First Language

Chronicles 16: 8-9  Oh give thanks to the Lord, call upon His    
                                 Name.
                                 Make known His deeds among the peoples.
                                 Sing to Him, sing praises to Him;
                                 Speak of all His wonders. 


God gave us a gift he didn't give the animals--communication.

(Some of you are thinking you CAN understand your pets..., I know). 

Man created language, then symbols that eventually turned into an alphabet. Most people in the world speak more than one language.

According to Google: "There are roughly 6,500 spoken languages in the world today. However, about 2,000 of those languages have fewer than 1,000 speakers. The most popular language in the world is Mandarin Chinese. There are 1,213,000,000 people in the world that speak that language.

God and Adam had PERFECT communication in the Garden, but then...well, tempting WORDS messed it all up for everyone.

I can understand some Spanish, but not as well as I used to. 

My husband understands dutch, but he has a hard time putting sentences together. So far, he hasn't had the need to revert to his "native" tongue.

My son experienced...learned a big lesson in the art of communication this week.
Curious? It seems commonsensical.  (did I just invent a word?)

TALK ABOUT THINGS.
DON'T ASSUME.

It almost cost him a friendship.
It did cost him in other ways.

Do you practice, know the language of PRAISE?

It's simple really. You turn your sentence around and make it a positive, thanking God in the  beginning, middle and the end.

The Psalmist does it. The last few chapters are filled with the language of PRAISE for everything around him, everything he sees, what he knows of the character of God and His sovereignty over us.

Jesus taught us to pray that way: "Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy Name...For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever." Amen. 

What would this world look like if everyone spoke the language of praise out loud within their everyday communications?

Barrista: "Hi, I am so thankful to see you today. God is good. What can we make you?"
Customer: "Yes, He is! I am thankful to Him this morning for getting me here safely in this storm. I'll have a venti vanilla please." 
Barrista: "I praise Him for my new tires, just in time for the rain." 
Customer: "Great! He provides! Thanks, see you tomorrow."

Employer to crew: "I thank God for each and every one of you. You all work hard and this success is for His glory. God has a plan for a hope and a great future for all of us."
Employees: "We praise God for our great boss and for all we have endured, the good times and the hard times."

Policeman: "Hi Sir, license and registration please. Sir, this is a good day. Our merciful Father in Heaven has put it upon my heart to just give you a warning today. I know that I have received an abundance of mercy from Him when I don't deserve it, so, ...thought I'd give some back today. Oh--and fix that tail light too."
Driver: "Wow, thank you Mr. Policeman. Father God, You guide and protect me as you do my family. I am in awe. I needed mercy today. I'm on the way to the hospital...my wife, she's in labor, the neighbor took her..."
Policeman:" Lord, You are so good! You directed me to this young man so that I can escort him straight to the hospital with sirens blazing. Let's go, you're about to be a dad! Lord, go before us. Thank You for Your direction and using me in this place."

Can you imagine the political dialogue?

A different world indeed. 

Everyone needs to plant sunflowers out their window and stare at them like I do. They are all about praising their Maker. ( well, just a suggestion). 

Seems I need to continue to model everything I just wrote and practice the language of praise, around my son, around everyone. The more I use it, the more it will be my first language. 

I thought of this when my two close friends and I sat in a Starbucks yesterday and talked for several hours about life and God and His Goodness, some hard stuff and God's faithfulness. We weren't exactly quite. We weren't exactly speaking "politically correct." What we were doing was figuring out life with God in the mix and giving Him praise, coming to conclusions about forgiveness and grace and THANKFUL for his divine interventions in our lives and our friendship. It really does do a good thing to your soul--even more so than the coffee!

We did a group hug in the middle of the parking lot. I hope all the customers saw that--what it communicated. 


Christ came with Words and Actions of Love and Grace to heal the language barrier created in Eden. 

Father God, I praise you for friendships that are deep and everlasting. I honor You for all that You are doing in my life, teaching me to trust You in everything. I exalt You for who You are, The Lord of Lords, The God of the Universe, Creator, Yahweh, the Great I Am, the Alpha and Omega. I give thanks and seek Your face and heart of mercy in all my own communications, both difficult ones I hear and ones that don't come out of my own mouth so well. Help me Lord, all-hearing God, to give You praise in all my circumstances and may these same words become good thoughts, pleasing to You, King of Kings, giver of all that is good. Amen.

Casting Crowns ~ Lifesong

An All In, Whole-Hearted Thanksgiving

Psalm 9:1 I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart; I will tell of all Thy wonders. 

Read the Psalm and you hear the author proclaim what he is in the process of doing. It's not a "maybe," its not a "I hope to" or "if I happen to see or feel something..."

I will. I will do this thing, this thing of thanksgiving, of gratitude. 

I think he's done it before. He knows. He is used to this holy habit, the consistent humbling and hash tag hallelujahs in his life. 

His heart-eyes zero in on the gifts, the wonders, and he gives his gift back, this thankfulness in the wonder of it all. 

The thankfulness is whole-hearted and whole on his lips, because of whole-body and whole-purposed love.   

It's every slice of the pie with lots of whipped cream and then the serving of it, its sitting and watching the game of football and cheering for your team--wearing the jersey and/or the "cheese head." He's all in! 

And its also the quiet gifts that turn his head to wonder. The moments that come in a whisper of "I created this for you today!  I saved you for this today!  I have this planned for you soon!" 

He feels it and knows it and bows his head in grace-filled gratitude at the Wonder, the wonder of all of it, just for him, and for us all. He can't help but tell.

This is how he does this life. Covered in grace, a heart beating to a song of gratitude and blood that needs to tell it in order to keep flowing and regenerating. He knows the power behind all of that, the way it heals and transforms. The telling uncovers the hope and the supernatural sets the table for one more. 

Here, write your name in the book. You're THE special guest today. Your name tag is written into eternity. 

Others ignore the invite, pushing it away, full from the world, bitter from its unrelenting pain. There is no truth, no winning team, nothing worth the fight...thriving on nothing but leftovers and carcasses of the dead.

But Love awaits when we say the words...Thank you Lord  for Your love, reveal it more and more to me...

 He will, and you'll keep coming back for seconds. 

He tells it, he shares it. Listen to the Psalmist, what he wants to tell. There always an invitation waiting. It's never lost, inscribed in gold each time. 

And there is always, always something to be grateful for. 

Begin today to bow your knee if only slightly, begin to take Him into your heart, to yearn to become whole-hearted and wonder-filled.  Grasp the bread in your hand for one more minute and remember, feel His goodness and His sacrifice. Slow down and savor the  cup, and taste and see...and I promise you, God promises you, you will  know your own whole-hearted thank-FULL-ness and wonder to tell of His gracious goodness and wonders. 

Lord, move today in those hearts yearning for Your peace and fullness. Allow for our prayers to be heard, for the eyes of the blind to be opened and the hard-hearted to be humbled. Let us look deeply and expectantly for Your wonders of glory and embolden us to tell of your majesty and your promises of Hope. You are Good and I will give thanks. Amen 

#1000Gifts (18th, 19th, and 20th). 

Three gifts of Traditions:

1. Mums on grave markers

2. Wednesday night Thanksgiving Service 

3. Turkey Soup   

Three Gifts of Autumn

1. Piles of crackling leaves on my campus

2. A clear view of the San Gabriel Mountains

3. The smells of pumpkin and cinnamon and cider

Gifts Made, Shared, Passed On.

1. A colorful crocheted scarf

2. An unsolicited blessing from a friend

3. God's Word in blogs for the world