Tag: joy

The Benefits of Thanksgiving

Post author By pastorkelvin
Post date November 29, 2011
2 Comments on The Benefits of Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving brings Joy

I’ve been reflecting more about Thanksgiving and thinking about all its benefits. I have observed something as I have read what my friends and acquaintances have written on Facebook. Those who have been actively giving thanks seem very happy and joyful. While I’m sure it is true that when one is joyful, it is easy to also be thankful, I believe the opposite is also true. When one disciplines themselves to be thankful, even when circumstances are contrary, joy rises inside and surprises us. The more we give thanks, the happier we seem to be. So it is not an accident that those giving thanks are also bubbling with joy.

Thanksgiving encourages faith

This leads to a second salutary effect of Thanksgiving– a positive outlook. As we count our blessings, enumerating the people, circumstances, and things for which we are thankful, our outlook toward the future becomes much more sanguine. When our focus is on the good things that have already happened, it is easier to expect more of the same. Sincere Thanksgiving to God leads to growing optimism and greater faith in God.

Family togetherness

Another major value of the Thanksgiving holiday is its emphasis upon family togetherness. In the entire year, only Christmas outranks Thanksgiving in magnetism for drawing families together. Witness the traffic on this weekend both on the ground and in the air, and you see demonstrated the desire of people to be with loved ones on Thanksgiving. How wonderful it is to have this holiday, one big feature of which is helping to bring families together. There is so much in our culture that pulls in the opposite direction. Thanksgiving reminds us of the value of family, both nuclear family and extended family.

Generosity

In addition to these, Thanksgiving spurs generosity and charity. People are moved to contribute to food pantries, church turkey giveaways, etc. because they are thinking about how God has been so good to them and they want to share. This is an attitude that we should have all year long. Hopefully, such actions help make Thanksgiving a time of blessing for the poor also, as it should be.

So when I think of the holidays of the year, Thanksgiving rates high on my list–just behind Christmas and Easter.

Tags joy, Keely, Thanksgiving

Journal Joy Notes Who Am I

Green Lakes Walks

Post author By pastorkelvin
Post date September 20, 2011

My wife and I so much enjoy walking at Green Lakes State Park. Green Lakes is such a gift to all of us. Monday morning was a beautiful early fall day for such a walk. Yes, I know it was technically still summer, but here in Kirkville the feel definitely changed to fall a week or so ago. The smell in the air, the crisp mornings with fog hanging over the corn field across the road from my house, the alternation of clear blue days and soggy gray ones; all tell us that it is September.

Walking and praying go together

Even though Monday was perfect for walking, not many people were out so I was mostly left to my own thoughts. I love to pray aloud as I walk and I did. Holding a conversation with God while meandering on a woodland trail is refreshing at multiple levels. I’m relaxing; I’m breathing fresh air; I’m getting some exercise. I’m also unloading my cares to God and listening for his Spirit’s still small voice of counsel in return. I’m participating in the spiritual work of intercession for others too. There’s something about being out in nature that rejuvenates us all. There’s something about personal times of prayer that does the same. Doing both together is like working a team of horses, the result is more powerful than the sum of the parts.

I’m a nature observer

Another joy of Green Lakes hikes are the nature observations. Being a bird watcher, I’m always on the lookout for rarer birds, especially pileated woodpeckers which are not really rare at Green Lakes. I didn’t see one Monday, only a hairy woodpecker. But, this past summer I saw a male scarlet tanager, one of the few times I have seen one of those in my life. However, it is not just birds that get my attention; I also look at the ferns, the fish, and the fungi among other things. Okay, so I’m a nature nut. I have numerous guide books and sometimes actually look at them too. I prefer to think of myself as simply a good observer.

$the bottom is 200\' down$

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Tags Green Lakes, joy, prayer, walks

Journal Joy Notes Who Am I

Daylily Summer Joys

Post author By pastorkelvin
Post date August 26, 2011

Summer Joy

One of the true joys of summer for me is growing daylilies. They don’t require a lot of care and they reward me with many blooms, each one lasting only one day. When I spoke about that detail in my sermon one Sunday, I was surprised how few people realized it. I guess we are so used to mums and dahlias, orchids and even African violets whose flowers last for a week or even weeks that the idea of a flower lasting only one day seems strange. But as I mentioned that Sunday, the fact that the bouquet in my garden is different every day gives it an invigorating charm. I go out looking for the new blossoms every day that I can. The light patterns, the dew on the blossoms, critters hiding or not all add to the interest.

Collecting too

I have developed a little of a collectors mentality about it too with over 30 varieties now. I have some daylilies just because they are odd—one blooms at night, another that I just planted is unusually tall, another is a double named Yellow Submarine. Some are fragrant. Several are spider daylilies, which means they have narrow petals rather than usual fuller round ones. Some varieties have ruffled edges. Colors range from a very dark maroon – inherited from Grandma Isaman–to a white one I bought called Nanuq. I seem to prefer the orange and gold hues, though I have some striking red and yellow mixes now that will almost take your breath away. Except for the picture of me visiting Grace Gardens, all the daylilies in the slides are from my garden.

Grandma got me started

When I was a boy, my Grandma, Jessie Isaman would pay us boys for helping her pull the quack grass from her large flower garden. Her garden featured eight or ten different dayliles among the many other perennials and I grew to love their annual display. Grandma died the same year I became a pastor, and my Mom encouraged me to take a small division from most of her daylilies with me when I moved to my first parsonage in Bentley Creek, PA. I built a tiered daylily garden in the back and the daylily clumps grew well. When I moved to Kirkville, I took part of each clump, threw them in a crate and stuffed it in the tractor trailer with my household goods. Later that summer I unpacked the crate, planted the brown clumps and every one grew. So I have most of my Grandma’s daylilies as the beginning of my collection. One of them, Frans Hall, is still sold today. Another is a fragrant yellow that I think is as fragrant as any newer cultivar I have.

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Tags daylilies, gardening, joy, summer fun

Journal Joy Notes

Joy at New Baptisms

Post author By pastorkelvin
Post date June 22, 2011

Sunday on Father’s Day, between our two services we had the joy of baptizing Eric Moon and Jerry Mercier by immersion. Eric’s testimony of being influenced to turn his life around and follow Christ by his father’s example, brought tears to our eyes. Jerry’s testimony of God’s gracious intervention and answers to prayer brought assurance to all of us of God’s tender care. Personally, being a part of Jerry’s baptism was a double blessing to me as Jerry has become one of my Wednesday morning prayer partners and a dear friend because of it.

Testifying to our faith through the tradition of believer baptism has a history going back into the New Testament itself. Jesus instructed his disciples to use baptism as a mark as they enrolled people as his followers (Matt. 28:19). In his Pentecost sermon, Peter encouraged people to be baptized (Acts 2:38). Saul who is usually called Paul was baptized shortly after his conversion (Acts 9:18). While the Wesleyan Church does not require immersion style baptism as we did last Sunday for believers, we use it whenever possible because the symbolism (as described in Romans 6) is the most complete.

What a joy to celebrate with Eric and Jerry as they obeyed Jesus direction. Our prayers are with them as they seek to live day by day as disciples of Christ.

Tags baptism, joy, sacraments, testimony

Journal Joy Notes

A Parable Poem on Lawns Turning Green

Post author By pastorkelvin
Post date April 26, 2011

I wrote the first version of this some years ago for our church newsletter at our first church. Each year as the lawns turn green again after the winter’s destruction, I am reminded of it. I thought it might be a word of encourgement to someone so I edited it and am publishing it. Here is the link:

http://learntobewise.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Parable-on-a-Winter-Brown-Lawn.pdf

Tags encouragement, joy, lawns, parables

Journal Joy Notes Who Am I

How to Make a Cold January Fly By

Post author By pastorkelvin
Post date February 9, 2011

I have been thinking recently about those people who are very depressed in deep winter and find that time seems to crawl by. Well, I’m not a great fan of winter myself. My favorite hobbies are things like gardening, bird-watching, trombone-playing, canoeing, and hiking. I like to throw in a couple rounds of golf and a trout fishing trip. As you can see, all but one are summer things and even the community band I’m in for playing trombone takes January off. So how can we make January go by faster and add a little joy in the process? Here are my suggestions.

1. Find a January-friendly hobby or two.

My wife and I start doing jigsaw puzzles after the Christmas rush and keep doing them until spring. With the help of folks who stop by, we may complete 10-15 of them before we quit and wait til the next January.   We use mostly the same puzzles with just a couple new ones added that friends give us or we buy each year.
My wife took up a new musical instrument this year – folk harp.   She had just a few lessons before playing a couple carols at our Christmas Eve service. Now she is using some of these cold January nights to improve her skill. They say learning a new instrument is great for brain development too.

2. Spend more time with those you love.

In addition to the puzzles, JoAnne and I try to spend some evenings playing board games (Sequence) during January. Once in a while I will watch an old Star Trek with her (she’s a real Trekie).

3. Invite feathered friends to your place.

Continue reading “How to Make a Cold January Fly By”

Tags encouragement, family traditions, January, joy, reading

Journal Joy Notes Who Am I

Christmas Joys

Post author By pastorkelvin
Post date December 31, 2010

Christmas for collage_AutoCollage_15_Images (800x571) — Christmas at Gramdma's

What brings joy at Christmas? It’s not just one thing. It’s a combination of many.

Family get-togethers

We started the season early, heading out to Keely’s and Mark’s in mid December as they go West for Christmas. Their large townhouse was elegantly decorated and it was so good to spend time with them; exchanging gifts, playing games and going to see The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Then there is my annual birthday dinner; always a joyous time with friends from church who come to help me celebrate another year with a big dinner. We also try to drive down to Bath and Haskinville, NY too. That way we can touch base with JoAnne’s side of the family and also attend the big extended family Christmas celebration at my Mom’s house. I think there were just shy of 30 people in Mom’s house this year. There is always a program at that Christmas celebration, which JoAnne discovered is very Victorian.

Special movies with just the right touch

Continue reading “Christmas Joys”

Tags blessings, Christmas, holidays, joy, memories

Journal Joy Notes

A Word and a song for our Northwest vacation celebration

Post author By pastorkelvin
Post date August 27, 2010

One of the purposes of vacation is to be able to think about God’s work in our lives in a way we don’t think to do during regular work times. So JoAnne and I try to take time to read Scripture. On a driving intensive vacation like this one (we covered about 3100 miles in 2 weeks), sometimes she would read to me as I drove. We also occasionally sang. In the majesty of this area, the song, “How Great is Our God” was a natural choice. Second was “This Land is Your Land, This Land Is My Land.” In bear country they tell you to sing anyway, but it comes natural when you are followers of Jesus. It wasn’t very long before we discovered a favorite Psalm too, one that that seemed to describe so well our experience with nature and with God on this trip. We read it over and over—Psalm 104. I have inserted subtitles that related to our travels.

Ps 104
Praise the Lord, O my soul.
For the sunny mountain heights

O Lord my God, you are very great;
you are clothed with splendor and majesty.
2 He wraps himself in light as with a garment;
he stretches out the heavens like a tent
3 and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters.
He makes the clouds his chariot
and rides on the wings of the wind.
4 He makes winds his messengers, flames of fire his servants.

For the great rivers and the seaside

5 He set the earth on its foundations;
it can never be moved. 6 You covered it with the deep as with a garment;
the waters stood above the mountains.
7 But at your rebuke the waters fled,
at the sound of your thunder they took to flight;
8 they flowed over the mountains,
they went down into the valleys,
to the place you assigned for them.
9 You set a boundary they cannot cross;
never again will they cover the earth.

For all the mountain creatures and the birds

10 He makes springs pour water into the ravines;
it flows between the mountains.
11 They give water to all the beasts of the field;
the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12 The birds of the air nest by the waters;
they sing among the branches.
13 He waters the mountains from his upper chambers;
the earth is satisfied by the fruit of his work.
14 He makes grass grow for the cattle,
and plants for man to cultivate — bringing forth food from the earth:
15 wine that gladdens the heart of man,
oil to make his face shine,
and bread that sustains his heart.
For the great evergreen forests
16 The trees of the Lord are well watered,
the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.
17 There the birds make their nests;
the stork has its home in the pine trees.
18 The high mountains belong to the wild goats;
the crags are a refuge for the coneys.

19 The moon marks off the seasons,
and the sun knows when to go down.
20 You bring darkness, it becomes night,
and all the beasts of the forest prowl.
21 The lions roar for their prey
and seek their food from God.
22 The sun rises, and they steal away;
they return and lie down in their dens.
23 Then man goes out to his work,
to his labor until evening.

24 How many are your works, O Lord!
In wisdom you made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.
25 There is the sea, vast and spacious,
teeming with creatures beyond number — living things both large and small.
26 There the ships go to and fro,
and the leviathan, which you formed to frolic there.

27 These all look to you to give them their food at the proper time.
28 When you give it to them, they gather it up;
when you open your hand, they are satisfied with good things.
29 When you hide your face, they are terrified;
when you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust.

For the volcanic peaks
30 When you send your Spirit, they are created,
and you renew the face of the earth.

31 May the glory of the Lord endure forever;
may the Lord rejoice in his works —
32 he who looks at the earth, and it trembles,
who touches the mountains, and they smoke.

Grand doxology

33 I will sing to the Lord all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
34 May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I rejoice in the Lord.
35 But may sinners vanish from the earth and the wicked be no more.

Praise the Lord, O my soul.
Praise the Lord. NIV

Tags joy, vacation

Journal Joy Notes Who Am I

Playing in Band

I donned the white shirt and black pants again this evening, grabbed the trombone and accessories and headed out to our biweekly summer concert. Most are at nursing homes and the residents really enjoy the music. I love the marches, big band stuff and an occasional more sophisticated band piece. Right now we have a fun version of “Just a Closer Walk” in our repertoire too. Our director, Cathy Stickler, seems to have a knack for picking music the older folks like. JoAnne sometimes goes with me as she did tonight and also a few weeks ago to the annual Fourth of July concert at Johnson Park in Liverpool where she snapped this picture.

Band has always been a joy to me; in high school, college and now. There is the joy of making music. There is a sense of accomplishment in playing the music well. There is fun camaraderie in the trombone section and the overall group. And it is a complete change of scenery and pace. JoAnne quotes the classical musicians who said, “Music is a gift of God.” I know playing in Liverpool Community Band continues to be a gift to me.

Tags joy, Liverpool Community Band, trombone

Journal Joy Notes Who Am I

Collecting Serendipities

It was a beautiful morning for a walk as JoAnne and I took our morning exercise at Green Lakes Park today. We usually walk in the hills for an hour or so to get the blood moving. I always enjoy the translucent teal water of Round Lake, the soft mulch-padded path, fresh moist air, bird sounds, shaded lanes, and the mammoth old-growth trees. But one of the great joys of being outside is to watch for a serendipity, something beautiful and/or unusual that arrests my attention. I react with unspoken wonder, or maybe with a audible, “Wow!” or a trademark, “Cool.”

This morning there were at least three. First, on the curve just below the camper dumping station, I saw a smallish raptor, sitting very upright. I had left my binoculars in the car since I was supposed to be focusing on exercise. But I still stopped to get a closer look. (When I got home I looked him up- a Merlin- one of the few times I have seen one.) Then as I headed up the hill at the far side of Round Lake, I heard the familiar clunk clunk that could only be made by a Pileated woodpecker at work close at hand. I looked but could not see him. Soon he flew and as I continued to watch he returned and let me know where the pair were working. They were under some loose brush pecking away at an old decaying fall. The food must have been abundant because they were still at work when I returned 20 minutes later. To top the morning off, I met a very friendly giant schnauzer, glossy haired, taller than Plato was and jet black. She was a gem and she enjoyed a dog-lover’s attention too.

I guess being alert for small moments of joy like those is just another moment by moment way of counting my blessings. It provides joy along the path of life, lifts one’s spirits and sparks gratitude to God for the day.