God's mercies are new every morning. Yesterday morning I had coffee with a dear friend, who pointed out Ann Voskamp's blog to me. I have a link to it on my blog, and I have read it occasionally, but I hadn't been there in a while. I admitted that when I read her blog it makes me really sad. I feel like she lives on a completely different planet than I do. I want to move to her planet, but for some reason the roads don't go there. My friend knew what I meant, but encouraged me to read her book, and to start keeping my own list of things that I am thankful for each day. So I did. I kept a piece of paper and pencil with me the rest of the day and looked for things to be thankful for.
My list is now at 41 (#1-7 are in yesterday's post). I can honestly say that the good feeling from keeping this list has lasted longer than any piece of chocolate, or even a morning run has lasted. It is helping me to remember the incredible gifts all around me, that I have blurred in my fog of grumpiness. One of the most unexpected things that I have been thankful for is the cloud of witnesses that surround me. I am seeing how deeply I have been impacted by the quiet faithfulness of my friends. I am so thankful that I have seen them day in and day out doing their job with joy. I have seen people suffer hard Providences with grace. I have seen our community quietly surround people who are suffering and meet their needs as they walk through valleys in their lives. I have seen God bless this quiet obedience with beautiful fruit in their lives. They may not be blessed in material ways, but the blessings are there, and they are far more beautiful. I am so thankful that God has brought these people across my path.
#8-41
Sunshine
Lemons, and the fresh smell they give freely
Nesradine and Helen holding hands and playing
Forced air heat, which keeps me comfy when the temperatures drop below 0
Good windows that let the sunshine in, while keeping the house warm
Kids who say thank you
Wine, which makes the heart glad
Hunger - so that I remember to eat
CR and they way she lives her life with joy amidst the affliction
SC who shares my love for books, and calms me whenever we are together
RF who cancelled Karsten's guitar lesson, allowing me to be home after school with my kids
SS who keeps me believing that God does bring new, glorious life, after very real death
BJ who loves my kids and teaches them so many wonderful things year after year
My Mom and Dad and the precious life they have given me
Cameras and the beautiful things they capture
Artists who know how to make the ordinary beautiful
Snacks to keep the cheerful smiles on little faces
Spices and the incredible aroma that they give, which fills my house, and calms my soul
Hoar frost, that amazing stuff that makes everything look other worldly
Fiesta Ware and all the fun colors that it comes in
Snow, the fun white stuff that covers all of the sins in my yard, and makes skiing possible
Hot showers
Thick towels
Bubble baths on cold winter nights
My dear husband and his faithfulness to all of us
P & HR and the overflowing bounty of eggs they supply us with
The fact that I don't have to feed chickens every morning, but I still get to have scrambled eggs
God's law and the freedom it brings
Books, good ones, bad ones, inspiring ones, cheesy ones, and all the stories that they represent
MD and the crazy road that brought her to Moscow
Supper clubs and the friendships that they build, not to mention the wonderful dinners
Coffee
Blogs, the stories that they tell and the amazing people that tell them, people I wouldn't have met otherwise
Life in a small town with a large family. Trying to put God on display.
2 comments:
you have GOT to get her new book!! One Thousand Gifts. They have it at Costco. it is even on the NYT best seller list. It is lifechanging. she is such a talented writer. I have the book on my kindle and have bought about another dozen to give to people. Just love how she paints God's grace and love with her words. I am doing my "list" too ;-)
It reminds me of the phrase, "Too blessed to be depressed =)" I am working on getting one of my daughters to have a thankful list to combat her grumpiness. Unfortunately, she hasn't had quite the turn around that you have had. Thanks for sharing.
=) Kim
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