More Thanks

I wish I could say that the thanks-living has gotten easier. The truth is that the smoother life goes, the less likely I am to pay attention to the details. I slip into routine and relax into the comfortable gait of my everyday, simply forgetting His gifts. I’m much more thankful, more aware – in adversity. For the longest time, adversity is the only normal I knew.

I’m frustrated at my wandering heart. I don’t mean to wander, I just do. Sounds a lot like someone I know (Romans 7:15) Do I really need to be reminded that I need Him every hour, not just when plans crumble and hearts hurt? And yet, again I am reminded that my experiences do not control my faith, my joy, my actions . . .

Good old Oslwald says this, “Very few of us really know what it means to be held in the grip of the love of God. We tend so often to be controlled simply by our own experience. The one thing that gripped and held Paul, to the exclusion of everything else, was the love of God. ‘The love of Christ compels us . . . .’ When you hear that coming from the life of a man or woman it is unmistakable. You will know that the Spirit of God is completely unhindered in that person’s life.”

That’s my prayer today, to be held in a vise by the love of Christ. With that, here are some of my recent 1000 Gitfts:

#90 Taking communion with Jonah for the first time.

#92. A friend who prays at a moment’s notice.

#97. Picnic dinner in the living room.

#98. The beautiful navy blue and yellow patchwork quilt from Nanny

#101. Waking up smiling from a happy dream

#107. Psalm 121