Gifts

Over a year ago, a great friend of mine and sister in Jesus (Lindsey) dropped off a book on my doorstep - it was called "1,000 Gifts" by Ann Voskamp.  I was at a point in my life where I was struggling with fear, dread, and anxiety - I was at a place where I was having a difficult time finding peace - the peace, which I now know, that Jesus intended for us to have. I'm not sure that Lindsey knew that day how much I was struggling with this suffocating fear, but God did and He wanted my eyes opened to the peace, love, and joy that He offers us. I read the book and I began a journey that freed me...

In the book, the author challenges herself to begin making notes each day of the things in everyday life that she's thankful for...she considers every part of our lives as gifts and she searches her world for even the smallest ones.  Then, when she begins to feel overwhelmed, fearful, distant from God - she looks back over that list and is reminded of how much God loves her - the blessings that He has poured over her...in small ways and BIG WAYS....and, the most beautiful part, her list always goes back to the first gift....Jesus...God's only Son, given to us, so that we could overcome anything that we face in this life and in Jesus, we find JOY, PEACE, and LOVE all around us.

Off and on over the past year, I've been doing exactly what Ann did...I've started keeping a list of my 1,000 gifts that I see all around me each day. When I think about it, I jot down these "gifts" on my phone on a list that I title...my 1,000 gifts...(maybe one day, I will post them or maybe not)...the purpose of this list is for me to remember how much God loves me everyday and how much He wants me to enjoy life and to appreciate all that He has given me.  These "gifts" that I record are constant reminders to the enemy when he comes around and tries to get me to whine and complain, I can flip to my list and remind myself of all the reasons that I do NOT have to whine.  (Let's be honest - do I still have whiny moments? Yes, but they sure don't last as long as they used to.)  :)

Yesterday, God handed me a day full of these gifts and they came at such a sweet time - when I wasn't thinking about receiving them.  :)  Yesterday was opening day at the pool and Luke has been begging to go.  Luke and I love the pool - we spend hours there every summer. We play and play and play TOGETHER while we are there.  This year, a piece of me secretly dreaded the pool at times because I wondered how I was going to handle baby Kate and still be able to enjoy Luke.  (Landis is not a fan of the pool so he doesn't join us much and that's okay - the poor thing worked in the yard all day yesterday!)  Normally, I would ask my mom to come help me but she was out of town. So, for Luke's sake, off we went to the pool.  As I loaded the car with a TON of bags, I got a little nervous about how this was going to go - would Luke behave, would Kate like the water, would I be able to carry all the stuff??? Matter of fact, as I drove away, I looked at Landis and said, "We will either be back in 30 minutes or a few hours...not sure what to expect."

Well, to my total surprise we had a BLAST!!! Luke was an angel - he didn't argue with other kids, he didn't complain about the cold water, he stayed with me, he listened, and, most importantly, he LAUGHED, he swam, he made friends, and he had FUN.  Oh...and Kate, she loved the water, played in her float, and even took a little nap in the shade.  So...if I wanted to add to my 1,000 gifts list, here are some that God handed me yesterday....

-the best big brother helper ever
-giggles with Luke as I pulled him on the noodle and during our water gun battle
-snuggles with Kate as I watched Luke play cars with his buddies
-sitting on the bench sipping our slushies (even baby Kate had a few tastes)
-time to chat with some friends while the kids played
-watching Luke pull his baby sister around in the float as he reminded everyone else to back up and be careful around her float
-watching Luke's little legs dangle from the table as he sat so nicely eating his pizza

Do these things sound a little cheesy? Yes!  Do they sound like ordinary everyday life happenings?  Yes, they are! But, to me, a Mommy that values my time with my kids, these moments are gifts - moments that I don't want to forget and moments that I know God blesses me with on purpose because HE LOVES ME. And...God wants me to share my joy with others so that they, too, will know how much He loves them!

It makes me think of this...as Luke's Daddy, Landis wants to give Luke the desires of his heart - even if that desire is a piece of gum and around our house, it often is.  Luke will ask Landis for a piece of gum and sometimes it's Landis' last piece but he still gladly gives it to Luke and Luke accepts it with a thankful heart.  Well, if an earthly father enjoys giving away a piece of gum (such a small gift), why wouldn't our Heavenly Father enjoy giving away small everyday blessings like what I experienced yesterday? You see God knew the desires and worries of my heart yesterday - He knew that I wanted to make the day special for Luke, He knew that I didn't want to be stressed out because, thanks to Jesus, my Heavenly Father KNOWS me and THAT'S A GIFT!!!

In a book that I'm reading right now called, "Jesus Is..." by Judah Smith - the author says, "The good news about Jesus produces joy in the hearts of people.  It replaces depression, condemnation, and hopelessness with joy, faith, and hope."  When Jesus was born, the angels  proclaimed, "I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. Judah Smith reminds us in his book, "That's the gospel. JOY is central. JOY is imperative."

And, I say, the JOY begins with thankfulness....and the thankfulness begins with perception and how we see each moment in our day...do we look for the gifts or do we whine?  I've tried it both ways and I'm here to say....I've found the gifts....many of them and have a list to prove it....and...I'm going to keep finding them....Oh, how God loves us....

What gifts can you find today? In what ways is your heavenly Father lavishing His love upon you?

Start counting the ways....

Toddy