Abraham Lincoln's Proclamation Establishing Thanksgiving

October 3, 1863

The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies.  To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God.  In the midst of a civil war of unequalled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union.  Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle, or the ship; the axe had enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore.  Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years, with large increase of freedom.

No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things.  They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.

It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and voice by the whole American people.  I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.   And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington, this third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the independence of the United States the eighty-eighth.

A. Lincoln

Out of Egypt

I’ve been trying to write this entry for weeks now.  But, every time I sit down to put it into comprehensible words, the wonder of it all just takes over in inexpressible, unintelligible joy. 

It all started when I was in LA last month.  I was praying for God to show off in a big way one morning and was reminded of Psalm 81:10, “I am the Lord, who called you out of Egypt, open wide your mouth and I will fill it.”  It was such a beautiful reminder of the extravagance with which God demonstrates His love to us.  He holds nothing back. 

In the days and weeks that followed that reminder, I kept coming across that phrase, “out of Egypt” and I began to study it a bit.  Throughout Scripture, Egypt is equated with a place of bondage, servitude.  There was the literal exodus of God’s people, the Israelites, from the rule of the Pharaoh, but there was also an allegorical application for all of us who’ve ever found ourselves enslaved.  Over and over again, God identifies Himself as the one who sets His people free.  And, He did so with a purpose. I am the Lord, your God, who brought you out of Egypt

… so that I might dwell among them. (Exodus 29:45)

… to be your God. (Leviticus 11:45)

… to give you the land of Caanan (promise) and be your God. (Leviticus 25:38)

… so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians. (Leviticus 26:13)

… to be the people of [His] inheritance as you are now. (Deuteronomy 4:20)

As I began to contemplate this, that’s when the wonder-filled joy began bubbling up inside of me.  I have an Egypt, a place of captivity, where I spent far too many years enslaved, yet, all the while the Lord, my God, was calling me out of Egypt.  In fact, Hosea 11:4 says it like this, “I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love. To them I was like one who lifts a little child to the cheek, and I bent down to feed them.”

I believe it is significant that God refers to himself repeatedly as the One who brought His people out of Egypt.  He reminds us over and over again that His heart for us is to bring us out of captivity into a land of promise, to be our Companion on every step toward freedom. 

I am mindful of several things as I contemplate this truth today:

1. God’s arm is not too short to reach me.  He is mighty to save.
2. Nothing is too difficult for Him.  There is no bondage more powerful than His love for me.
3.  It is God’s delight to show off in extravagant displays of love and grace. 
4. I was delivered with a purpose, to an inheritance, for a relationship with Him.

Charles Wesley said it this way,

And can it be that I should gain
An interest in the Savior’s blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain—
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

I’m guilty.  I definitely hopped into Christmas mode pre-Thanksgiving.  That’s not usually my style.  I love Thanksgiving.  I love the family gathering and the ridiculously good food and the football and the opportunity to focus on gratitude without the pressure of buying gifts.  I love Thanksgiving.  This year, though, I have just felt this longing for Christmas, for the joy and the hope and the goodwill to all men.  I’ve longed for the promise fulfilled and the rejoicing … and, to be perfectly candid, the cold weather. 

Christmas is a really big deal, and I’m not sorry for making a big deal of it.  But, today is not the week before Christmas; it is the week before Thanksgiving.  I’m giving myself this opportunity to backtrack briefly and focus on all that God has done and give thanks “unto Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly beyond all that we ask or imagine.”  (Ephesians 3:20) I’m never as in awe of the fact that God can do something great as I am the fact that He is willing to do something great.  Psalm 126 says it this way (emphasis mine):

¹ When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion, 
   we were like those who dreamed. 
² Our mouths were filled with laughter, 
   our tongues with songs of joy. 
Then it was said among the nations, 
   “The LORD has done great things for them.” 
³ The LORD has done great things for us, 
   and we are filled with joy.

In the past, I’ve given you alphabetical lists of people and places and experiences for which I am grateful.  This year, I’m offering you a playlist.  There’s nothing new here, but it’s a great combination of expressions of gratefulness.  My Thanksgiving Playlist:

1.     Blessed – Brett Dennen

2.     I Have Been Blessed – Martina McBride

3.     Doubly Good – Amy Grant

4.     A Grateful People – Watermark

5.     Made Me Glad – Hillsong

6.     Thank You for Hearing Me – David Crowder Band

7.     Psalm 126 (You Have Done Great Things) – Passion Worship Band

It's Good to be Common

Looking over the blog today, I noticed a glaring omission.  I’ve neglected to share with you loyal readers one of the most exciting journeys I’ve been on this last year.  It’s called Commons Church. 

Last October, an acquaintance and fellow blogger, Steve, announced that he and his family were moving to Fort Worth to plant a church.  Being the helpful individual that I am, I jumped right on facebook that afternoon and messaged them both letting them know that I had lived in Fort Worth for a number of years and would be glad to help them in any way I could. 

At the time, I thought that might be helping them find housing and maybe jobs and introducing them to others doing similar works and ministries in our fair city.  I was firmly planted in my own church home with no intentions to leave.  Sure, I’d been struggling to find community within that larger group for over a year and praying for God to place me into a new group, but I genuinely assumed it would be within that body.

In December, Steve called.  They were having an informal informational meeting about the church and asking anyone in the area who might be interested to come sit down and hear their vision.  I agreed to stop by, intending it as a gesture of support, not interest.  I was amazed when I arrived and found that I had at least met all of the people present and actually knew some of them quite well.  We sat down to talk and Steve began to share about his and Joy’s journey to become church planters and their vision for reaching the lost of Fort Worth, and my interest was definitely piqued.  I, however, had a birthday party to get to, and only halfway listened to his announcement about a church planting training coming up in February. 

I knew it there was a cost involved, and I wasn’t sure I was ready to commit, so I ignored the calendar as the date for the training approached.  Then, the day before the training, my phone buzzed.  It was a text from Steve asking if I was coming.  I told him I’d forgotten about it and had some things on my calendar, but I’d see what I could do.  I wish I’d saved that exchange because I think he called me a chicken or questioned my ability to manage my schedule.  Either way, I felt challenged and decided to clear my way to be at Northwood Church’s Turbo Training for church planters the next day. 

There’s no way to succinctly share all that I heard during that training, but when I look back on it, I know that was the day I decided to become a Commoner.  Steve and Joy had shared with us back in December how they’d begun telling others, “We’re going to plant a church in Fort Worth unless the Lord stops us.”  Without even consciously thinking about it, I told a good friend after Turbo training, “I am going to keep walking forward in this church planting adventure unless the Lord stops me!”  As soon as the words came out of my mouth and recognized their correlation to The Bezners own mantra, I was fairly certain there would be no stopping. 

In April, right after Easter, Thomas and Kimberly Law opened their home to our core group of 9 for a Wednesday evening home group Bible study.  I’ll never forget knocking on that door that first night and being welcomed by both Joy and Kimberly.  The community I’d been longing for suddenly had its arms around me in a very literal way.  It looked nothing like I expected it to when I’d prayed, but I recognized it nonetheless.  We met each Wednesday night and shared meals together, talked about what we wanted church to look like, took spiritual gifts inventories and personality profiles, and prayed for one another. 

By June, when we set out on Sunday mornings to visit other local church plants together, I had come to genuinely love and look forward to spending time with this new faith family.  I realized one Sunday morning as I got ready to visit yet another unfamiliar congregation with the people who were quickly becoming my church family that I was actually excited to be up and getting ready and worshiping with them.  Sadly, it had been a long time since I’d felt that way about going to corporate worship. 

In July, we held our first Sunday morning gathering in The Bezners’ living room.  There were about 12 people there, and it was new and different and so exciting.  Scripture says, “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”  I really began to understand that verse in a whole new light when I began actively giving financially to The Commons.  I’d already come to love the church, but somehow, investing my meager resources there, gave me a greater sense of joy and anticipation about what God was going to do in and through us. 

It’s mid-November now, and the journey continues.  We are consistently running 25-30 adults on Sunday mornings, and we’re actively engaged in conversations about moving to a larger space early next year.  We have new visitors almost every week … and lots of them come back!  There are two different home groups meeting during the week with talks of a third (and fourth?) starting in January.  We’re committed to loving our neighbors and have had some great times volunteering with the local Home Owners Association at dive-in movies at the community pool, neighborhood garage sales, and fall festival.  In October, we began having monthly missions lunches to raise funds to allow us to buy Christmas presents for children in need.  And, today, a dozen of us met over lunch to discuss a strategy for local and global missions in the coming year. 

I am so blessed by the men, women, and children who call themselves Commoners.  They are teachers and social workers and business men and builders and doctors and musicians and salesmen and deeply committed to using their gifts to bless others and point them to Jesus.  Each and every week I get to see Ephesians 3:10 played out in big and small ways, “God’s purpose in all this was to use the church to display his wisdom in its rich variety to all the unseen rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.”

Hope

Cornerstone's CEO, Mike Doyle, is the eternal optimist.  I've never met a man with more hope in him.  I'm honestly not sure if he knows how to give up once he sets his course for a goal.  The other day, Mike stuck his head into a meeting just in time to hear me teasing a coworker about their ineptitude at Facebook saying, "There's no hope!"  Mike had no idea what we were talking about, but upon hearing those words come from my mouth, you'd have thought I struck him personally.  His shoulders sagged, his head dropped until his chin was resting on his chest, and he shook his head from side to side slowly as he repeated the words as though he truly couldn't fathom such a statement, "No hope?!?"  It was pitiful!  In that moment, I learned more about my CEO than in the total 4 years I've worked for his organization.  Hope is what fuels him.  And, truthfully, it's what fuels us all.
Earlier this week, I wrote about a truly awful day in my work.  And, I realize now, it was hope that the next day would be better and that the story wouldn't end there that helped me get out of bed the next morning.  Hope is a truly beautiful word.  It empowers us when nothing else can.

So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter. May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word. 2 Thessalonians 2:15-17

Come, Lord Jesus

Some days at my job are really great.  Some days, we win.  We get to see people making choices that bring them and their families closer to abundant life in Christ, and we rejoice.  Other days are more like today.

Today didn't feel victorious at all.  Today, the world just felt so broken.  Every time I turned around, I kept imagining peoples' lives shattered like glass, shards slicing into anyone who dares to try picking up the pieces.

Last month, I took multiple calls from a man trying to locate the girlfriend he had tormented so badly, she fled to a neighbor's without a stitch of clothing on her body.  Last week, I heard the story of a 14 year old girl who has already had multiple sex partners and an abortion and seems to have no idea that life doesn't have to be that way.  This morning, I saw the bruises on a woman who was kicked repeatedly by the steel-toed boot of a man who said he loved her. This afternoon, I read the rap sheet of a con-artist who sweet-talked her way into my good graces and nearly got a hiring recommendation from my office.

I sat at my desk at the end of this day, and all I wanted to do was find a way to make people on the outside understand how badly I hurt on the inside.  I wanted to throw things.  I suddenly understood perfectly how violence begets violence because I felt violent toward those men.  I wanted to hold that little girl and cry for all the things she doesn't know she's lost.  I wanted to bandage those women, tilt their heads up, look them in the eye and tell them how precious they are.  I wanted to shake that very gifted felon and make her understand how badly her poor choices wound everyone around her.

I wanted to call every godly man I know and thank him for not beating the women in his life, thank him for treating women with kindness and respect and helping them develop a sense of value and worth.  I wanted to call up every woman I know and remind her how treasured she is in Jesus' name.  I wanted so badly to find a way to pick up the pieces and put the world back together.

I longed to cry out for justice, knowing that only mercy would ever truly do.  Today, I prayed like never before, "Come, Lord Jesus, come."

from the overflow

Last week, I was visiting with my pastor and my upcoming trip to Alabama was mentioned.  He asked, "Now, tell me again who you're going to see?"  I smiled as I thought through the list, then began to explain, but before I got very far, he stopped me. "Never mind, I've know.  You're going to see amazing person x with whom you have an amazing relationship, and they do fill in the blank with amazing godly thing."  I had to laugh because he was kind of correct.

Last Friday, I got in a car with some of my favorite Fort Worth girls (shout out to Erin, Erika, and Ashleigh!) and drove to Birmingham where we picked Mel up from the airport and rendezvoused with Steph who was driving down from Nashville.  From the airport, we drove to meet Joel in the parking lot of the church where he's been serving as youth minister for the last two and a half years.  Joel had Josh with him.  Josh and Esther (and baby Noah) drove in from Jacksonville, Florida where they minister to youth as well.  The surprise attendee to our family family reunion was waiting for us at Joel's parents lake house.  Danny, a naval officer stationed in San Diego, found out at the last minute he was going to get to come.  Finally, Joel and I made a second trip that evening to the airport for Army officer Jarrod and his wife Dawn, flying in from Virginia.  It was just after midnight before the 14 of us were all under one roof for the first time in years.  What a delight!  We spent the next twenty four hours simply enjoying the pleasure of being close.  We sat on the deck or the pier and talked lazily, catching up.  We grilled hot dogs, watched football then baseball, played cards, took walks, and had our traditional breakfast for dinner meal.  Saturday night, in the girls' room, we lay awake giggling far too long.  And, early Sunday morning, we parted ways.  We hope to do it again next year, and that hope made the parting a little easier.

From the lake house, I went on to spend a couple of extra days in Hayden, Alabama with a different set of friends.  Jeremy and Jodi (and Emma and Abbi) were spectacular hosts.  It is difficult for me to describe the depth of my affection for this family.  Earlier this week, I summarized my relationship to them by saying that Jeremy was the first person I ever had to seriously talk out of punching someone on my behalf and I'm pretty sure Jodi was right behind him.  I seriously didn't want punches thrown, but it felt really incredible to know there were people with that sort of protective loyalty for me.  Jeremy has served as friend, mentor, counselor, and tutor.  Jodi is the consummate girls' girl.  She's wise and kind and hospitable.  She's a patient listener and has a gift for getting to the heart of a matter.  She's a treasure!  And, for two days this week, I soaked up their friendship.

And, while I was away, enjoying these "amazing" people, I realized something else.  I have a whole host of amazing people right here in Fort Worth I was really eager to get back to.  I love my church family so very much.  They are so funny and kind and eager to serve.  I feel rich when I'm with them.  I love my work family, too. They are quirky and outrageous and generous and gifted in such unique ways.  I have so much to learn from them.  And, I love my family.  The ones related to me by blood.  I didn't have much time to talk with them while I was gone, and I loved hearing my dad's voice on the phone today.  I'm looking forward to talking with my mom tomorrow.  I am eager to catch up with my cousins and see my grandmother, too.  

Today, I got home from work, and I was alone in my apartment, and my heart was so full of all these thoughts I thought I might need to go run around the building.  I posed the question on facebook, "When your heart is full, what do you do with the overflow?"  My answer is, I blog.