A word to the wise:

.... actually several.

Chicken nuggets are not to be handled lightly. Spend the extra $2 for the name brand or you'll end up with a dinner of fried sponge.

And there are some things even ketchup and ranch can't solve.

You know you're an adult when:

all you want for Christmas is new tires for your car.

You know you're still a kid when your parents get them for you.
Before Christmas.

Parents trump Santa daily.

This is how I felt, bow tie and all.

Musing

These past few months have been so full lately, and at least everyday, I think to myself "I should really blog bout that."  But alas, other things are always clamoring for attention.
At last however, I've come up against something that just has to be shared.

Actually it can be condensed in to a single question:

"In everything give thanks?

_______________

 This one thought has been continuously revolving around my head like a slight less happy version of a carousel. 

I could give thanks for most things: a glorious sunrise (even) on an early morning at Starbucks, kitten kisses when I get home from a long day of classes. Generally it's not hard to find at least positive light to any situation.
But everything?

Can I give thanks while scraping ice off my car in below zero temps at 5:00 in the morning?

Can I give thanks when this same car decides decides to mysteriously shut off whenever I turn it on, but then go all Rolls Royce on the mechanic? .... for an entire week?

Can I give thanks when it feels like the my responsibilities, and obligations, and desires are simultaneously spinning out of control but at the same time crushing me?

Can I give thanks when I come to realize the lack of control I really have on my life?

1 Thessalonians 5:18 has been burned into my brain.
..."give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."

I'd like to think to myself that "perhaps Paul meant to write: In most things give thanks," and then just got a few letters wrong.

In reality, I can tend to live that way.

But far from it. In any difficult season of life, there is Truth that makes a thankful heart possible, and that is in Romans 5

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, 

we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.  

Through him we have also obtained access by faith 

into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in 

hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in 

our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces 

endurance, and endurance produces character, and 

character produces hope, and hope does not put us to 

shame, because God’s love has been poured into our

hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

 My eternal destiny been secured by the Almighty God of heaven, my sins covered by his perfect Son, Hell is no longer my destination, and now, this world is not my home!
This in and of itself is reason to get up every day with a smile, yet that is not the end! It goes on to say that mine is not a suffering for no reason. There is a real purpose for these trials, no matter how large or small. 

Endurance, Character, Hope.

All because of love.

"In everything give thanks."