Grace & Giving Thanks: November 2021 Resources

Grace, Mercy, and Thanksgiving are missing in action in today's world, unlike the kingdom of God.  

Have you been cut off in traffic lately, shut down in conversation, or cancelled from the family holiday gathering?  Or even more hurtful, have significant relationships, whether personal, business, or financial, fractured under the strain of manipulation, miscommunication, betrayal, or brokenness?   

The public record of achievement and success we post online, often does not match our real struggles and stumbling.  We'd like to imagine life as lofty, but frequently we experience it as draining. 

People are "wrecks" Beth Guckenberger reminds us in Start with Amen.  Admitting this fact is the first step in reconciliation.  The human condition is marred by sin, in other words.  In love, God reaches out to unlovable me and you, who perform poorly.  However, forgiveness, second chances, raising the dead, and making new creations characterize I AM.  Although wronged, God takes the initiative to reconcile, to forgive, and to give up holding anything against the one who did harm.  

Amazingly, through the work of Jesus Christ on the cross, we can be restored to relationship with God.  Jesus paid our fees and redeemed us.  We are forgiven. We are adopted into God's family.  We begin living with hope and the expectation of reunion.  Here on earth, we may learn to say "Amen" or "so be it."  Amen "allows me to rest, even when all seems lost."  

If you are approaching this holiday season of Thanksgiving and Christmas with any measure of reluctance or dread, it may be time to rethink and surrender the role of controller or victim.  Say "yes" to God in trust, despite the chaotic times.

Here are a few good books for a fresh perspective.  You will find them at your library or bookstore.

Guckenberger, Beth. Start with Amen: How I Learned to Surrender by Keeping the End in Mind. Thomas Nelson, 2017.

Keller, Timothy. The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith.  Penguin Books, 2011.

Lerner, Harriet. Why Won't You Apologize?: Healing Big Betrayals and Everyday Hurts. Gallery Books, 2017.

Simons, Ruth Chou.  When Strivings Cease: Replacing the Gospel of Self-Improvement with the Gospel of Life-Transforming Grace. Thomas Nelson, 2021.

Voskamp, Ann. One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are. Zondervan, 2011.