Thanksgiving Time Q & A

What was on your table of bounty this year? Turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, Amish pickles, stuffing, corn, fruit salad, rolls, cranberry sauce, sparkling juice, pumpkin pie, coffee

Any creativity flowing for Thanksgiving? Yes, Diana came up with the idea of writing our thanks on leaf shaped paper and putting it on a money tree.

Could you tell us a little about how home ministry is going? We are approaching our year of home ministry in three phases. First, to transition back (reporting to supporters; making medical visits; settle into housing; getting our son and daughters situated for stability). Secondly, the one we are moving into now is restoration (establishing some better physical habits; taking emotional inventory; refreshing spiritually). Thirdly, is to inquire of the Lord concerning our future (Josh. 9:14, Jer. 10:21).

How many medical visits have made so far? Twenty-One

Are you serious? Yeah…………….crazy huh? We are playing catch up after four years away.

What’s up for the family tomorrow? It’s the first day of the Christmas season as we spruce the house up with all kinds of festive decorations. It will start with Maria making a breakfast of American eggs, Canadian bacon and English muffins – very international. It will end with a fondue supper and watching The Nativity Story.

Got anything you want to share from one of the kids? Here’s something from Christina entitled Thanksgiving

Praise God for he is great;
Praise him in the town and at the city gates.

Think upon his greatness;
And meditate upon his graciousness.

Remember his works and power;
Fear him and his covenant will be with you forever.

Food and land will be given to you;
He is righteous, faithful and just too.

Fear God and be given wisdom;
For praise belongs to God and every righteousness is to be given to him.

Happy Thanksgiving - Happy Everything

I am very happy. That’s a deliberate usage of the word. I’ve been down on happiness for a while. Rejoicing, thankful, blessed and joyful seemed to be my words of choice. Then I run up against verses like Psalm 68:3 “But may the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; may they be happy and joyful.” And James 5:13, “Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise.” So in a spirit of happiness I offer up these:

I am happy for…

…the house being filled with the aroma of turkey and all the fixin’s on Thursday.
…the brilliant oranges, reds and yellows of autumn.
…the ease in getting good books and audio books, too.
…the afternoon sunshine coming through the Venetian blinds and splashing all kinds of cheerful shadows across the wooden floors.
…nice sunny walks with the family.
…a fresh perspective that being away for four years brings.
…lots of cool opportunities for our kids - like snowboarding, music lessons, Bible studies and a trip to New York City.
…friends coming over to our house to hang out.
…a chance to see our culture through the eyes of another culture.
…crowded aisles at the local grocery store two days before Thanksgiving reflecting the bounty we enjoy in this country.
…laughter.
…family…from WV to CO to TN.
…the prospects of a snowy Christmas.
…sitting at Starbucks with the three ladies in my life and drinking a buy one get one free holiday drink.
…central air and gas logs on a cold fall day.
…swimming at the YMCA for the girls.
…a whiff of the autumn air.
…festivals throughout WV like the Lewisburg Holiday Open House this Sunday afternoon.
…knowing the cultural ropes for a change.
…fluffy mashed potatoes.
…our family tradition of always eating the first pumpkin pie the day before Thanksgiving.
…another family tradition of decorating for the Christmas season the day after Thanksgiving.
…that after 29 years of walking with the Lord there are new depths of spiritual dynamics to rise to the surface. God is Awesomely Awesome!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! HAPPY EVERYTHING!

Appalachian Tapestry

In The Tapestry Edith Schaeffer uses the analogy of our life being a thread to tell the story of L'Abri. (L’Abri was Francis and Edith's home in Switzerland where disillusioned youth of the 60’s came to sort through the Scriptural worldview of absolutes and the predominate worldview of existential relativism.) She points out that in community we affect each other’s ideas, understandings and attitudes as our lives are woven together into a tapestry. This influence is powerfully true from those who make up our ancestry and immediate family.

Our recent visit to Tennessee serves to remind me that I am woven in an Appalachian Tapestry. I like cornbread, mountains, folk music, dogs and extended family. A trip back usually means visits with uncles, aunts and cousins. Stereotypical I guess. Isolated by the mountains over past generations, we in Appalachia became fiercely independent (rebels some would say), church going, country loving and simple living people with just a bit of fatalism sprinkled in. For my part, I can’t get around the fact that I have been shaped by these roots.

Something else I can’t get around is the German background of my surname (Harer) and the Scottish background of my mother’s maiden name (Barnes). Dad’s family came from Pennsylvania to bring the Gospel while Mom’s family was born to the land. These two families meshed together to create the atmosphere of my life. A dynamic full of history, stories, lives and experiences both good and bad. As with all our family backgrounds, it’s a picture of everyday heroes and down to earth strugglers.

We are all caught up in the weaving influence of our tapestry. Think about your own family: What made your family laugh together? How was conflict handled in your family? Tensions? When did you hear, “I love you” or “I’m proud of you”? What activities did your family enjoy? What was considered “success” in your family? How was money handled? How was spirituality expressed?

Honest answers to those questions and others like them bring clarity to my life, to our lives - helping us see and understand why we do some of the things we do, why we react the way we do and why we have certain attitudes. And it makes me wonder, what does the weaving of your tapestry look like?

Grace/Truth: A Both/And Proposition

When our family traveled to Portland to study culture a few years ago, we had no idea how impactful the teaching of Dr. Wan would be on us. In his quiet, humble Chinese way he turned our thoughts down the path of considering the difference between the either/or western mindset and the both/and eastern mindset. We westerners feel most at home with clarity, with definitiveness, with the one right answer. On the other hand, those in the Orient feel comfortable living with the tension of two equal truths residing in balance.

Dr. Wan’s perspective has followed me into an arena that has captured my attention over the last year – grace and truth. As a good southern boy growing up in a fundamental rich background, I have focused on the truth end of the equation. For me that has meant things like picketing an abortion clinic, lobbying the WV State Senate for a cause, confronting believers over clear immorality, doing “the right thing” and standing for the truth against “bad" theology. Sadly, I haven’t always done so with graciousness. How unlike Jesus I am, “We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." John 1:14

Lately, I’ve bumped into Randy Alcorn who is saying some of the things I’ve been thinking about grace and truth………only better. Don’t you hate that? Here are some of his thoughts to bring balance to this both/and topic:

"The gospel flies with the wings of grace and truth. Not one, but both.

"Truth without grace breeds a self-righteous legalism that poisons the church and pushes the world away from Christ. Grace without truth breeds moral indifference and keeps people from seeing their need for Christ.

“The ancient historical Jesus came full of grace and truth. The modern mythological Jesus comes full of tolerance and relativism. Even in the church truth has given way to subjectivism and cowardice. Grace has deteriorated into permissiveness and indifference.

“Without truth, we lack courage to speak up and convictions to speak up about. Without grace, we lack compassion to bring the solutions people desperately need."

Thank you, Randy. I think Dr. Wan would be proud!