Be Thankful

In Philippians it says:

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything in prayer WITH THANKSGIVING, make your requests known and the peace that passes all understanding will guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus

This is a scripture I turn to, time and again. I am a professional worrier. I am not kidding. If there could be a PHD in anxiety, I would hold it. I have been a student since I was a kid. My little brother was burned very badly in my presence when I was 8 and he was 6. Over half of his body, third degree burns. His clothes caught fire and as my mother tried to remove the burning clothes from his little body, I pulled burning furniture from the house and put out assorted fires within it. I became an adult that day. I became the mother to a one year old sister, and the unspoken matriarch of a family in the absence of my parents ability to care for both the horrendous two year ordeal of over 20 surgeries my little brother underwent and the trials, emotionally, spiritually, and financially that this brought to them and our family. Until this year some 40+ years later, did I realize, that was when I earned my degree in worry. I did not sign up for the course, it was thrust upon me and my life became a series of "continuing education" courses, either experienced personally or third person in the emotional and physical care of myself, close friend, and family that have gone through horrific experiences. I guess in a way, my anxiety was being fueled and fed, as I watched the worst nightmares realized in the lives of those I loved.

Each trial, loomed large and intense, because it the was the present one. It clouded my thoughts, my common sense, my energies, and fueled the already heightened anxiety I naturally had. But as I have grown older and hopefully wiser, mentally and spiritually, I have begun to look for the "blessing" sooner in the ordeal. It is like a child knowing there is a lollipop after the shot and after so many, you start looking for the lollipop before immediately afterwards. Then during. And finally even as it starts. Silly analogy, but it will have to do for now.

It is the thanksgiving that is the key. Sometimes, the small things we can find to be thankful for, are the only life preservers we have in this sea of pain and suffering. The key is to know the power gratitude has to keep us afloat. The key is to know it is His provision and His presence and His power that makes it possible.

"Please & Thank You" or "Thank You & Please"

In a small department at my college, there were three separate instances of a young woman losing their grandmother. Taken their ages, this was not unusual but in the small group, it was devastating. I don't know if it was the loss or the fact that there was an inability for anyone to recover and offer the others their sympathy or empathy. I found myself returning to one of my favorite scripture.

Be anxious for nothing, but in prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, make your request known. And the peace that passes all understanding will guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus.

Being a rather anxious person, the "peace that passes all understanding" has been a difficult and elusive commodity. In reading the scripture, the words "with thanksgiving" took on more of an importance. In praying for the young women, I thanked God for the importance of grandparents and realized the loss in my life. It was bittersweet, because from where I was sitting, my grandparents deceased, I could understand the beauty of their memories. Things I never appreciated when they were alive, but that lived on after their deaths. It was incredible. I realized in my praying, thanksgiving was a list by rote of all the things I am grateful for. Most of the time, though important in my life, listed without much thought or feeling. I realized also in praying for these young women, the peace that passed all understanding was the fact that I knew God would be in the situation and He would bring the sorrow and grief to fruition. And there it was - the peace. Not that there would be no pain and suffering, but that it would be part not the whole. Though I may not always be able to do it. I "pray" I remember to say "thank you" before I say "please". Because it is for me.