“Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus”. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

Yeah, right.

Do you have this simple, yet profoundly difficult passage seamlessly integrated and demonstrated in your daily life? I don’t. Haven’t quite perfected this one yet. I can still whine with the best of them. As that great theologian Joe Walsh sings, “I can’t complain, but sometimes I still do”.

Do you get frustrated when people and circumstances refuse to go your way? Do you find that your “gift of discernment” results in more criticism than in prayer? Can you see the dark cloud around every silver lining?

My wise friend Andy recently recommended Ben Patterson’s freeing book, He Has Made Me Glad. I love the subtitle: “Enjoying God’s Goodness with Reckless Abandon”. Isn’t that a wonderful goal?! Some of you know that the “gtlinda” in my email address actually stands for “Goodtime Linda” (perfectly innocent, I assure you--the nickname was given to me by an 18 month old child). My friend’s daughter used to call me “the laughing girl”. My mother and my grandfather instilled in me the ability to see the absurdity, humor and delight in ordinary, daily life. I am so grateful for God’s special spiritual gift of a twisted sense of humor and a propensity for fun.

But when I neglect my soul, I start to fray around the edges and Goodtime Linda fades. God has to whisper in my ear, “Be Goodtime Linda again.” Don’t let the trials and the legalists and the busyness and the clutter and the illness and the disappointments and tiredness and the laughter-impaired people and your own pervasive self-centeredness crush your God-given joy.

Patterson says, “Gratitude and joy are the twin children of grace, organically joined both theologically and spiritually. In Greek they are even related linguistically: the words for grace, gratitude and joy all have the same root, char, a noun that refers to health and well-being. "Grace" is charis, "gratitude" is eucharistia, and "joy" is chara”.(p. 16) If I continually distill it all down--especially when I’m overwhelmed by life--and cling to the fact that I walk in grace, (complete grace and nothing but grace), the natural fruit will be gratitude and joy.

When I cease to anchor my mind and heart in the reality of grace, I can develop a whiny ungrateful spirit and get frustrated and critical. Grace is rooted in the reality of God’s sovereignty, love, forgiveness and power. If I meditate on that unchangeable truth, I can genuinely give thanks even for the rough stuff and choose joy regardless of circumstances because my choices are rooted in God’s unshakeable character instead of my wants and whims and unreasonable expectations.

The cover of He Has Made Me Glad has a delightful photo of a child flying through the air on a swing, absolutely reveling in unselfconscious joy and celebration. As a child, my most transformational spiritual discipline was swinging. I would go out to the swing-set and I would swing and sing. Swing and think. Swing and pray. Swing and dream.

May I revel in my position as a beloved child of the King. May I learn to whisper “thank you, Jesus” with every breath. May Goodtime Linda swing to the glory of God.

Grateful and Joyful by Grace,

Linda