, what good is it going to do you? No good at all! You need to get the truth that is in that book into your mind.Without a doubt, the single most effective tool to combating temptation is to memorize Scripture. If you don’t have any verses memorized, you’ve got no weapon for the fight! When the Devil comes along, how are you going to counter him? He’s not afraid of your opinion, but he does fear the truth. The sword of God is God’s truth, but it only becomes a weapon when you memorize it.”*

4. The fourth application, and by far the most important, is to be prepared by establishing a relationship with Jesus, ensuring that you know Him, and He knows you. Jesus taught about the signs of the end of the age, and in the 25th chapter of Matthew, he gives the parable of the ten virgins. When they learn at midnight that the bridegroom had come, the five foolish virgins realized that they had failed to prepare themselves with oil for their lamps and had to go the store first before going into the wedding feast. When they finally arrived for the feast, the door was shut. Jesus denied their entry, saying, “I tell you the truth, I don’t know you.” Don’t be caught unprepared.

If you have not surrendered your life to Christ, here is a simple prayer that you can prayto God: Heavenly Father, I know that I’ve sinned against You. I realize that the penalty for sin is death. Thank you for sending Your Son, Jesus, to die, shedding His own blood on the cross in my place so that I could receive His-righteousness by faith. I now confess my sins to You and ask for Your forgiveness. I believe that Jesus died and rose again so that I can be forgiven and live forever with Him. Here and now, I surrender my life, my plans, my goals to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. By God’s strength, I will seek to shareabout what God has done in my life with each opportunity God brings my way. InJesus Name I pray, Amen.

In Christ,

Judy *

Excerpted from Daily Hope Devotional by Rick Warren (November 11, 2019)

One of the saddest verses in the Bible is from Judges: “Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 17:6). It’s sad because we know that it signified departure from God’s will, and we also know that the consequences were always defeat at the hands of an enemy. What is the opposite of doing right in our own eyes? Jesus tells us “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built His house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock” (Matthew 7:24-25). What is the opposite of defeat? It is victory. And how do we obtain victory? By building our house on the foundation of God’s word.

I recently returned from a trip to several countries in Europe. It was an amazing trip for all the reasons that you might expect–beautiful scenery and so many historical sights. I saw windmills and castles, Gothic cathedrals and Baroque palaces. I really like history and knew that I would love seeing things that I had only read about, buildings that were built as early as the ninth century.

What really struck me, however, was that alongside all those glorious buildings were ugly 1950’s era concrete-reinforced bunker-looking buildings replacing acres of towns that had been totally demolished by the bombing during WWII.  In Nuremburg we drove by the staging ground for Hitler’s Nazi rallies, and we saw where the war crimes trials took place. In several German towns we saw plaques memorializing the former homes of Jews who had been taken to concentration camps, and who never returned home.

We ended our trip in Prague, Czech Republic, probably the most beautiful city I have ever seen. Like many European countries, this area has been governed under many, many ruling peoples: Slavs, Huns, Avars, Bulgars, Magyars, Franks, and Mongols; The Holy Roman Empire, the Habsburg Monarchy, the Ottomans and Turks, and the Austrian Empire. It was the Kingdom of Bohemia, then the Czechoslovak Republic. Loyalties were in such disarray that Czech soldiers fought on both sides of WWI. The area was then occupied by Nazi Germany which targeted nearly two thirds of its citizens for deportation or death in order to make room for German citizens. German occupation ended on May 9, 1945 with the arrival of the Allied troops. However, in 1948 the Communist Party took over and Czechoslovakia became a Communist State within the Eastern Bloc.

The country was in turmoil for most of this time.  It was only in November 1989 that Czechoslovakia became a liberal democracy through the peaceful “Velvet Revolution” led by Václav Havel. Since then the country has amicably split into two countries: Czech Republic and Slovakia, and both countries are successful and democratic. As we toured this beautiful old city, we heard people speak of preparing to celebrate the 30^th anniversary of their independence, and that is what really stuck with me, even more than the beauty–the fact that these people have been through so many traumatic changes, even as recent as thirty years ago.

The turbulence was not always ethnic. Jan Hus was a Czech religious reformer who predated Martin Luther by about 100 years. He was burned at the stake in 1450. Catholics and Protestants were in conflict all over Europe, including this area. Now this area, as is most of Europe, is largely nonreligious despite the number of beautiful cathedrals and churches which now function more as museums, art galleries, and tourist destinations. More than half of the residents claim to be nonbelievers.* This compares to the United States where 21% have no religious affiliation (according to a Gallup survey in 2017).

Learning just a little of what the people of this country have been through, in my own lifetime, was sobering. I know there are lessons to be learned. Here are some that I thought of:

1. I am so thankful for the democratic republic form of government of the United States that has remained in place since its founding. Along with that, I am thankful for the peaceful transition of government when we have a change in administration. I tend to take this for granted, but in most of the world this is a time for unrest and potential violence.
2. I am more motivated to want to know more about the current events in the countries around me, and to pray for them. Christians in Europe are a minority, and I fear that they are in jeopardy and need our fervent prayers.
3. “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men (and women) to do nothing.” (often attributed to Edmund Burke). I am committed to being more firm in my beliefs and to stand up for my beliefs. There is nothing to prevent the United States from eventually going the way of Europe unless we, each of us, is committed to that not happening and to take appropriate action.

I’m not sure what caused all those changes, or maybe the better question is how did this country allow all those changes to occur? Complacency, apathy, fear?? In the swirl of news, fake news, and trash on the internet, I challenge myself and each of us to not look to ourselves or to anyone else as our spiritual leader, but instead always stay tuned in to God, our one true sovereign Lord. Let us be committed to always doing the right thing according to the Scriptures. Let us be strong and courageous, saying with Joshua, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15). I want to thank Gabe Roberson for reminding me that our best next step is to always make the next right decision. Let us strive always for Victory in Jesus, for ourselves, our children, our grandchildren, and our world.

In Christ,

Judy

*For more information, read this article from Radio Free Europe entitled “Czech Republic: Hussite Church History Mirrors That of Nation.” (https://www.rferl.org/a/1097922.html)