November 2010 – Teresa K. Lasher

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

November 25, 2010/0 Comments/in Family, friends, God/by teresaklasher

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS!!

“Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; his love endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so!” (Psalm 107:1-2)

My husband and I are so thankful to be with our son, wife and 2 grandbabies in their warm cozy abode…even if we are in frigid tundra (aka Minnesota) and it’s only 4 degrees Fahrenheit.

In our country, we have so much to give thanks to God for…miracles and answers to prayer too numerous to count.

Family & Friends: children, 2 precious grandchildren (and one on the way), sisters, brothers, nieces, nephews, cousins, aunts and uncles, moms and dads
Warm, safe environment to work, play, and worship as we please
Plenty of food and drink to fill our bellies
Freedom to worship our God who is worthy of all our praise!

What can you give thanks for today?

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Thanksgiving musing

November 23, 2010/0 Comments/in Family, friends, God/by teresaklasher

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“Tremble before him, all the earth!

The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved!

Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;

Let them say among the nations, “The Lord reigns!”

Let the sea resound, and all that is in it,

Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them!

Then the trees of the forest will sing,

They will sing for joy before the Lord,

For he comes to judge the earth.

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,

His love endures forever!” (1 Chronicles 16:30-34)

Just two more days until Thanksgiving Day. As I think of this Thanksgiving and then on to Christmas, my prayer is that we (myself included) don’t get crazy-busy (like I usually do) during the days leading up to Christ’s death, burial and resurrection. It’s so easy to plow through each day without a thought as to why we do what we do. Food and gifts shouldn’t be the primary focus of the season. Remember the saying from long ago, “Jesus is the reason for the season” —this is the thought I desire my heart to ponder upon.

The season isn’t about me, my family and friends, but about what I can give back to the God who chose me personally, who willingly sent His only Son to die on a rugged cross for my past, present and future sins. What an awesome and loving God He is! Doesn’t He deserve my honor and praise?

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I Stand Amazed!

November 22, 2010/0 Comments/in God/by teresaklasher

I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene, and wonder how He could love me, a sinner, condemned, unclean. O how marvelous! O how wonderful! And my song shall ever be…

Listen to this video clip of I Stand Amazed by Chris Tomlin:

http://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play?p=i%20stand%20amazed&tnr=21&vid=281642140699&l=392&turl=http%3A%2F%2Fts2.mm.bing.net%2Fvideos%2Fthumbnail.aspx%3Fq%3D281642140699%26id%3D7faa52933c61e59667dcd776a7a1b883%26bid%3DjQKm0z18rxGRGA%26bn%3DThumb%26url%3Dhttp%253a%252f%252fwww.youtube.com%252fwatch%253fv%253dS7QuZ4wo1X4&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DS7QuZ4wo1X4&sigr=11areeilc&newfp=1&tit=I+Stand+Amazed+-+Chris+Tomlin

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Elements of True Thanksgiving

November 18, 2010/0 Comments/in Faith, God/by teresaklasher

“Then the trees of the forest will sing, they will sing for joy before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. Cry out, “Save us, O God our Savior; gather us and deliver us from the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name, that we may glory in your praise.” Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Then all the people said “Amen” and “Praise the Lord.” ( 1 Chronicles 16:33–36)

We’re learning about the true meaning of worship in our Bible study this week. We were asked to read 1 Chronicles 16 and list the elements of true thanksgiving. To be honest, I assumed this would be a simple, fairly call-on-my-brain knowledge of past sermons on how to worship. Wrong! The list of elements became so long (and surprising) that I ended up using an additional blank piece of paper to capture the essence of 1 Chronicles. I’ve listed below a few elements of true thanksgiving I discovered:

Give thanks to the Lord
Call upon His name
Sing to God praises
Tell of all His wonderful acts
Rejoice!
Remember miracles and wonders God performed in the past
Proclaim His salvation day after day [shout it from the mountaintops!]
Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever [His love never quits]
Give thanks to His holy name, that we may glory in your praise
Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting!
Then all the people said, “Amen” and “Praise” the Lord (vs. 37)

Wow! That’s quite a list! And I thought the list would be small enough to be contained in the tiny white space under the question. I not only underestimated elements of true thanksgiving, but I had it all wrong. I never thought of worship in this way before…not in all my years of sitting in services—how sad and how far I missed the mark. It’s not about what songs were sung/played, or who participated in the service. It’s not about what I got out of the service. Rather, I need to ask myself: What did I bring to the worship service personally?

Reality check time:

Did I give thanks to the Lord and call upon His name?(or, am I still trying to get situated in my seat)
Did I sing praises to God (or check to see if my neighbor was singing on key?)
Did I enter His sanctuary with a spirit of rejoicing? (or, was I grumbling under my breath because so & so did or did not sit next to me?)
Am I remembering God’s miracles and answers to prayer from the past (or, do I dwell on a current relationship gone sour?)
Do I proclaim His salvation daily? (or only when I get my way and life sails smoothly)

Becky Reynolds, author of our study suggests we…Make a list of some of the things you would like to see accomplished during:

My private times of worship,
Our public worship services, and
How can I help these desires become reality?

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November 12, 2010/0 Comments/in God, Wisdom/by teresaklasher

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you” (Psalm 32:8-9)

Kidner in his commentary states, “If forgiveness is good, fellowship is better.”

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a tale of 5 stray cats

November 10, 2010/0 Comments/in Writing/by teresaklasher

I especially can relate to this 5 stray cats poem by Charles Bukowski. The poem is entitled, Exactly Right:

the strays keep arriving: now we have 5
cats and they are smart, spontaneous, self-
absorbed, naturally poised and awesomely
beautiful.

(see rest of poem on the Writer’s Almanac website)…

http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/index.php?date=2010/11/09

Trivia Prize Winner!

November 8, 2010/0 Comments/in friends, Writing/by teresaklasher

Terry wins the monthly Trivia Prize!

The B.I.C. prize (butt in the chair)

Do writers have fun? YES, we do! At our last meeting, we sponsored a trivia question–do you know who the Inklings were? Terry D. not only knew who some of the members were, where they met, but also a few published accomplishments that originated from said group. He retains the prize until we meet again as a large group and another winner is announced. CONGRATS, Terry!

In case you’re wondering…the Prize consists of:

CDs from a Philadelphia writers’ conference
B.I.C. award – which stands for “Butt-n-Chair” – a writer must place his butt in the chair in order to create writing material

Answer to the trivia question:

“The Inklings was an informal literary discussion group associated with the University of Oxford, England, for nearly two decades between the early 1930s and late 1949. The Inklings were literary enthusiasts who praised the value of narrative in fiction, and encouraged the writing of fantasy. Although Christian values were notably present in several members’ work, there were also irreligious members of the discussion group.

Readings and discussions of the members’ unfinished works were the principal purposes of meetings. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, Lewis’s Out of the Silent Planet, and Williams’s All Hallows’ Eve were among the novels first read to the Inklings.” (Wikipedia) Meetings were not all serious—the Inklings amused themselves by having competitions to see who could read famously bad prose for the longest without laughing.

Regular members included JRR “Tollers” Tolkien and CS “Jack” Lewis. Interesting…their meeting place was a local pub. Some of what became important texts of the 20th century were first read amongst friends at Inklings meeting.

And I have no doubt that many accomplished works will originate from our group as well!

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He delights in me!

November 4, 2010/0 Comments/in God/by teresaklasher

“He brought me into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.”

Psalm 18:19

God delights in me? No way—me, a mere flawed human being? The fact that the great, awesome and powerful God would stoop so low as to free me, rescue me and then delight in me is almost incomprehensible! When I begin to count the number of times I’ve messed up and disappointed God…well, the number is too great to tally. And, I continue to mess up.

The definition of “delight” is a high degree of pleasure; joy, to have or take great pleasure. Synonyms of the word “delight” are to please, gratify, rejoice, gladden, tickle, satisfy, content, charm, allure, and attract. The God of the universe takes pleasure in me? Even when I don’t act kind or loving to a family member—He still loves me. When I jump to conclusions about my neighbor’s actions and do not know his motive or his heart—God still loves me!

I am learning that this big God is also a personal God and longs for intimacy with me. He cares enough about me (and you) to reach down from on high and take hold of me; “he drew me out of deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me…but the Lord was my support.” (Psalm 18:16—18)

Have you been through deep waters? I have. I can’t depend on my physical body to perform properly at all times. I grow weary and weak, and need to depend on others to get me through the day, and that’s okay. My Mother died unexpectantly at an early age. As I think of my dear confidant, my eyes tear. I can no longer talk face to face with her and share my daily joys and sorrows.

We all walk through dark valleys. Sometimes God takes us out of the valley; other times He walks through the valley with us. Either way, He doesn’t leave us stranded. Apart from this great God, I can do nothing. But if I humble myself and pray (2 Chronicles 7:14)—God comes through and does not disappoint. With God, all things are possible. Even sweet communion with a God who delights in me!

Prayer: Thank you, God, for rescuing me many times throughout the years. I don’t deserve rescue, but because of Your great love and mercy, You choose to free me in spite of me. Keep my ways pure, oh Lord, as I learn truth from Your scripture. My heart’s desire is to run to You sooner next time. When the deep waters threaten to swallow me up, I long for You to be my strong support so You may delight in me all the days of my life. Amen.

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