#ThirtyThankfuls Day 30: My kids.

I can’t tell you how much I love being a dad. My girls are a delight and blessing to me each and every day. Seeing one of those girls light up when they see me and run at me to give me a hug is just the best part of my mornings. Working from home is a challenge with three kids 5 and under in the house, but I wouldn’t go back to a cubicle for anything.

My hope and my plan is that I will stay a remote worker through the end of my career so I can be an active part of my kids’ daily life, education, and formative years.

Having more kids than adults in the house is a bit of managed chaos at all times, but I wouldn’t change a thing. Honestly, I’m still open to having more at some point in the future. My wife is on board, though some days she’s more open to the idea than others, depending on how stinky the girls are being.

Kids are a blessing. They force you to confront your selfishness and your need for control. They also help you understand the love and compassion God has for us.

As some rowdy Presbyterians would say: if you’re single, get married, and if you’re married, have some babies. And if you have babies, baptize them—as soon as they make a credible profession of faith.

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That’s the end of #ThirtyThankfuls for 2022. Can I post for another 31 days (mostly) in a row? I’m sure gonna try.

In the meantime, I have a question for you, reader: what’s your favorite Christmas Carol/hymn? Let me know in the comments!

#ThirtyThankfuls Day 29: My parents.

I know of at least 4 families connected to our church community who have lost a father/grandfather just this month. Over the last 14 months, my wife and I have lost 3 grandparents and 2 aunts, between the two of us. I know other friends with family members who are currently in poor health, fighting cancer, dealing with lingering illness.

It’s just another reminder that we’re reaching the age where our parents and grandparents aren’t going to be with us for too much longer. We’re really becoming “the adults in the room.”

I wrote a few weeks ago about the blessing of hope. I’m also personally blessed that by the grace of God my parents are still alive. (It helps that they’re younger than the parents of most of my peers, having had me when they were teenagers.) We’ve had a few scares over the years, but my parents are doing well–facing some physical challenges, but still fighting.

This realization that we don’t know what may happen around the next bend in the road makes me desire all the more to maintain a good, healthy relationship with my parents. We’ve had bumps along the way as I’ve learned how to engage them as an adult child and the head of my own household, but we’re doing well right now. I’m very grateful for that.

I had a conversation with a friend two days ago who is still feeling pretty raw about the recent loss of her father. I tried to encourage her as best I could, but there was an invisible barrier I couldn’t quite break through. I didn’t know her father. I couldn’t give a full assurance of Gospel hope for his sake or provide any context to help in her grief. All I could do was be present there with her and her husband, listen to her, nod, and remind her that the Lord Jesus is near to her in her sadness.

After all, we can rightly infer from the Gospels that Jesus’ earthly father Joseph was dead and gone by the time of the crucifixion, since Jesus entrusts his mother’s care to his disciple John. So, although we don’t see an explicit record of it, we know that Jesus our Savior understands what it’s like to stand at the graveside of a father, and to comfort his widowed mother in her grief. We also know that Jesus is sympathetic to us in our weakness and that He understands our pain.

Those encouragements, my presence, and my wife’s homemade soup were the best things I could bring in that moment. I have to trust that was enough.

My prayer is that I will cling to these truths one day in my own valley of the shadow, because unless Jesus comes back first, I will eventually be standing at a lonely graveside like that as well. My heart aches even to consider it.

For now, I will make the best of every day I have with my parents. I’m deeply thankful for them. They are blessings to me.

#ThirtyThankfuls Day 28: An enjoyable movie.

On Sunday night, my wife and I rented Mr. Malcolm’s List, and it was delightful.

The film can only be described as a Jane-Austen-like romantic comedy of manners, set in or near the time of regency England (when Austen’s stories are set). It may seem like a slight to say the film feels like a pastiche of Pride and Prejudice and Emma, but when you’re pulling from the best works of the genre, that can hardly be a heavy critique.

The story involves an eligible young woman in high society named Julia Thistlewaite who has reached her fourth “season” of marriable age without finding a husband (gasp!). Worse yet, the most eligible bachelor around, Mr. Jeremy Malcolm (much fawned over by the entirety of polite society), seems uninterested in her advances because she fails to meet a list of qualities he’s looking for in a bride (double gasp!). So Julia enlists the reluctant help of her childhood friend (and perfect Austen heroine) Selina Dalton to try to turn the tables on Mr. Malcolm.

It all plays out just the way you’d expect, but let’s be honest: that’s why you’re watching this kind of movie.

The performances are charming, the writing is clever, and the costumes and set design are gorgeous. I found myself smiling contentedly through all of it. As far as content, the film is rated PG (just as it should be for this kind of story!) and the only objectional elements are a few rare misuses of God’s name and perhaps some concerns about modesty given the fashions of the period.

Probably the most unique element of the movie is one that is never explicitly acknowledged in the story: race-blind casting. I’ve noticed in modern adaptations of older works or in stories set in those periods that the narrative is always hyper-aware of the “race-blind” casting and comments on it in some way. In this movie, other than one moment when a character quotes an African proverb in the language of “the old country,” the issue is never brought up, which makes it so easy for the viewer to forget. This isn’t a story about people of Western-European and African and Indian and East-Asian descent; it’s just a story about people.

I would imagine some folks would complain this is a Very Serious Problem, “white-washing history,” perpetuating the “color-blind” myth, etc. I disagree; I see it as the first really good example of the “equal representation” ideal that modern storytellers pursue, and I commend the production team and filmmakers for it.

All in all, Mr. Malcolm’s List is a great movie and a lovely way to spend a few hours (especially if you’re doing so with your spouse by your side). I’m thankful that, once in a while, a new film is released that’s actually worth watching.

#ThirtyThankfuls Day 27: A good, full day.

I’m tired, friends. Been a good day. I preached this morning, made a pastoral visit this afternoon, and then came home to my family for the evening. Closed out the night watching a really sweet movie with my wife.

Tomorrow, I go back to work. Honestly, not super jazzed about that, but I’m thankful for the week off I just had.

Good night, gang.

#ThirtyThankfuls Day 26: Open windows.

It’s rained here pretty heavily over the last few days, but this afternoon the rain has cleared and the skies are blue. The temperature outside has climbed up into the 60’s, so every window in the house is open to let in the cool afternoon breeze. (Now there’s 3 words you don’t often put together around these parts.)

Elsewhere in the country, I know folks are dealing with much colder temps and inclement weather, and God bless ’em. Truth be told, if given a choice, I’d usually prefer colder temperatures–I’m a winter-loving person by nature. But here and now, I’m grateful to be soaking up such pleasantness. The sound of the breeze blowing through the leaves of my neighbor’s trees, like the steady swish of waves along the beach, is a pretty sweet soundtrack for sermon-writing.

Thank you, Lord, for pleasant days and mild temperatures. We don’t get many days like this. They are precious when they arrive.

#ThirtyThankfuls Day 25: Leftovers.

Somehow, the delicious Thanksgiving feast is even better the second and third time around.

The sandwich pictured above was from last night: turkey, Mac, cranberry sauce, sourdough focaccia. Today, lunch was a big pile of bacon-apple-cabbage, Mac and cheese, and more turkey. I may grab some more bread with cranberry sauce for a snack shortly.

Leftovers are a reminder of God’s abundance—not just blessing us with the needs of the moment, but with that PLUS an extra spoonful of delight and satisfaction. It’s another one of those easily overlooked blessings that we can take for granted.

This weekend, enjoy your leftover stuffing and pie with a happy heart, reminded that God is generous.

#ThirtyThankfuls Day 24: Flavor

My sister brought the charcuterie magic today!

Something you may take for granted is flavor. Have you ever taken time to consider that God design a world that is pleasing to our senses–including our senses of smell and taste? Food could have been a completely utilitarian creation, full of bland, unchanging flavors and textures.

Instead, we were given a world full of flavor and texture and spice by our loving creator. The juicy richness of a well-cooked turkey or brisket. The salty sting of olives. The sweetness and tartness of a Granny Smith apple. The chewy, fermented goodness of fresh sourdough. The bitterness and complexity of coffee. All of these things are gifts from God for us to enjoy.

For us here in the States, today is Thanksgiving: a celebration that started with religious refugees fleeing to this continent to escape persecution by an over-reaching government. (Make your own editorial comments here.) The pilgrim community–already reduced greatly by disease and hypothermia and starvation–celebrated surviving in this new land. We celebrate the kindness if God and the gift of each other on this good day by bringing a bounty of flavor and color and smells to the festive table.

For my fellow Americans, I pray your celebrations were delightful, and that even now as you think back on the day’s dishes, you reflect on God’s gifts of friends, family, and flavors.

#ThirtyThankfuls Day 23: A Working Vehicle.

The van wouldn’t start last night (Tuesday). I had noticed that it was hesitating a bit when I started it a few times Monday, but it just completely stopped working when I was about to head to the grocery store after the kids’ bedtime.

That could have been bad. It could have been when my wife was out with our kids, in inclement weather, in treacherous traffic or a less-safe environment. We were spared that. Everyone was home and secure, the van safely parked in the garage, when the battery gave out. Grace.

A friend came over to try to jumpstart it, and then he helped push it into a better position for the tow truck driver. When I finally got to the mechanic, they were able somehow to fit me in before the holiday and replace my battery. I drove the van home this evening, relieved that we have a vehicle available again in case of emergencies during the long weekend. (We’re a 1-vehicle family in a car-focused city.)

You can sometimes take for granted that when you get in the driver’s seat and turn the key, that all will function properly. When it doesn’t, you realize it’s a convenience and a blessing that you should appreciate more.

On top of all that, this past weekend, we received an unexpected monetary gift that more than covered our auto mechanic bill. God’s providence once again provides what we need before we even know to ask.

So tonight, I thank God for His gracious provision, and for a van that starts.

Sleep well, friends.

#ThirtyThankfuls Day 22: Taking time off.

Here, in the all-too-early morning of Tuesday, just an hour or two away from sunrise, the task list is finally at a reasonable stopping point. The “out-of-office” message turns on, the laptop closes, and the editor sleeps for a few sweet hours before toddlers jump on him to wake him up to a new day.

I am thankful to put the work email to bed for the rest of the week. Finally.

Tomorrow, you’ll hopefully be hearing from a less-stressed (and hopefully more rested) man. See you then.

#ThirtyThankfuls Day 21: My wife’s patience.

I’m supposed to be off work all week. My PTO has been locked in place for months. But of course, as things tend to go, once the time comes to close up shop, there is more necessary work than necessary time to complete it. So my tasks from last week are bleeding over into my vacation time, and my wife is…not pleased. Thankfully, she understands that I’m trying to resolve these things as quickly as possible, so she’s not too frustrated with me. Yet.

Suffice it to say, I don’t want to presume on her good graces any longer than I need to, so today’s entry will be a short one and hopefully tomorrow’s won’t be a tribute to the joys of sleeping on the couch because work time has bled too far over into vacation time.

Goodnight, friends.