Thanksgiving

Have you ever thought about what it means to give thanks?

My first Thanksgiving Day experience here in the States was a great one.  We were able to spend much of the day with family, eat great food and, as is apparently customary, take an afternoon nap. Thanksgiving Day is, of course, all about giving thanks.  Traditionally, giving thanks to God.

Jesus is recorded as giving thanks only twice in the New Testament.  Once before his miraculous feeding of the five thousand and another at the Last Supper.  Given the extensive use of the word 'thanks' today, it seems odd that we don't hear Jesus say or express thanks more often. One thing Jesus did do, however, was to reach beyond simply giving thanks as we know it.  Rather than simply a pleasantry, both instances of his giving thanks are shortly followed by dynamic action. Jesus was not content with simply giving thanks.

The day after Thanksgiving in the States, commonly referred to as Black Friday, is an altogether different affair.  Most stores offer huge discounts and sales and bargain hunters begin queuing outside their doors in the early hours of the morning.  This past Friday, a Walmart employee in New York was trampled to death by shoppers desperate to enter the store.  Reportedly, over 2000 people had gathered and, evidently no longer willing to wait, began pounding and hammering on the doors of the superstore.  I wonder how many had, less than 12 hours before, been sharing a cordial dinner with their families?  I wonder if some had given thanks to God for his kindness to them and their kin?

While he was still speaking a crowd came up, and the man who was called Judas, one of the Twelve, was leading them.  He approached Jesus to kiss him, but Jesus asked him, "Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?"

When Jesus' followers saw what was going to happen, they said, "Lord, should we strike with our swords?"  And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear.

But Jesus answered, "No more of this!" And he touched the man's ear and healed him.  

Then Jesus said to the chief priests, the officers of the temple guard, and the elders, who had come for him, "Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come with swords and clubs?  Every day I was with you in the temple courts, and you did not lay a hand on me.  But this is your hour - when darkness reigns."

Then seizing him, they led him away and took him into the house of the high priest.

For Jesus, giving thanks was not a thoughtless expression or even simply a response to God's goodness, it was a definitive action.  When we give thanks to God, or to others, does it end there? Is it but a fleeting recognition of a previous act or is it a call to future action?

That action is what makes the difference between Thanksgiving Day and the day after. How will we choose to act?

Birthday Boy

You'd think that starting a new job would be enough excitement for one week, but we cheeky Gwynnes don't settle with only one exciting event a week. In addition to starting a new job, my husband turned 24 this week (more accurately, today). He spent most of his day working hard, but we made sure to celebrate tonight with dinner at Chili's and Quantum Solace at the cinema, thanks to a gift from our friends Matt and Leah--and their boys, Nate and Ben.

I'm so grateful for such an amazing husband. He is extremely understanding and patient with me, even when I'm being irrationally emotional (yes, it happens). He's great with kids, and it's clear that God is using him to reach out to the kids of our church and the surrounding area. He shares my love for Target, and he's gracious enough to let me window shop at the mall without complaining.

I could go on and on about how great my now-24-year-old husband is, but it's getting late, and I need to join him for our nightly tradition of devotions and reading before bedtime. For now, I'll leave you with a pic of my hubby from tonight, when we creatively celebrated by eating a Little Debbie Christmas brownie in honor of his special day.

Happy Birthday, David Thomas!

Party Time!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Hired!

I have officially entered the American workforce.  No longer am I a man of leisure.

On Monday, the kind people at the USCIS legalised me for work.  The culmination of a multitude of paperwork and three months of waiting resulted in a snazzy looking, but poorly named, 'Employment Authorisation Card'.  

The card features such exciting details as a very long immigration number, my date of birth, my photograph and my fingerprint.  We all know that fingerprints are the first thing any prospective employer will want to see.

On Friday, the even kinder people at Evangel Church in Hanover Park, IL hired me as their new children's pastor.  Staff photos, a Thanksgiving dinner and two church services followed shortly thereafter.  Erin and I are both exceptionally excited about this new adventure.  The highlight of my weekend was the children laying hands and praying for us in this new role.  We're looking forward to getting to know them all much better over the coming months and years.

Tomorrow will be my first day in the office as a staff member.  Photos will follow soon.

The Digital Transition

A Quick Hello

We've gone more than halfway through November without an update. Eek! I promise a more thorough update will be coming, complete with pictures. Since you last heard from us, we've dressed as pirates for our church's Fall Fest, gone bowling with the guys (well, Dave has), voted in the General Election (well, I did), attended another book group to discuss this book, and finished up the fall term of our small group with a games night, so there's plenty to talk about.

Taco Bell Bell Bell

Never let it be said that I have forgotten my Scottish roots.  I may be in foreign lands, but I'm as stingy as ever.

This week, taking advantage of a special deal at Taco Bell, the Gwynne family kicked into savings mode and crafted a ingenius plan to save money.  Taco Bell restaurants were giving away free tacos - one per customer - on Tuesday.  Nice, right?  Well, not really.  Given that most customers will buy additional items (i.e more tacos or soda) Taco Bell actually probably turned a good profit, if not broke even, on their kind gesture.

The Gwynne family, however, are not most customers.  Armed with cans of soda (which were also free, given that they were left over from Fall Festival at church), we planned to travel to not one, not two but three Taco Bells.  At each location, we would receive our free taco then move on to the next location to make up the three tacos that would normally constitute a meal at Taco Bell.

Well, we didn't make it to the third Taco Bell due to time constraints, but we certainly saved some money.

Dinner for two = $1.92