"Godliness with contentment is great gain."

1 Timothy 6:6

I feel like this year’s Thanksgiving Scrooge.

My husband lately has been bugging me to write.  But I haven’t felt like it.  I feel internally yucky.  I feel like I shouldn’t share my internal yuckiness because I don’t want to be contagious or give anyone a reason to complain about their miserable lives.  So I opted to abstain from writing… and letting you in on my misery.

Then the Lord reminds me of this verse in 1 Timothy because I’m pretty sure when Paul penned this to Timothy, his circumstances alone didn’t give him a reason to rejoice.  But he did anyways.  Despite the persecutions, the incarcerations, and the beatings, Paul somehow trusted God and all His promises.

As we prepare a marvelous Thanksgiving feast, my prayer for everyone is that we don’t miss these ingredients that will make our times memorable for a lifetime.

Godliness and Contentment

It’s hard not to make tomorrow about football and turkey (and in my case, the Friends Thanksgiving marathon…), because if we do, we will miss out on a truly divine recipe.

The verse doesn’t say, “Godliness with contentment is great PAIN,” although, that’s exactly how it feels.  All our efforts to keep away from Santa’s Naughty List don’t matter, but we somehow still receive the shortest end of the stick.  Playing “nice” and being the good and composed Christian will not always bring you all the glory.

AND THAT.  MY FRIENDS.  IS EXACTLY.  MY POINT!

It isn’t about us receiving the glory in the first place.

Thanksgiving isn’t about us.  It’s about Him!

Perhaps God would have given Paul a pass to skip thanksgiving, but he knew with much confidence he would have failed to experience the gift that such offering may bring to us in the end of it all.  Not the glory, but the reaping of our sowing, even if it involves sorrowful tears.  To those who are hurting this season, I’m not saying to simply get over your grief.  Grief is anything but simple; it is a complex and cruel yet necessary process we must allow in order to heal from the most dramatic events of our lives.

Instead, embrace every sting and every throbbing in your body, in your heart, and in your soul and feel every single one until the tears in your eyes are no more.  Those tears will nurture the promise God has ahead of us.  They may be making our vision a bit blurry and we may not be able to see it clearly now, but when we encounter these big obstacles, we must trust we will also GAIN an even greater prize.  Spending eternity with our Savior and our loved ones should be the most fulfilling incentive there is to rejoice, pray without ceasing, and give thanks.  Nothing in this world will satisfy this.  NOTHING.  Absolutely NOTHING!

These severe moments are the ones that transform us, if we choose to allow them and if we choose to ask the tough questions about God and ourselves.  Ask the tough questions to God about our purpose and His will for our lives.  The “why’s” He allows suffering in our world and the “how’s” they are meant to shape us and grow us into being a little more like Jesus.  Obtain a little more of His love, His compassion, His kindness, His mercies, His grace, and His joy.  Receive His answers with humility and a contrite heart.

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing,  in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

“Our disappointments are His appointments”

Only God turns our deepest pains and disappointments into our greatest accomplishments.  He rewards us a prize of endurance and perseverance when we choose to obey despite our extensive fears and gaping grievances.  My pastor regurgitated it best on his sermon on the Philippians Church last week,

“Our disappointments are His appointments“

To every church Paul wrote to, he somehow reminded them to rejoice… always.  He’s not only thanked God, but he’s also found his deepest gratitude in his fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.  His faith took him down a road of acceptance with full knowledge that regardless of what happens in this life, the Lord “works all things together for our good when we love Him and when we are called to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

It’s been an excruciating and painful season for us Velsors and to top it all off, our son Joshie has been fighting one of those pesky ear infections.  When I took him to the ENT a month ago, I was warned he’d suffer those and he might need ventilation tubes to drain the fluid in his ears.  But the doctor suggested to wait at least a month (up to three months) and monitor his speech development closely.  Due to fluid in his ears, we think that’s been the main culprit of his speech delay.  He shows little to no interest to say words, but he has fully mastered the language of gibberish and non-verbal communication.  I try to remind myself that waiting is essential; it may either prepare us to pay a few thousand dollars up front for surgery or it may save us money we have yet to earn and the inconveniences that could potentially come with the actual surgery process.  We are praying for the latter, but we’ve learned to accept whatever is best for our little guy.  The waiting period is agonizing.  It is exactly what we all hope to prevent and/or avoid, but it is sincerely what refines us and what keeps us focused on what’s important.

As I numbly watched TV a few days ago, I stumbled upon a performance by my husband’s hero and favorite country singer, Garth Brooks.

Yes, I’m thankful for the Lord above
The gift of His unending love
The promise kept that there is something more
These are the things I’m thankful for

For our children hear this prayer
Let love surround them everywhere

The Thanksgiving Song, Garth Brooks

I’m not much of a country music fan like my husband is, but I chose to bear the performance to expose our son to different kinds of music.  Joshie was playing with his blocks on the carpet right in front of the TV, but he suddenly stopped what he was building to joyously dance and cheer Mr. Brooks and clapped louder and with much more emphasis as the performance neared its end.  He was overjoyed!  His left infected ear did not distract him from celebrating the little blessings the Lord decides to shower us with.  And once more, our son reminds me of what true Thanksgiving should look like…

In his innocence, he unknowingly learned how to make his painful circumstances bearable… and fun!

Let’s not forget those little blessings that God brings us to make our sucky seasons bearable and fun.  He recently blessed me and my husband with concert tickets to see our favorite band, Switchfoot.  I posted this on my social media the day after it happened,

But how easy we tend to forget about these good moments as soon as we experience disappointing ones…

Catch ALL the Moments

The last few months have been replaying on my mind over and over again.  They were some of my most defining months and moments in my whole life and I’m still trying to remind myself that I couldn’t control the outcome.  As much as I wanted to, I didn’t have the power to stop my mom from dying.  As much as I want to, I can’t change people’s hearts nor stop them from hurting mine and others’.  Life’s disappointments are more predictable than we think.  We know they are lurking right around the corner and they come out when we least want them to or expect them to.

But that shouldn’t stop us from catching ALL the moments of our lives.  I dare you to watch NBC’s This is Us.  I literally cry tears of joy and sorrow when I tune in because of how real and fragile they depict life.

I’d like to close with something Wise William said in last night’s Thanksgiving episode.  I felt like God Himself was trying to remind me of the lyric that convinced Kenny to take me to the Switchfoot concert, “I want to be rich in memories, not money.  Our love is our inheritance, honey.“

William is dying of stomach cancer and he was recently reunited with his son, Randall.  His adopted brother’s girlfriend asked him, “how does dying feel like?”  This was part of his response,

I know you feel like you have all the time in the world, but you don’t.  So, stop playing it so cool.  Catch the moments of your life.  Catch them while you are young and quick.  Because sooner than you know it, you will be old.  And slow.  And there will be no more of them to catch. 

This Is Us, William (or as I like to refer to him, Wise William)

Mindblown.

Catch. Every. Single. Moment!

The good.

And the bad.

And even, the ugly.

And have a Happy Thanksgiving… rejoice, pray, and give thanks! ❤