This "Throwback Thursday" I'm bringing back an article I wrote last summer for Buchanan's newsletter. This article was inspired by the amazing work of Ann Voskamp of "One Thousand Gifts". I highly recommend her book for beautiful reflections of God in everyday moments.
Beautiful Gratitude
Although the Thanksgiving holiday
is still months away, I have been feeling God’s call to gratitude
recently. God has provided in
marvelous ways and created such a beautiful world for us humans to explore. Each beautiful thing on earth is just a
glimpse of His Glory. So often we
go through life taking beauty for granted. We rush and get distracted and
complain. We feel the weight and
the pain of the world. So easily,
we find the ugly in every day. We
become numb to the glory.
I recently discovered the book One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. Like
so many of us, Ann has been burdened by the grief and trauma of this world. In
her book, she poetically captures her journey for communion with God through
thanksgiving. She does not just
count her blessings in the standard “Thank you for my family, thank you for my
friends, thank you for my home.”
Rather, she looks for God in the everyday—the beauty at our
fingertips. Her lists of gifts
includes: Morning shadows across the old floors, Jam piled high on the toast,
and Cry of blue jay from high in the spruce. Her list is a peek into the Creator by appreciating the
created. And through this
gratitude, she finds closeness with God—a lifting of her burdens.
Ann has been an inspiration to me,
to stop and smell the roses, as they say.
She reminds me of God’s call to notice: walks at night with a warm
breeze, the green of spring leaves, the warm glow of a candle’s flame, and the
perfect breakfast omelet. She has
inspired me to be inspired by God, for He is truly the center of it all. Gratitude is so very close to
mindfulness: being aware of what is present. When we are mindful, our eyes become open to how very
blessed we are.
The Bible is overflowing with calls
to be grateful. 1 Thessalonians
5:18 says, “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ
Jesus concerning you.” God knows
that gratitude is good for us. It
is good for us, but it is also glorifying to Him.
When you are in a state of
gratitude, there is no room for depression or anxiety. Yes, life can be
difficult and painful. Life is broken.
But God is grace. Can you
find your moment? Can you slow down your racing mind enough to see God? Can you stop worrying about the weeds long
enough to see God in the garden?
Can you stop being annoyed at your tantruming child long enough to be
grateful for their voice?
Gratitude is the most unnatural, but most Natural thing we can do. Giving thanks is a discipline, and I
fail at this discipline daily.
Some days I just want to whine.
Some days I just want to be mad at the injustice in the world. But the moments I get it, Ah, those are
the moments worth living for. When
I truly stop to be grateful in my heart, that is when I am allowing myself to
be in the presence of God.
Love in Christ,
Shauna
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