Thanksgiving 2015 – Shout to the Lord!

psalm 100My husband and I were alone on Thanksgiving. “It’s all good,” I told someone yesterday. “Our children and grandchildren are with their other families. Well, one is still in Ethiopia. We expect to have her here with us soon.”

I missed my mom and my dad. They are gone now, as are my siblings, taken far too soon.

Today I spent time in Psalm 100 and realized again God how has walked with me through these past ten  years since Gordon’s death. I felt Jesus’ presence here with me in the quietness of the day. Sometimes I wondered if I’d feel his presence again. There were many moments of being with the loss and the sadness and yes, even doubt that sometimes comes with the loss. Godly counselors carried me when I couldn’t walk on my own.

Psalm 100 is all about giving thanks . . . God’s goodness . . . his faithfulness lasting through generations . . . . How I have believed this through my life. And how I have doubted all of it at one time or another in the darkness of the past ten years.

Knowing God was going to be OK with my doubt, I didn’t try to “fix” it with all the right answers, although I have tried to do that most of my life. He knew I was on a journey. And so I sat with God in the doubt, in the darkness.

And now he has brought me to a place of being able once again to absorb these cherished scriptures.

I had memorized the five verses from Psalm 100 as a child. Being a visual learner, now when I can see, I can remember and even memorize again. So here goes my visual version of Psalm 100:1-5

psalm 100

2) Worship the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.

03-25-06 Casting Crowns Tour - Rosemont, IL 011 psalm 100
(Enjoying Casting Crowns, March 2006)

3) Know that the LORD is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his.
We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

sheep

4) Enter into his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
Give thanks to him and praise his name.

St in Eliza in Norwood
(St in Eliza in Norwood, OH)

5) For the Lord is good, his love endures forever,
and his faithfulness endures to all generations.

psalm 100

God, this is why I am telling my story to show your faithfulness, even when it has seemed you are far away and maybe will seem that way again.
***************

 

16 Replies to “Thanksgiving 2015 – Shout to the Lord!”

  1. Carol, I so enjoyed your beautifully “imaged” Psalm. What treat for the senses to take in familiar words with the addition of color and your family snaps as well. You’ve been through the valley of the shadow, yet here you are, glorifying God for his goodness, your life a trophy of God’s ongoing grace. Thank you.

  2. Alone can be sweet at times especially when God shows up, but with this post, I just want to reach out and squish you. You are exactly where you are supposed to be right now. Thank you for Psalm 100 reminder! God is good and faithful to keep us. Amen and thank you for sharing

  3. Carol,
    I loved your visual sharing of Psalm 100 and the reminder that God is okay with our doubt and He graciously sits with us in it and through it….what a lovely family you have 🙂 Blessings to you this Advent season 🙂

  4. “Knowing God was going to be OK with my doubt, I didn’t try to “fix” it with all the right answers, although I have tried to do that most of my life. He knew I was on a journey. And so I sat with God in the doubt, in the darkness.”.
    Having a slight understanding of the trueness of this statement makes it that much more profound. He does know we are on a journey…and He comes in the doubt and the darkness to BE with us. Just makes me want to stop the striving of “fixing” and just sit. As Mary did, choose that which won’t be taken from me.
    Thanks again for your continued friendship and mentorship in my life…you inspire me towards the More!

    1. Oh. I memorized it too – as a teenager our church sang many scriptures. We used to pick up a single friend in Richard’s old truck and sing at the top of our lungs on the way to church. We converted the melody into a 1950’s style golden oldie– shaboom, shaboom. God must have been smiling!

    2. yes, that was an important trip. seems sort of magical to me. I wonder if they do that anymore…that writers week. I’ll check that out.

  5. Steve and I have spent several Thanksgivings alone over the last decade or so, having to wait until Christmas for our far-flung children to gather. We, too, discovered that the peace and rest of a quiet holiday also provided blessings–just a different variety. I also memorized Psalm 100 as a child–in the King James Version! ‘Loved the visual images you chose, especially the family photos. God bless you, Carol, as the days of Advent 2015 unfold!

  6. Carol, my husband and I were alone, too, and took a long drive by ourselves and then ate out. It’s the first year we’ve been without his parents (who lived with us for 8 years) so actually it was kinda nice. We also relished the quiet of just the two of us.
    These beautiful words and pictures from Psalm 100 are powerful–God says to ‘come’ regardless of how we feel. ESPECIALLY when we feel far away and faltering.
    Thank you for sharing these memories.

    1. Jody, it took us a long time to “recover” from the care of my dad, who could not be left alone. It wasn’t nearly as long as you, so I get the niceness of the quiet. It’s fun having you visit. And you are part of my gratitude this year for inviting me to join “Glory Writers” from afar. who knows, maybe I can combine a trip to see my kids and a weekend with you all in person sometimes.

  7. Isn’t it interesting sometimes how one holiday you have everyone at your house and then sometimes it is no one. That is the way it goes at times. I do like quiet and have always said ‘it is just a day’ … although to cook and plan is fun. The family is wonderful too. We had our daughters family over, our son and his family couldn’t make it. We still had a good time.

    1. you know that saying “home is where the heart is.” Well, i guess my heart was all over the map, so to speak, with the family scattered. It was still a good day and i loved the fact we could drive each other a little nutty with a couple threads of texting. Thanks for stopping by. Always good to see you here.

Leave a Reply to Donna Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *