30 Days of Thanks 2018

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Day 1:  “Chesed” (hard CH like “cough,” not soft like “chicken,” and with some roughness from the throat) is the Hebrew word for “faithful love.” According to the Faithlife Bible study note, chesed is “…no ordinary love; it is a stubborn, costly, sacrificial, voluntary love. It is the love God has for his people—the bedrock of their faith.” I’m thankful for chesed today. 

Day 2:   I’m thankful for my work as a musician that supplements my income. I’m thankful for bandleaders that hire me. But today, I’m especially thankful for a weekend off! 

Day 3:  I’m thankful for tacos and a game of Life with my family—an evening at home! 

Day 4:  I’m thankful for family lunch with guests Chris and Heather Quimby. It’ll be the only family lunch I get all month. 

Day 5:  I’m thankful for a good deal on a hotel in MA that offers free parking and shuttle service to Mass. Eye and Ear. 

Day 6:  For small town life. I didn’t have to show ID at the polls: the clerk called me “Billy.” 

Day 7:  I’m thankful for forgiveness and an opportunity to do better tomorrow. 

Day 8:  For a good day at work. I helped 1/2 dozen or so old ladies and their Macs. One I’m pretty sure I kept from crying. The boss thanked me with a little something extra in my wallet. I didn’t get annoyed with my coworkers. That’s finest kind. 

Day 9: That was a good gig, but after that car ride I’m thankful to be home. 

Day 10:  “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” I’m thankful for my mom, Marylou. She and dad raised me, and got me house where I started my own family. She maintains the right balance of not doting on me, but she’s always there if I need something. She’s a great mom. Love you Mom! 

Day 11:  I’m thankful for full freezers and leftover lasagna soup. 

Day 12:  I’m glad Susan didn’t find a dead cat today. 

Day 13:  Food related. Thanks to Julia for dropping off to her ol’ man a Dunkin coffee and coffee roll. It’ll make a good lunch! 

Day 14:   Thanks to Jason Philbrook, who allows me time off during the week so I can continue my education. He has agreed to continue the practice next semester. I’m thankful he allows me to take an afternoon off every week. 

Day 15:  Tracy sent me a surprise: some stamps she found in a desk. Thank you Tracy, and Gordon and Suzanne and Lisa and Marylou(Mom) and Amy and Brian-Katie and all of you who save those stamps for me. 

Day 16:  I don’t have my snow tires on yet, and the customer I was supposed to visit had an unplowed driveway on a backroad. Arthur Grierson took the call in his 4WD truck so I might not get stuck. Thanks for coverage AG. 

Day 17:   I’m thankful for my kids coming to hear me play at the musical tonight. Julia Batty gives Shrek a 10 out of 10, and said it’s probably the best musical she’s seen at Medomak. (How’s that Peter Stuart?!) 

Day 18:   I’m thankful to the anonymous donor who has once again (the third time even) made a generous gift to Harmony Bible Church. 

Day 19:  It’s 30°, no wind, snowing lightly with just enough fresh coating for Deuteronomy to make snow angels all over #downtownspruceheadamerica. I’m thankful for my early morning walk today. 

Day 20: I’m thankful for a slow day at the shop. I used it to get caught up! 

Day 21:  I’m thankful for all the preachers willing to come fill in at Harmony Bible Church. 

Day 22:   I’m thankful for my family and the time I got to spend with them today. And for my mom’s chocolate pie and Paula Deen’s banana pudding. 

Day 23:  I’m thankful for my daughter Julia Batty. For her love of musicals, her funny nose, her willingness to run out for feta, and her love for her old man and Jesus. 

Day 24:   I’m thankful for a spare house key, otherwise I’d be sleeping in the car tonight! 

Day 25:  “We share our mutual woes, our mutual burdens bear, and often for each other flows the sympathizing tear.” Thank you for your love and prayers Harmony Bible Church. 

Day 26:   I’m thankful for Amtrak expanding all runs to Brunswick, which means Susan won’t have to endure driving in Portland. I’m thankful for a special hotel rate for Mass Eye and Ear patients. I’m thankful for shuttle service. 

Day 27:  SO. MUCH. THANKFULNESS! For the parking officer who is going to issue a refund. For a smooth trip in from the hotel this morning. For a wife who loves me very much. For dear friends who prayed for me. For Dr. Lee who saved my stapes, which means I might get some hearing back. For my sense of taste which I still have! For Jesus who orchestrated the whole thing. Praise God from Whom all blessings flow!  A Christian cab driver. Cab fare 1/2 what we budgeted. Was disappointed to find the Dunkin’ in North Station closed, but the other one was still open! Pizza place still open too! Friends, God’s got His hands all over this today. 

Day 28:  Thanks for all you well wishers and those who checked up on me today. Doing great! 

Day 29:   I’m thankful to get the ear bandage off and for a shower and a shave. 

Day 30:  Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes…”

Remembering John Calvin Dancer, Part 5

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My father-in-law was the most patient man I have ever met. Ever. The man. Was. Patient. Are you catching that? How many of us count patience among our virtues. Few. Generally speaking, people aren’t patient. Men aren’t patient. Mainers aren’t patient. And yet Dad was the example of patience. In the 30 or years I knew him, I never saw him lose his patience. Never. I never heard him yell. He never raised his voice even! He never got frustrated. Never exasperated. Never lost his cool. Never. Never ever never. My mother in law even commented he was no good to fight with, because he would never argue!

There was one time–one time in 30 years–where he got into some physicality with his then teenage son Jonathan. Susan and I were in the living room, and I don’t remember what the argument was about. I do remember Johnathan was out of line. Whatever the issue was, Dad was in the right. Then, there was some pushing. I didn’t leave the living room, so didn’t see what happened, but I’d bet dollars to donuts Johnathan started the pushing. In any event, even during that, Dad never lost his cool. No yelling. No name calling. Even when it came to being pushed by his son (and both Dad and Jonathan were tall, and John has some meat on his bones–a fridge sized man he is), he didn’t lose his patience. Amazing. His patience is such an example to me. I fall so, so far short there. He gives me a mark to shoot for.

Remembering John Calvin Dancer, Part 4

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My Beloved has always called her father “Daddy.” That name is full of love and endearment. I’m sure she calls him Daddy because she loves him so much. I’m confident she feels not only loved, but safe and secure, cared for and cherished. I hope I can live up to his example such that my own daughter will call me Daddy, even when she’s older, and for those same reasons.

Remembering John Calvin Dancer, Part 3

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Something that always impressed me about my father-in-law was the way he prayed. There was an honesty and a humility with which he prayed. (Really, honesty and humility were a hallmark of his life, so it’s only logical his prayer life would follow suit.) And one of the things he did, almost–but not every time, but usually–he started his prayers with “Father.” He used “Heavenly Father” some, but mostly he started with just “Father.” I never asked him why he started this way, if he was intentional about it or not, but it was usually how he started. This made an impression on me because of what that opening word says about his relationship with God. God wasn’t someone distant to Dad. He wasn’t “Heavenly Father, creator of all things seen and unseen, immortal and immutable, so on and so forth.” He IS those things, yes, and my father-in-law would recognize Him as that, for sure. But in dealing with God on a day to day basis, He was much closer to Dad than that. He was “Father.” I find that inspiring, that one would be in such close communion with God that, when praying needed to be done, when he needed to ask, when he needed to talk to Him, he addressed Him as that simple word: Father.

Luke 11:2 “And He said to them “When you pray, say Father…”