How Thanksgiving Leads to December Peace

November 26, 2019 By Stanton Lanier Leave a Comment

Click above to listen to Thanksgiving with piano and English horn as you read. If you enjoy, listen to this and more music from Best Holiday Album Winner December Peace (ZMR Awards), the just released 2019 Christmas album December Peace II, and check out the 31 Days of December Peace devotional softcover book or e-Book.

How can Thanksgiving lead to December Peace?

My good friend and mentor Ken Boa consistently encourages me to practice two disciplines: Gratitude and Remembrance. As I prepare my heart and attitude for the Thanksgiving holiday in the U.S., I was reminded of two verses that have transformed my life and faith journey. Here is how I believe these can prepare you and me for December Peace, and even can lead us there…

As you are listening to Thanksgiving, reflect on these words: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Recorded in Philippians 4, verses 6 and 7 point me toward giving thanks. They focus my heart and mind on gratitude. This prompts me to remember God’s blessings. Then I begin to think about particular times when God has been faithful to provide for me, to see me through a difficult time. For example, when our house was robbed, when there were emergency room visits to the hospital, when I was having fears and doubts about the future, etc. By practicing the thanksgiving in verse 6, this leads to the peace promised in verse 7, which will guard my heart and mind.

I composed the song Thanksgiving from these verses, because I am often tempted to be anxious about everything, not just anything. The music expresses child-like faith, and skipping through life with joy. I wrote the Advent and Christmas season devotional 31 Days of December Peace, to offer real life stories filled with hope and inspiration (from my life and the lives of special friends). Each leads to peace and rest, to gratitude and remembrance, to experiencing “December Peace.” Wishing you and your loved ones a holiday season filled with thanksgiving, peace and joy!

As you prepare for Thanksgiving, and for December, ask yourself these questions:

Who are some people you are grateful for?
What are some things you are grateful for?
What difficult times has God helped you through?
When did something amazing and good happen that encouraged you?

Day 27 for “31 Days of December Peace” ~ Where Did All the Time Go?

December 27, 2017 By Stanton Lanier Leave a Comment

Click above to listen to Silent Night as you read, from December Peace (Best Holiday Album, ZMR Awards). If you enjoy, consider sampling and ordering the CD, MP3 Album or sheet music. You can also listen on Spotify, Pandora Holiday Channel, Apple Music and all other digital streaming services.

This story is from 31 Days of December Peace (soft cover or PDF eBook). Also available from Amazon Kindle, iTunes, and other e-Readers.

Where could you use some “December Peace” today?

On the one hand it is just another month. Through the demands of other’s expectations and crowded calendars, the routine takes over and seems to direct us wherever it wants us to go. Each week is filled with days passing by and each increases in velocity. It can seem quite mundane in the routine busyness of it all. Or worse, it can be a blur of to dos that leave us feeling empty and worn out.

And yet, the fact that December is the final month of the year distinctly sets it apart. Regardless of the type of year we have experienced, it closes that chapter. As we begin turning this page, the ending comes with a new beginning. Something magical happens in us as we realize the passing of time that has occurred; the brevity of this life becomes clearer in our thoughts. We ask ourselves and each other, “Where did all the time go?” as we secretly hope that something meaningful was achieved.

But before we can see the shadow cast completely, December ushers us into in an overwhelming rush of joy, brilliance and awe. We learn again and again… that the world we live in, filled with the beauty and pain of our humanity, has been pierced with the invasion of a supernatural Savior. Rescue has come. Rescue is here. Love becomes real, for Love took on flesh. In the most amazing story in all of human history, God became one of us.

Turning an eye to a new starting line with hope of how we can live out the coming chapter with more vigor, more urgency and yet have greater Peace, we see the opportunity for redemption of time and we can live more contentedly.

So when we see this rightly, December leaves us grateful. Let us write the next year’s chapter well.

Day 4 for “31 Days of December Peace” ~ Lord, Make Us Thankful

December 4, 2017 By Stanton Lanier Leave a Comment

Click above to listen to Thanksgiving as you read, from December Peace (Best Holiday Album, ZMR Awards). If you enjoy, consider sampling and ordering the CD, MP3 Album or sheet music. You can also listen on Spotify, Pandora Holiday Channel, Apple Music and all other digital streaming services.

This story is from 31 Days of December Peace (soft cover or PDF eBook). Also available from Amazon Kindle, iTunes, and other e-Readers.

Where could you use some “December Peace” today?

Frank Stanton Bondurant was his name. My mom called him “Daddy,” but to his grandsons he was known as “Daddy B.” He was born in 1905 and died in 2002, just shy of his 97th birthday. As I reflect on his influence in my life, I am amazed at how many lasting impressions he made. He was quite a storyteller.

Daddy B was an only child. His parents both died before their 42nd birthday, so he didn’t think he would live past that age. They both played piano, but he was a gifted violinist. He played high school football when there were no face masks, just a thin leather helmet. He broke both eyebrow bones and both collar bones. He loved to play games and tell jokes. If you said, “Please pass the cereal,” he would throw you the box! He introduced me to fig preserves and Mama B’s blackberry cobbler. He threw baseball with me for hours when I was a Little League pitcher, teaching me how to grip the threads to throw a curve ball, drop ball, fast ball and slider. He played his violin with me when I was playing piano in middle and high school (that’s us in the photo when I was thirteen). When I learned to drive he always reminded me that if an animal ever ran in front of me that I should “go through it,” and not swerve to miss it. He had wrecked his car one time avoiding a dog. His advice probably saved my family’s life when I hit a deer in June 2002 driving sixty miles per hour. I went through it. Incredibly, we were on the way to Daddy B.’s funeral when this happened.

“Lord, make us thankful for these and all our blessings. Pardon our sins for Christ’s sake. Amen.” This was Daddy B’s prayer before every meal whenever we saw him. These are only a few of my memories of this beloved man of character, passion and faith. I loved Daddy B. I will always remember the blessing he was in my life.

Who is your Daddy B? Can you be a “Daddy B” for someone?

How Thanksgiving Leads to December Peace

November 28, 2017 By Stanton Lanier Leave a Comment

Click above to listen to Thanksgiving with piano and English horn as you read. If you enjoy, listen to more music from Best Holiday Album Winner December Peace (ZMR Awards) and check out the 31 Days of December Peace devotional e-Book.

How can Thanksgiving lead to December Peace?

My good friend and mentor Ken Boa consistently encourages me to practice two disciplines: Gratitude and Remembrance. As we transition from our U.S. Thanksgiving holiday to the season of Advent, I was reminded of two verses that have transformed my life and faith journey. Here is how I believe these can prepare you and me for December Peace, and even can lead us there…

As you prepare for Thanksgiving, and for December, ask yourself these questions:

Who are some people you are grateful for?
What are some things you are grateful for?
What difficult times has God helped you through?
When did something amazing and good happen that encouraged you?

5 Things to Know About Heaven

November 14, 2017 By Stanton Lanier Leave a Comment

Click above to stream Longing for Heavenly Country from my 10th album Climb to the Sky as you read. I am also including the music video at the bottom, so you can use for additional reflection if you like.

What does “heavenly country” make you think of?

With our U.S. Thanksgiving holiday approaching, along with autumn colors and cool air, November brings a season of harvest and reminds us to count life’s blessings. Each of us has the universal challenge of quieting life’s noise and distractions enough to pause and give thanks, and to experience more moments of peace and contentment.

Inspired by the song Longing for Heavenly Country, I began to think about heaven, and how setting our thoughts on things above can bring a harvest of blessings to us now — during life on earth — as well as to our future. Along with the music track and video, I hope you will reflect on “5 Things to Know About Heaven” (from Scripture and C.S. Lewis) to increase your peace, joy, and contentment now, and in the days to come.

1. Heaven is a Real Place.

The word “heaven” appears in the Bible 622 times. If we believe by faith, here are two of many encouraging verses about heaven being a real place…

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” — Genesis 1:1 (NIV)

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” — John 14:1-3 (NIV)

2. Heaven is Our True Home.

“The fact that our heart yearns for something Earth can’t supply is proof that Heaven must be our home.” — C.S. Lewis

“But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ…” — Philippians 3:20 (NIV)

“But our homeland is in heaven, where our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, is; and we are looking forward to his return from there.” — Philippians 3:20 (TLB)

3. Heaven is a Better Country.

“Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither.” — C.S. Lewis

The passage below is from Hebrews 11, known as the “Hall of Faith,” from the many Bible characters named in this chapter.

“All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.” — Hebrews 11:13-16 (NIV)

4. God and Jesus Invite Us into Relationship from Heaven.

“The Lord looks down from heaven on all mankind to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God.” — Psalm 14:2 (NIV)

“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” — John 14:6 (NIV)

5. We Can Play a Part in Bringing Glimpses of Heaven to Earth.

“Joy is the serious business of heaven.” — C.S. Lewis

“In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” — Matthew 5:16 (NIV)

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” — Matthew 6:9-10 (NIV)

Which of these encourages you the most right now?

December 27th ~ Where Did All the Time Go?

December 27, 2015 By Stanton Lanier Leave a Comment

Click above to listen to Thanksgiving as you read. This original, piano-English horn duet is from 2009 Best Holiday Album December Peace (ZMR Awards, winning over Enya and Yo-Yo Ma). If you enjoy, please consider sampling and ordering the CD, MP3 Album or sheet music. You can also listen and download on iTunes and all other digital outlets.

This story is from 31 Days of December Peace (soft cover or eBook). Also available from Amazon Kindle, iTunes, and other e-Readers.

Where could you use some “December Peace” today?

So when we see this rightly, December leaves us grateful. Let us write the next year’s chapter well.

December 4th ~ Lord, Make Us Thankful

December 4, 2015 By Stanton Lanier 1 Comment

Click above to listen to the Thanksgiving piano-English horn duet as you read. This track version is from 2009 Best Holiday Album December Peace (ZMR Awards, winning over Enya and Yo-Yo Ma). If you enjoy, please consider sampling and ordering the CD, MP3 Album or sheet music. You can also listen and download on iTunes and all other digital outlets.

This story is from 31 Days of December Peace (soft cover or eBook). Also available from Amazon Kindle, iTunes, and other e-Readers.

Where could you use some “December Peace” today?

When I learned to drive he always reminded me that if an animal ever ran in front of me that I should “go through it,” and not swerve to miss it. He had wrecked his car one time avoiding a dog. His advice probably saved my family’s life when I hit a deer in June 2002 driving sixty miles per hour. I went through it. Incredibly, we were on the way to Daddy B.’s funeral when this happened.

Who is your Daddy B? Can you be a “Daddy B” for someone?