Thanks-giving

Today’s blog is written by Pastor Jen.

Sometimes, gratitude is instinctive. A knee-jerk response to when things are going well, or a crisis is averted, or something surprises us and fills us with thanks.

We have been reading Anne Lamott’s wonderful little book, “Help, Thanks, Wow: The Three Essential Prayers” during staff meetings for the past few months, and here is some of what she has to say about “thanks”:

“most of the time for me gratitude is a rush of relief that I dodged a bullet […] Or ‘Oh my God, thankyouthankyouthankyou’ that it was all a dream, my child didn’t drown, I didn’t pick up a drink or appear on Oprah in underpants with my dreadlocks dropping off my head.

It is easy,” she writes, “to thank God for life when things are going well. But life is much bigger than we give it credit for, and much of the time it’s harder than we would like. It’s a package deal, though.”1

Which brings me to my next point: sometimes, gratitude is a practice. A discipline.

A thing we have to bring ourselves to do, when it isn’t our instinct, things aren’t going well, we aren’t overflowing with thanks.

I thought about this a lot over the past week.

Generally, I love Thanksgiving week. I love how things slow down at church, at school or at work. How people spend much more time in the kitchen – my favorite place – putting the extra effort in to make (or purchase, or reheat) a wonderful, abundant feast for their people. How the Christmastime race to get gifts is absent, and the focus is on table-setting and menu-planning and people contributing what they can.

Last year, I was fully in the spirit, preparing to host Thanksgiving for some of my oldest friends and their family; making pies, dry-brining a turkey, tearing up bread for stuffing, stewing cranberries for sauce. I was cooking and cleaning and loving every minute of it.

But this year, I was working my way through boxes of Vicks-infused tissues. Moving from couch to bed and back again. Refilling my humidifier, rubbing essential oils into my skin, emptying my pantry of soup. Wondering if I should get a chicken to roast on Thursday because I might just be alone, not having the energy to go find friends or being worried about infecting them.

It was hard to be grateful.

But the holidays can do that to all of us – whether we’re fighting off a cold or flu, or not. We can often hold memories of what this time of year could be, or was, or dreams of what it should be. These almost mythical scenes of a peaceful family gathered around a full banquet table, snow falling outside can dog us down and leave us unhappy, comparing what things are to what we’d rather they were.

It’s hard for anyone to feel grateful when that happens.

And yet…

There is still so much to be grateful for.

As Anne puts it, in her trademark honest way, “So many bad things happen in each of our lives. [….] We are hurt beyond any reasonable chance of healing. We are haunted by our failures and mortality. And yet the world keeps on spinning, and in our grief, rage, and fear a few people keep on loving us and showing up. It’s all motion and stasis, change and stagnation. Awful stuff happens and beautiful stuff happens, and it’s all part of the picture.

In the face of everything, we slowly come through. […] And at some point, we cast our eyes to the beautiful skies, above all the crap we’re wallowing in, and we whisper, ‘Thank you.'”2

She goes on to talk about how gratitude is a response that changes us, that prompts us to action, to share what we have because we realize we’re blessed and thankful for it.

But sometimes gratitude can just help to heal us when we’re in a bad spot. Get us through a rugged week, or a rough holiday season.

Because no matter how low things seem to sink, there is still something to be grateful for.

This week, I found it in a friend who still lets Zoe come over to play while we’re treating her for ringworm.

In the act of making a pie, and listening to the parade.

In the difference that a few Christmas lights can make to a heavy sort of darkness.

And all of that allowed me to breathe deeply again; to find a moment of peace; to look up and out and beyond my muck.

I hope that you might find it too: something to be grateful for, and a reminder that we will, however slowly, come through.

Giving

(Our Guest blogger today is Cam Johnson)

On this Stewardship Sunday, I’d like to share a story with you, but first remind you of next week’s Pledge Sunday. What is a pledge really? Practically speaking, it’s an estimate of your giving for the coming year, which in turn, helps fund everything we do as a faith community. Spiritually speaking, your pledge is your response to God’s abundance in your life. It is both a statement of thanksgiving and an outward sign of our commitment to follow in the way of Jesus, by giving as God continually gives to us. A pledge can thus help you to grow in your faith and trust in God. By giving in a regular, committed way, a pledge can turn your giving into a spiritual practice just like prayer or worship which helps keep God a priority in our lives. I’ve found that when I give in a committed way, it helps to keep me focused on God.

As John Wallgren mentioned when he spoke last Sunday, we love hearing and sharing stories from you about what stewardship with God and our church means to you. We received the following meaningful story from Andrea Johnson:

“I’ve been in the church my whole life, but my journey as a more faithful giver began when I came to Winnetka Covenant. Before I came to Winnetka, I had always had a scarcity mentality when it came to my finances and my giving. I never gave to the church in a regular, planned way. I gave a little here and there, not from the first fruits of my labor. I wanted to be generous, but I was always afraid that I wouldn’t have enough for my own needs. Now I’m a lay person here, but when WCC called me as the Pastor of Discipleship and Outreach in 2006, I brought with me a sizable amount of debt from school loans, credit cards and a loss on a home sale. Two church members asked me if I had debt, out of concern for my financial health. They didn’t want financial worries to interfere with my flourishing as their pastor. I shared the number with them. They said they wanted to give me a no-interest loan for the whole amount that I needed to pay off all of my debt, with the expectation that I would pay them back with monthly payments that would work for me. I was blown away. I was so amazed at their generosity toward me, for the sake of the church and my well-being. I was so grateful. I accepted their gift and sent them each a monthly check and paid them back in full over several years. They saved me thousands of dollars in interest. But more than that, they inspired me to be generous like they were, and also responsible with the gifts that had been given to me. I was able to send them monthly checks, but I simultaneously began giving to the church almost a 10th of my gross income. I felt free to give more to special projects and needs expressed. I continue to do that to this day. The generosity of those individuals made a lasting impact on my life. I have found joy in giving, not a burden. This church is a generous church, and that generosity inspired generosity in me. So, I first want to say “thank you” to this church, and I want to encourage anyone who is holding back to let loose and experience the joy of being generous.” 

I’m grateful to Andrea for sharing this story and grateful to all of you here and those watching at home for your steadfast support of and participation in this church family.

Cam Johnson

Giving

(Our Guest blogger today is Cam Johnson)

On this Stewardship Sunday, I’d like to share a story with you, but first remind you of next week’s Pledge Sunday. What is a pledge really? Practically speaking, it’s an estimate of your giving for the coming year, which in turn, helps fund everything we do as a faith community. Spiritually speaking, your pledge is your response to God’s abundance in your life. It is both a statement of thanksgiving and an outward sign of our commitment to follow in the way of Jesus, by giving as God continually gives to us. A pledge can thus help you to grow in your faith and trust in God. By giving in a regular, committed way, a pledge can turn your giving into a spiritual practice just like prayer or worship which helps keep God a priority in our lives. I’ve found that when I give in a committed way, it helps to keep me focused on God.

As John Wallgren mentioned when he spoke last Sunday, we love hearing and sharing stories from you about what stewardship with God and our church means to you. We received the following meaningful story from Andrea Johnson:

“I’ve been in the church my whole life, but my journey as a more faithful giver began when I came to Winnetka Covenant. Before I came to Winnetka, I had always had a scarcity mentality when it came to my finances and my giving. I never gave to the church in a regular, planned way. I gave a little here and there, not from the first fruits of my labor. I wanted to be generous, but I was always afraid that I wouldn’t have enough for my own needs. Now I’m a lay person here, but when WCC called me as the Pastor of Discipleship and Outreach in 2006, I brought with me a sizable amount of debt from school loans, credit cards and a loss on a home sale. Two church members asked me if I had debt, out of concern for my financial health. They didn’t want financial worries to interfere with my flourishing as their pastor. I shared the number with them. They said they wanted to give me a no-interest loan for the whole amount that I needed to pay off all of my debt, with the expectation that I would pay them back with monthly payments that would work for me. I was blown away. I was so amazed at their generosity toward me, for the sake of the church and my well-being. I was so grateful. I accepted their gift and sent them each a monthly check and paid them back in full over several years. They saved me thousands of dollars in interest. But more than that, they inspired me to be generous like they were, and also responsible with the gifts that had been given to me. I was able to send them monthly checks, but I simultaneously began giving to the church almost a 10th of my gross income. I felt free to give more to special projects and needs expressed. I continue to do that to this day. The generosity of those individuals made a lasting impact on my life. I have found joy in giving, not a burden. This church is a generous church, and that generosity inspired generosity in me. So, I first want to say “thank you” to this church, and I want to encourage anyone who is holding back to let loose and experience the joy of being generous.” 

I’m grateful to Andrea for sharing this story and grateful to all of you here and those watching at home for your steadfast support of and participation in this church family.

Cam Johnson