...give thanks. We've all heard "give thanks in everything". Sometimes it is hard to be thankful for the hard, difficult pills we are given. When two souls suddenly and unexpectedly depart this earth, for what is there to be thankful? What about when the best laid plans go awry? Or those days when everything falls apart and nothing seems to go right? It's difficult. Sadness swells inside up, overflowing drop by drop. Depression sinks in. One feels helpless, useless. The waves are rising to greet us, threatening to crash over us. But what /should/ we do? Continue looking down at the water swirling all around, or do change our focous and raise our eyes to behold the Son? So often it's a matter of where we are looking. When we focous on the bad, the things that go wrong, that wring our hearts dry, they are easily blown out of proportion and become the first things we see, the prominent objects on the stage of life. But what if - what if when we have a choice, we raise our eyes to behold the goodness that has been bestowed upon us? Everything else will grown strangely dim when we begin to look for the good, when we start to name and number the gifts lavished upon us. Funny how quickly they pile up, how eagerly we look for more, how simple it is. It won't always be easy to give thanks, especially in the darkest hours, but we have to fight off the mud of despair that threatens to pull us down. Simple enough, really, but so very worth our time.
~sunsets in review mirrors
~good music to accompany long roads
~a second driver willing to take a turn
~a hand held out when stepping out of a slippery boat
~rain that waiting until halfway through to soak us all. At least we got to eat a little something before it began.
~laughter with friends
~grace and mercy when we need it most
~her smile when she tells you she's having fun
~completed projects
~finished books
~excited voices, happy faces, and little people that nearly tackle you at the door when you get home.
~another day to serve the King
