60 Days of Graces

1. Crumbs on the table.
2. Washing the kitchen sink, making it sparkle.
3. Playful pillow cases.
4. Ivory piano keys to make dance and sing--a rapturous melody to Heaven.
5. A pen to write with, and a hand to grasp it.
6. A mother and father who love me profoundly, and take an hour out of their day to spend focused time with me; who pour their lives out for me, and hurt for me. Who provide and care for me... train me up in the best of their knowledge. They are Christ's hands and feet.
7. God's glorious creation--all of the beauty and color and wonder--it declares His glory.
8. Trials--refining--for God is growing me through them and drawing me closer to Himself.
9. Being physically, mentally and emotionally stable, that I may stand, walk, run, jump, talk, serve...
10. The flower vase, holding up and magnifying the beauty of the bouquet inside it.

These are things I am thankful for. God's graces to me. I could keep writing, and I will. A quote I read awhile back--where I do not remember I found it--said, "A piece of writing is never finished, it is simply abandoned." Such a quote has never been more comforting for its truth, nor more frustrating because of it. I feel as though I could always tweak something, always add or subtract, or change. But I must abandon it at some time. But I shall return. This is a challenge, a challenge for 60 days, to list at least three things daily of what you're thankful for. God's graces in your life. Look at what frustrates you, what bores or angers you, and tilt your head till you see the other angle. Is this a blessing in disguise? How is God gracing you with this? He works all things for good.

Crumbs on the table --- it shows that we ate. We have a loving God, a loving father, who provides for us. Crumbs on the table testifies to wealth. Family. We have furniture, we have a respectable living situation, and a family to share it with.

The kitchen sink --- DISHES! :) We all love washing dishes three times a day, don't we? Dishes also testify that we ate and had food to fill our stomachs. But washing the kitchen sink, to make it sparkle... It's the simple things in life. We have a sink which holds dishes in its bowl like a child cups a baby chick. Scrubbing with those suds till the white porcelain sparkles, reminds me of God washing us, scrubbing our dirt and our yuck and sin away until we sparkle and are made clean because of His work. Sanctification.
It's such a refreshment when a work is done.

Playful pillow cases (and the pillows inside of them!) --- Something so little and insignificant-seeming, yet we use them every night. Colors, patterns, polka-dots, stripes, smiley faces, or just plain solid; soft, silky, fuzzy, velvety, plush, fluffy... They all make me smile. :) Even those tiny little pillows that are like square rocks. I am so thankful for all of them.

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"Give thanks in all circumstances..." 1 Thess 5:18

There is a way to live the big of giving thanks in all things. It is this: to give thanks in this one small thing. The moments will add up.

Drive out the nails of habitual grumbling with the nails of habitual gratitude.

The only real prayers are the ones mouthed with thankful lips.

Prayer without ceasing is only possible in a life of continual thanks.

The only way to be a man or woman of prayer is to be a man or woman of thanks.


Right now I am reading Ann Voskamp's One Thousand Gifts Devotional. I'm half tempted to just write out each of the 60 devotionals for you, but---you might as well just read it for yourself. :) The above quotes are from that book.
I highly recommend checking out her website at http://www.aholyexperience.com/