This is going to be a short Thoughtful Thursdays post as I am typing with one hand,

Tuesday, I had a rotator cuff surgery as I had a 1″ full thickness tear in a tendon due to being rear-ended on the highway back in January. I was all by myself, and the tear was the only injury besides a neck sprain — and my van being totaled,

There are so many things I can be thankful for:

1. I was relatively okay.
2. Everybody involved in the accident was very kind and truthful with how the events unfolded, and the accident was not my fault.
3. Because it was a company car that hit me, they had insurance that will take care of everything.
4. I was directed to a good chiropractor who had me get a MRI which then showed I needed to go to an orthopedic specialist.
5. I did not want to be injured (of course) or have surgery as I now cannot drive for a while — which will be hard as we have 5 kids — but everyone I talked to that knew my surgeon said that he was very conservative and rarely recommended surgery right away, so that helped me to trust him.
6. Due to delays, surgery happened later than I originally thought it would,  which meant I only missed the last 3 days of school. I got all my subjects completed before the surgery. Also, my oldest daughter’s community college classes are done and my oldest two daughters are done with their co-op classes. Less driving required of me!
7. Surgery was done 6 1/2 weeks before our summer vacation so I will be able to help drive for that long trip.
8. A lot of therapy should hopefully be done before the new school year starts.
9. Even though I had a tear, the tendon had not retracted as much as the MRI showed, and the surgeon said my bone was very healthy and there were no signs of arthritis in that shoulder. He said it should heal very well.
10. It was my left shoulder so I can still use my right arm.
11. My kids are old enough to help. They will be doing all the laundries and dishes and some cooking. They also will have to help with washing and fixing my youngest girl’s hair.
12. My husband has a somewhat flexible job which is nice as he now has to do all of the driving.
13. We live on church property so the kids can walk to church and school.
14. Church members have basically signed up for 8 meals (or given money to buy a meal) — plus I have some meals frozen. They have also offered to help drive if need be.
15. I have found my body reacts better to Ibuprofen than to the narcotic pain medicine I was prescribed, which makes me very glad as I do not like taking narcotics, The nurse told me to take the narcotics for the first 2 days, so I tried doing that. Today, I was so nauseous even with eating food with my pill, and I felt a lot of pain. At 4:00 p.m., I switched to Ibuprofen, and I have no more nausea, I am alert, and I think I feel less pain. Maybe I am just sitting more upright and not putting pressure on that shoulder,
16. I love the ice water circulation kit they gave me. For the first 3 days, I can have this cold water circulation on continually — like an ice pack that covers a bigger area. It’s awesome. And the immobilizer really helps to protect the shoulder too.
17. We were able to get another 8 passenger car to replace our minivan within our price limit. It was still two times more than what I got for our minivan as our minivan was a 2006, but God did provide a vehicle. We had also bought a 2003 Buick Century for my oldest daughter to use to learn how to drive before my van got totaled. Because we had that car, we were not in any rush to buy a new vehicle.
18. I have had so many people praying for me. I definitely have felt very loved by my church family and by family and friends far away.

Well, I guess that was more one-hand typing than I thought I was going to do, but once I got started, I couldn’t stop.

After all those things I could be thankful for, the thought that popped into my head was,

Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow!!

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We had a weekend missionary conference at our church with two missionaries a couple of weeks ago.

One of the missionaries was a friend we have known a long time. In fact, he was my principal when I was in grade school. After he left, my husband said,

“That man is the most affirming man I have ever known. He is so positive! I want to be more like him.”

This man is a lot of fun. He can make anyone laugh. That has always been his personality. But he also validates others. He listens when people talk and then often he’ll agree with them by repeating part of what they said and including phrases such as, “You’re right!” or “I agree!” or “I think you are right on.” or “That is true.”

If he might not totally agree, he would use phrases such as, “I could see why someone would think or say that, but I also think this could be true . . .” In this kind of conversation, he was still being encouraging and affirming yet making the other person think.

He wasn’t wishy-washy, and he could take a stand for right. He didn’t compromise to make people feel good. Yet every time he could, he would build up the people around him. You felt good just talking to him and being around him as he was positive. You couldn’t have a negative attitude in his presence. He saw the goodness of God and everyone around him saw it too.

The next week I was with someone else who was probably having a bad day. We all do. But the critical spirit had the opposite affect of my friend’s positive spirit. A friend of mine put a quote her pastor had said on Facebook. Here is the quote:

“Do you know what ten compliments plus one criticism equals? One criticism.”

I want to make sure my kids don’t hear me only being critical. I want them to remember me as a positive person. I want to influence people like my missionary friend does. I want people to want to be around me because they feel uplifted just by being around me. I want them to know that being a Christian is a wonderful thing to be. We should be the most joyful, happy people on the earth!

How do people see you? Are you a positive person?

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In a couple more weeks, I have to speak at a ladies tea, and the theme of the tea is “My Cup Runneth Over.”

I started studying this phrase, and I will share with you what I have learned and also what the Lord has brought to my  mind when I think of my cup running over.

Most of you probably know that the phrase, “My Cup Runneth Over” is a quotation from Psalm 23:5 and means “I have more than enough for my needs.” I have an overabundance. Most commentators say this Psalm 23:5 is a metaphor for God being a host, displaying hospitality to us, spreading out a banquet before us.

Psalm 23:5 says:

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

Psalm 23 is one of the most quoted chapters of the Bible, and the most quoted chapter at funerals. Spurgeon said about Psalm 23:

The position of this psalm is worthy of notice. It follows the twenty-second, which is peculiarly the Psalm of the Cross. There are no green pastures, no still waters on the other side of the twenty-second psalm. It is only after we have read, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” that we come to “The Lord is my Shepherd.” We must by experience know the value of blood-shedding, and see the sword awakened against the Shepherd, before we shall be able truly to know the Sweetness of the good Shepherd’s care.

I had never noticed that it followed the Psalm of the Cross. I love how Spurgeon noticed it though. We only have this overabundance, all of these blessings, because Christ paid the ultimate penalty for our sins on the cross. That blessing in and of itself makes our cups overflow!

I am focusing on verse 5 for my devotional. Verses 1-4 talk about the Shepherd’s care, but we see a shift in verse 5. Here we see our Shepherd as a banquet host.  Chuck Smith had a great commentary on verse 5:

Here God is seen as a banquet host. He takes care of us in overflowing love.

God is just really a great host. He is a gracious host. He takes care of you fabulously. Preparing a table before you, anointing your head with oil, causing your cup to overflow. The glorious overflowing life of the child of God. “If any man thirsts,” Jesus cried, “let him come to Me and drink. And he who drinks of the water that I give, out of his innermost being, there will gush torrents of living water” (John 7:37-38). The cup will overflow.

The New English Translation reads this way:

You prepare a feast before me in plain sight of my enemies. You refresh my head with oil; my cup is completely full.

Isn’t that wonderful! God doesn’t take away our enemies. He doesn’t promise a life full of ease and no hardships. But He promises to be enough — more than enough. He promises to refresh us in the midst of the troubles, in the middle of the battle.

The host’s care and concern doesn’t eliminate the presence of my enemies, but enables the experience of God’s goodness and bounty even in their midst. David Guzik

Nothing is hurried, there is no confusion, no disturbance, the enemy is at the door, and yet God prepares a table, and the Christian sits down and eats as if everything were in perfect peace. Oh! the peace which Jehovah gives to his people, even in the midst of the most trying circumstances!  Spurgeon

When I first thought about the topic, I thought about the words “running over.” How does water run over a cup?

Obviously, too much is poured in and so some has to run over. So how does our cup run over? We have to let God pour into us so it can spill over. Whatever we put in is what will spill over — if enough is poured in. So we must continue to pour God and His Word into our heart and life so that He can spill over out of our life onto those around us.

The next thought I had was, “God promises to have our cup spill over when we feast at His table. Do I feast at His table?”

Do I keep my thoughts centered on the blessings He has given me that spill over into my life every day or do I focus on the challenges and the hardships? Whatever I think about is what is going to spill out of my mouth and affect my attitude.

Tuesday, I went to my daughters’ co-op classes. All I have to do is sit in the classes and do something if the teacher asks me to help. Usually, they don’t need me to help, so I bring my computer and get work done. I was looking at commentaries on Psalm 23. When I left the class, the teacher gave me a gift as it was our last day of co-op for the year. I went home and opened it, and look at what she gave me.

I thought this went perfectly with the cup running over theme. It’s a cup — and the more we put into it, the more the cup will overflow. Am I, every day, finding ways to praise God for what He has done for me? If I do, those praises will overflow out of my life. I won’t be a critical, fault-finding, mean-spirited person. It’s impossible if God’s praises are filling my life so much so that they are running over and out onto those around me.

There are many ways you can be strategic about counting your blessings and praising God for what He has done for you. Probably the easiest way is to every day, when you wake up, praise God before you even get out of bed.

Ann Voskamp has a very unique writing style (and some don’t like it), but her book One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are, focuses on every day writing down a few things you can be thankful for that day. They may be small — but God gives us gifts every day. She shares how even in terrible situations that happened in her life or how even during her trying days, God gave her things for which she could be thankful because of Christ and what He had done for her.

In the summary of her book on Amazon, it says, “In One Thousand Gifts, Ann invites you to embrace everyday blessings and embark on the transformative spiritual discipline of chronicling God’s gifts. It’s only in this expressing of gratitude for the life we already have, we discover the life we’ve always wanted … a life we can take, give thanks for, and break for others. We come to feel and know the impossible right down in our bones: we are wildly loved — by God.”

With this love, our cup runs over!

Ann Voskamp talks about 1,000 gifts that we can easily find if we just write down a couple every day, but I also like how the song 10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord) starts off by saying that every new day should start off by praising God, and that we can find 10,000 reasons to bless His name.

You’re rich in love, And You’re slow to anger, Your name is great
And Your heart is kind, For all Your goodness, I will keep on singing
Ten thousand reasons, For my heart to find

And on that day, When my strength is failing, The end draws near
And my time has come, Still my soul will, Sing Your praise unending
Ten thousand years, And then forevermore

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