I don’t like when a pine tree dies in the backyard and has to be removed at great expense, but I am thankful that I have a yard with trees. I don’t like when the house needs some unexpected repair, but I am thankful that I have shelter. I don’t like when my car has an annoying rattle in the rear panel that costs $100 to fix, but I am thankful that I have transportation. I don’t like when there is conflict over an issue with my wife or children, but I am thankful that I can share life and love with my family.

I am sure something will happen today that I don’t like, and I can choose how I will respond. I prefer counting life’s blessings versus being flustered by life’s problems. This is what inspired the song Rivers of Light. Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light (James 1:17). Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear (Isaiah 65:24).

My summer job in high school and college was at a canoe rental in the Florida panhandle (Adventures Unlimited is still a great place to go canoeing or tubing today). I didn’t realize it at the time, but the work taught me about the importance of solitude and silence. There was a stark contrast between busloads of people filled with excitement (and noise) for a day on the Coldwater River, and the solitary work of unloading canoes on the sandbar early in the morning. My favorite job was called “The Top,” where from 7 to 8 a.m. you had to carry 100+ canoes about 30-40 yards down to the “beach” in preparation for the first busloads that would arrive around 8:30 a.m. It was a great physical workout that took about one hour. The reward for this solitary hard work was the 30 minutes of silence lying still in a canoe or in the river, listening to the breeze, the birds and the trickle of the water. I didn’t know that one day I would compose a song called Silence that always reminds me of those early years nurturing my soul with times of solitude and quiet.

This is the Boy Scout motto, “Be prepared.” I have been active in my son’s scout troop for three years now. Today we have to prepare for a canoeing and camping weekend, so I was thinking about this phrase as it relates to life. I often fall short in being prepared, in following through or in being consistently obedient in working on what is most important. Life is filled with imperfections, distractions and things that are “good” or “better” versus the thing that is “best” for me to focus on. Times of victory and struggle are part of the journey. When I feel unprepared or inadequate, I remember the verse “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). One more verse that speaks to preparation is a great encouragement to me – “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” This morning I praise God for His strength and for “being prepared.”