My 1000 Gifts

One of the things God continually reminds me of is the importance of thankfulness. Oftentimes he does so through my children. They'll be complaining about something and I'll say, "You need to be thankful for what you have." As those words come out of my mouth they pierce my heart and I know it's because the Lord is saying the same thing to me.

When we forget what God does for us we begin to grumble (my Life Group teacher Miss Nan calls it "murmmering"), and I believe grumbling/murmmering will lead to flat-out rebellion. Psalm 106 painted this picture for me clearly. I know that I HAVE to think of the blessings...for my flesh and my heart WILL/DO fail .

Phillippians 4:6-7 says, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." When we're thankful we're at peace. And who couldn't use a little more peace? :)

So...a few months ago I decided to join the Gratitude Community . Here are a few of the things I'm grateful for:
1. The blood of Jesus
2. My Bible — my love letter from my Lord
3. The stack of love letters I have from my hubby — first one dating back to 1990
4. Spring thunderstorms
5. Walks/bike rides with my kiddos
6. The beautiful "sanctuary" God has give me to enjoy as I look out my window
7. Quietness and stillness
8. The birds that sing
9. Music that speaks of God's greatness
10. "Do-overs" with Jesus
11. The Holy Spirit and how he works in our hearts
12. My baby girl asked Jesus into her heart yesterday (4-13-09)
13. My Cameron asked Jesus into his heart nine years ago
14. Our little family of four will all be in heaven one day :)
15. Freedom from being conformed to the pattern of this world
16. That God pushes me outside my comfort zone
17. Friends that are REAL
18. The peace that comes from knowing I'm not in control...God is!
19. Wisdom that comes from the Lord...how he makes this "air-head" (yes, I am sometimes known as one by those that know and love me) a teacher
20. The smell of beautiful flowers — gardenia, roses, jasmine — along my walking path
21. The times I do stop and smell the roses
22. The Lord has kept our family safe from harm and danger
23. No matter what's going on in the world I can trust the Lord is my shelter, shade, refuge and hiding place
24. God IS sovereign — above ALL — El Elyon
25. Nothing and no one can thwart what the Lord Almighty has purposed (Isaiah 14:27)
26. We (Hannah Grace and I) have been praying for a 5-year-old little girl to come to our homeschool group and she came
27. My husband is my best friend
28. Summertime
29. A mom who taught me about Jesus
30. A mom who taught me how to be a good mommy
31. A mom who "babysits" for free ;)
32. Parents who become amazing grandparents
33. Good books
34. When you "trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding he WILL direct your path" (Proverbs 3:5-6)
35. A wonderful homeschool group
36. Progress seen
37. Friendships that don't change across the miles or through the years — the kind where you pick up right where you left off
38. Aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews
39. Christian women who challenge me to be a godly wife and mom
40. When I ask the Lord to take away the desire for ungodly things...he does (why should this surprise me?) :)
41. The power of the Word — to convict and to heal
42. Snuggle time
43. The promise and hope of heaven
44. My husband — the incredible, godly man that he is
45. Memories re-lived through photographs
46. The courage that the Lord gives me
47. Freedom to worship
48. Sunday afternoon naps

More to come later!