Thanks...anyway!

We arrived here at the homestead one year ago this week. As we pulled down the long lane, the scenario was much as it is today - bare trees; grey skies; a bit too cool and damp for comfort. It was hard to believe that we were coming home... and we still are adjusting to this being our home, even after one whole year. It probably doesn't help that we are living in a construction zone - and with many boxes still unpacked from Singapore. But that is our choice in some ways - we jumped into life here full force with a desire to do everything we could to catch up with our country dream after so many years of city living. Looking back, we can agree that perhaps we should have taken a bit more time to settle in before taking on so many projects, and we are committed now to finishing the ones we have started before starting any new ones. Unless of course spring gets here first with the promise of new life and growth; and the garden beckons; and we have the opportunity to get some more goats; and maybe a calf or two...

As we look back over the past years of transition we are also reminded at this time of year that we are to be thankful for everything that happens to us in life.  Eugene Peterson paraphrases a well known passage in 1 Thessalonians 5 this way in the Message: "Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live." A more direct translation states that we should "rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."  So often I hear people ask "How can we know God's will for our life?" Well, here is a very clear and direct statement of what God's will is for us as followers of Christ. If we chose to ignore this; if we chose to disobey the will that we know already; why should God give us any further clarity in terms of His specific will for our lives?

We find it very difficult to give thanks when things don't go well - when resources are not available or when difficult circumstances get in the way of what we want to do. All of us probably receive many newsletters and prayer letters from missionaries and ministry leaders around the world. They are usually full of exciting ministry updates and possibilities. They often also contain prayer requests regarding needs - real needs - that will impact the ministry negatively if not met soon. The cares of this world are hard to be thankful for when they take us away from what we want to spend our time on. Personally, as we look back over the past years that we have been serving with International Training Partners, we see many events and processes which have slowed us down in areas of ministry that we wanted to move ahead in. Sometimes there is simply a lack of energy, time, money or other resources that we need to do something we want to do. Sometimes it is more complex - partnerships which don't work out as well as we had hoped, or partners who themselves run into roadblocks or delays.

It is God's will that we should give Him thanks for all roadblocks; every lack of resource; each difficult time; the non-ending transitions; the sadness; the loss; the frustrations...

In special Thanksgiving services, and around many family Thanksgiving tables across America, we will hear words of thanksgiving this week for all the blessings He has showered on us this year. We will hear heartfelt words of thanks for the many good things He has worked out in our lives, and we will share thoughts and expressions of thanks for so much...  He is a gracious, loving and merciful God who does give us so much more than we deserve. Our reasons to be thankful mount up to the sky.

Can we also be thankful for the heartbreaks; the dead ends; the black holes of our lives and ministries? Can we trust Him enough to accept that He is indeed faithful and that He causes everything to work together for our good, and the good of His kingdom? Can we really give thanks anyway?