Stop. Notice. Give thanks.

Most of California is bracing for a pretty strong winter storm over the Thanksgiving weekend. It has already begun in the northern part of the state. We’re always the last to get it down here in the lower corner. In Santa Barbara County where there was a wildfire burning, this storm is a blessing, especially for the firefighters, but only to a point, because heavy rain can mean destructive mudslides over the burned areas with no vegetation to hold back the top soil. I was reading this morning how they were calling that worst case scenario: “fire, followed by rain.” I guess you could say we are thankful for the rain — just not too much all at once! Lots of anxious people out there who would appreciate our prayers.

Here in southern California we are still waiting for it to hit. I delayed my Catch this morning because Marti had been asking me to clean out the gutters for two days and I figured I probably had about an hour before the rain started, and sure enough, I just finished with the first sprinkles falling. It’s a good feeling to know you are ready, and I found myself thinking, “So, come the rain.” Don’t know where that came from but it sounds pretty good. It’s a way of saying you are ready for anything. So I may be ready for the rain, but there are a lot of other things I am not ready for. I have a lot of work to do.

Stop.

Thanksgiving is always a time to stop. Stopping is good. You have to stop in order to notice, otherwise it all flies by too fast. Even if it means you just stop and have a moment of quietness to notice everyone around the table, or around the living room if you are doing it that way. Stop and notice and give thanks for life. It doesn’t matter how good or bad it is, it is life, it is a gift from God, and it is all being redeemed.

Take a moment to listen to our BlogTalkRadio interview last night with Steve West. We talked about this — how an artist is one who stops and stays a little longer. Long enough to notice something and get it down in a creative way of passing it on to the rest of us so that our life, too can be enriched. We’re not just looking for what’s Christian, but for truth, goodness and beauty, because Christ is in all those things.

So this Thanksgiving, take some time to stop. Stop. Notice. Give thanks.