Happy Thanks & Confess-giving

we just finished a sermon series on God's Will based on the three commands recorded by Paul in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, "be joyful always; pray continuallly; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." (emphasis mine).

while preparing for this past weekend's message on endless thanks, i returned to the Thanksgiving Day Proclamation by Abraham Lincoln. i learned a lot in the process, specifically Sarah Josepha Hale's 36 year campaign to see the nation return to George Washington's proclamation of a national and annual day of thanks to God.

the proclamation that Abraham Lincoln gave was most likely written by his Secretary of State and former political adversary, William Seward. Seward was stirred and inspired by Hale's letter -- a letter that had gone unanswered and unsupported by President's Taylor, Fillmore, Pierce, and Buchanan. Seward read the letter and made the pitch to Lincoln who affirmed the idea. Four days later, Lincoln read the proclamation and we've celebrated the holiday annually, though at different times, since then.

as i read the proclamation (proclamation), i was struck by the following,

the day that includes being thankful TO GOD,
"a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens"

is to also be a day to be repentant before God,
"And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience"

a day of prayer for those who have suffered loss,
"commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged"

and a day to seek again purity and alignment with His divine purposes
"and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union"

i know that it is sad that as a nation we increasingly forget the thanks in this holiday and move onto the getting in Christmas--but the thankfulness is just the tip of all we're forgetting to do. we ought to be mindful that with all of our blessings, we ought to confess, remember those with less and loss, and seek to align ourselves with God's will again.

making good on a vow

read this intersting story of Michael Redd and his recent gift to his dad's ministry

take the link to ESPN for the story
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=wojciechowski_gene&id=2224230

happy birthday

sorry for the delay in posts -- still trying to catch up to life in Decatur since our trip to Guyana, and i'm not making much progress. well, as you'll read, i had some time to slow down and reflect over the weekend...

last Wednesday night, i was sitting at the desk to shut down the computer when i had a sudden and strong pain across my upper chest and into my neck and jaw. it was one of those freezing moments that just left me a little stunned and in pain for a while. after a few minutes, i got up to get ready for bed and tried to sleep off the pain and pressure. after lying down for awhile, i was fine and able to sleep.

Thursday was my 33rd birthday (i guess my warranty expired). during the afternoon, i was reading with the kids when i could begin to feel the pressure and pain slowly creep back into my chest and neck. Keli let me lie down for awhile. I got up, feeling better, but still feeling pressure across my chest. i went to lead the H.S./college age Bible study where they asked all types of questions trying to understand and diagnose my trouble.

my wife and i tried to figure out what was wrong with me since this was two nights in a row. it's the time for the allergies and crud here in north Alabama -- but i had been congestion free, no drainage, no fever, no coughing. i took a hard fall over the weekend playing football at our church picnic, but i've had harder falls. we went to bed still not sure of what i was feeling.

by 3:00 a.m., i couldn't lay down, sit up, stand or hardly breathe for that matter. i got dressed and woke up Keli to tell her i was going to the hospital. i drove the 3-4 blocks to the closest hospital and checked in at the ER. after answering the same questions from the Bible study, they did an EKG on me. they saw an elevated level that prompted them to give me aspirin and nitro -- now i was concerned-- what did they think this was? Well, i responded to the nitro and the pain and pressure began to ease. after more questions and a chest x-ray and more questions, i was fitted for a heart monitor, an IV, and oxygen and checked into the hospital.

by this time, my wife had called worried sick, and i had begun to place calls to my dad for medical history. it's only been in the last year that dad has had blood clots. the internal medicine doctor came in later that morning to inform us of their concerns and that since i'm in the middle age category (:{) that they were taking all the precautions. those precautions included putting me on a cardiac/low-sodium diet--the food was bland, but the coffee was worse. the worst thing you can offer a serious coffee drinker is sanka--the decaf/instant excuse was really insulting.

the doctors tested and worked to rule out all the possibilties -- no broken bones, nothing out of joint, no pneumonia or congestion, and still no fever. after many more tests and meeting several cardiologists, the tests led us to believe that i had a blood clot that either got to my heart or lung. the tests also revealed the good news: that my body broke it down like it should. the concerning news/question is why did i have a clot to begin with?

i began to feel no pain nor pressure by 11:00 p.m. Friday night. well, no pain in my chest -- the nitro paste patches that were changed out every 6 hours would give me awful headaches. i could have left Saturday afternoon, but some confusion left me in the hospital until Sunday afternoon. it's good to be home and with my family again. the kids showed some signs of concern, but they were happy to see me return.

i will have an appointment for a stress test with the cardiologists this week. they feel if everything looks okay, then there would be no reason to see me regularly, unless something else should happen down the road. if there's any concern, then we'll consider additional tests and visits.

my wife wanted to spend money and a lot of time with me on my birthday -- i told her she needs to be more specific next time.

we're grateful for our church. the board immediately put me off for the weekend and contacted my father-n-law to do the message Sunday morning. one of the ladies took shifts with the kids so my wife could be with me longer. my sister-n-law and father-n-law also took the kids for several hours over the several day ordeal. Many came to see and sit with us to fill the time, offer prayer, and share their love. Other pastors called or came to share with us as well.

i'it was a blessing to get up with our kids this morning -- to begin a new week, and this new year a little more grateful for God's gifts and blessings.