Friday, June 28, 2013

One Thousand Blessings

For the past few weeks I have been reading/crying my way through Ann Voskamp's devotional One Thousand Gifts: Reflections on Finding Everyday Graces. With our lives in a bit of upheaval and transition, I decided to follow in Ann's footsteps--to write down 1000 gifts/blessings/graces/things I am grateful for. Call them what you will, it is a life and attitude altering exercise. Focus on the blessings...simple things, mostly. Everyday things that bring peace and joy. I've only to think about this growing accounting written rather messily in my journal and I feel peace overtaking the stress and the worries.

Here...I will share a few entries to help you start your own journey...

#1 My Father's grace and mercies that are new every morning!

#14 Libraries

#27 My Shakespearean insults mug. "Not so much brain as ear wax."

#26 Kerrygold butter. (Seriously...Oh My Goodness Gracious!)

#117 Being missed by friends I love.

#118 Being blessed with friends to love and miss.

#74 Tiny bridge over the Guadalupe River near Cuero, TX...just beautiful.

#84 Vintage Pyrex.

#88 Clean sheets.

#89 Creative, quirky, odd people...my favorite!

#121 South Texas bugs. Really. They are so colorful and strange and LARGE!

#121 Seeing my dad's love and affection for my daughters. Precious.

#54 Shelby's laugh.

I will stop there. Many more scrawls have been made--some personal, some silly, some forced out on days when it seemed nothing of joy was to be found. Hundreds more are waiting to be recorded and pondered, my heart resolved to continue on as long as I am able to put pen to paper. My desire is to transform this from a heart and soul training exercise to the default reaction of my heart...to live out gratefulness, joy, and grace.

Now go. Grab a gel pen (#41--I love gel pens.) Find a lovely journal and a favorite comfort beverage.  Take a quiet moment and begin to write. Write even if the only good thing you can think of today is breathing in and breathing out. Persevere and soon you, too, will feel the love of the Father fill your spirit to overflowing. He is good.

"When I realize that it is not God who is in my debt but I who am in his great debt, then doesn't all become gift? "
Ann Voskamp