Blessed. My Oversized Paragraph of Thankfulness


I am finding it easy to be thankful today.  My Christmas tree is up and decorated.  It is small and does not look real even a little bit, except for the shedding it does during set up.  But it looks like Christmas, and so I am happy.  I am preparing to spend three days with my family.  I am planning to see Jake's family that we don't see nearly often enough.  So many things I have prayed for have unfolded into reality over the last months.  One of my dearest girlfriends has finally found a love interest, and we already love him, even from afar. After months of uncertainty and weirdness, our church is still here, and Jake and I have joined a new life group.  I have friends, close and far away, and God uses them to regularly bless my life.  They pray for me, cheer me on, and we all keep in touch as best we can with such busy lives.  I have had a handful of tests to see if my body is capable of making and growing a baby, and thus far, everything has come back clear and perfect.  And while I long for my own kids, I am blessed with friends and family who allow me to love theirs.  Next week I am playing music four whole nights, maybe a record for this girl who does not actively pursue opportunities to play.  Jake and I are camping with my parents and my sweet niece Reagan for two whole nights this week.  I am taking my guitar and books to read.  And while I am praying for a few friends who will face tomorrow's holiday without their dads for the first time, I can look forward to seeing both parents and all five siblings and most of my nephews and nieces.  It will be loud and funny and generally chaotic.  I just finished watching The Price is Right, and I could not help but think about my grandma, who loved The Price is Right but would have disliked Drew Carey as much as she hated commercials (that she would mute, much to my frustration).  And even though she is gone, along with my other grandparents, we have years of memories of Thanksgivings and Christmases spent with them.  Hundreds of nights spent on hide-a-beds and bedtime stories and staying up too late giggling with my siblings.  We have promises to see those grandparents again.  We have a place to live, cars to drive (that are now completely paid off, thanks to Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace plan), friends and family that we love, and we have ministry opportunities that we are praying about.  For today, our bills are paid and things are looking up.  And all of these things come from the hand of a perfect Father that knows how to give good gifts to His children.  His gives generous amounts of grace and mercy and forgiveness and provision and correction and instruction, like a good father does.  I am looking forward to continuing this season where so much of the world stops and places their focus on Him.  My prayer for you today is that you would know Him, too, in a personal and relational way, and that your family would be blessed.

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