"How do we stop living like life is an emergency - something to be sped wildly through? Life is not an emergency...
All this - all these moments...all these are for you. Isn't that the Voice we have to learn to hear?
The Voice that is telling the whole world that the earth under you and the rain over you, and all the stars spinning round you, this is for you, for you, for you. The smile of a friend, and the nap in a patch of light, and the whir of bike spokes, and the rose on the sill and that one great puff over flickering birthday candles - these are all for you." (Ann Voskamp)
After reading "One Thousand Gifts" by Ann Voskamp, I decided to take stock of some "life gifts" that the Lord has given me. Whether they're big or small, temporary or eternal, the more I notice and take note of what He's given, the more I realize how tender and truly good He is. Perhaps you, too, can find His sweet, good gifts in small, simple things such as these:
1. I'm thankful for seeing words on paper that somehow come to life in my head.
"A great book should leave you with many experiences and slightly exhausted at the end. You live several lives while reading." (William Styron)
2. I'm thankful for the color blue and all of its soothing shades: azure, cobalt, cornflower and turquoise.
"Let the blue sky meet the blue sea, and all is blue for a time." (Moncy Barbour)
3. I'm thankful for the owner of the tiny, damp, chubby hand that clutches at my cheek as I’m dressing him in the morning—even though he's not even my baby.
"Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward." (Psalm 127:3)
4. I’m thankful for the illogical reality of true forgiveness.
When one has wronged another and can never make it right, the other loves him still the same, even when it costs him.
"...God's grace and forgiveness, while free to the recipient, are always costly for the giver.... From the earliest parts of the Bible, it was understood that God could not forgive without sacrifice. No one who is seriously wronged can "just forgive" the perpetrator.... But when you forgive, that means you absorb the loss and the debt. You bear it yourself. All forgiveness, then, is costly." (Tim Keller)
5. I'm thankful for Tully’s medium-roast coffee with cream on chilly mornings as it settles in my stomach and warms me from the inside out.
Emily: "It won't kill you to go two days without coffee, Lorelai."
Lorelai: "No, I think it will."
("Gilmore Girls")
6. I'm thankful for being able to feel things: quiet joy, soaring elation, deep grief and gentle melancholy.
"Being tender and open is beautiful. As a woman, I feel continually shh'd: too sensitive, too mushy, too wishy-washy, blah-blah. Don't let someone steal your tenderness. Don't allow the coldness and fear of others to tarnish your perfectly vulnerable beating heart. Nothing is more powerful than allowing yourself to be truly affected by things." (Zooey Deschanel)
7. I'm thankful that my actions need not be dictated by my fluctuating emotions, but rather by the Holy Spirit who dwells within me.
"God designed your emotions to be gauges, not guides. They’re meant to report to you, not dictate you. The pattern of your emotions (not every caffeine-induced or sleep-deprived one!) will give you a reading on where your hope is because they are wired into what you believe and value — and how much." (Jon Bloom)
8. I'm thankful for the large, solid mug that sits dependably in my hand when I read by the fire, wrapped in my blanket that is a map of Middle Earth.
"You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me." (C.S. Lewis)
9. I'm thankful when said mug is full of Red Rose™ orange pekoe tea with cream and Stevia.
"Come, let us have some tea and continue to talk about happy things." (Chaim Potok)
10. I’m thankful for the God-given peace that defies logic in the moments when my mind is racing and my eyes are swimming.
"...do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:6-7)
11. I’m thankful for my Discover Weekly playlists on Spotify.
"Music...will help dissolve your perplexities and purify your character and sensibilities, and in time of care or sorrow, will keep a fountain of joy alive within you." (Dietrich Bonhoeffer)
12. I'm thankful for thick, tall socks. How lovely it is that such a trivial possession could bring such satisfied comfort.
"Socks are Dobby's favorite, favorite clothes, sir!" (J.K. Rowling)
13. I'm thankful for a particular plush snowman that I long ago named Mimi.
"We're walking in the air,
we're dancing in the moonlit sky,
and everyone who sees us greets us as we fly."
(Howard Blake)
14. I’m thankful for bonfires, the fellowship that happens around them, and how my sweatshirt smells of cedar smoke for at least three washes afterwards.
"I think I'm a lover of fire. Candles and incense, bonfires and fireplaces, passion and creative force, stars and sage, the rising and falling of the sun. The destruction of the old, the birth of the new..." (Victoria Erickson)
15. I’m thankful for credible, witty individuals, like C.S. Lewis, G.K. Chesterton and Charles Spurgeon.
Because really, finding a quote from one of these giants that explains exactly what I’m thinking gives me the most satisfying feeling in the world.
16. I’m thankful for oversized grandpa sweaters from Goodwill and Value Village.
Plus, they're now considered stylish. #winwin
17. I’m thankful for laughter.
The unattractive laughter that bubbles up from somewhere deep down and gushes out unstoppably; the laughter that comes in little spurts throughout a conversation; the shy giggles that occur between two people just getting to know one another.
"Life is worth living as long as there's a laugh in it." (L.M. Montgomery)
18. I’m thankful for the ways the Creator brings us through storms to teach us about His faithfulness and His sufficiency.
"When God gets us alone through suffering, heartbreak, temptation, disappointment, sickness, or by thwarted desires, a broken friendship - when He gets us absolutely alone, and we are totally speechless, unable to ask even one question, then He begins to teach us." (Oswald Chambers)
19. I’m thankful for music.
Oh, I am ever so thankful for music, as it tells a story, creates art without words and without paint, and transcends language, culture and geography.
"'Ah, music,' [Dumbledore] said, wiping his eyes. 'A magic beyond all we do here!'" (J.K. Rowling)
20. I’m thankful for a little boy’s delighted giggles as he blows bubbles through the wand and names each one that rides off on the breeze.
"A child's laugh and smile could simply be one of the most beautiful sights and sounds in the world." (Vicki Reece)
21. I’m thankful for friends who drive over 300 miles to bring you tea, hugs, and cry with you.
"'I don't feel much like Pooh today,' said Pooh.
'There, there,' said Piglet. 'I'll give you tea and honey until you do.'"
(A.A. Milne)
22. I'm thankful for the imperfect but humble hearts of David and Paul, and for the way they kept running, running, running to God for their strength.
"In God’s perfect, upside-down way, it isn’t standing tall and getting it right that makes things better or makes us important. We are forgiven when we see our sin, bow low in acknowledgement, and turn away from our old ways. It is with God that we are humbled but not humiliated, brought low but not crushed." (Hayley Morgan)
23. I’m thankful for dark, soothing things like rain and forests and nighttime and autumn and winter.
It makes it possible to think without the distraction of bright light and sweltering heat.
"I guess I'm different than most people I know. I prefer autumn and winter over summer and spring, rainy afternoons over summer evenings, the moon over the sun..." (Natalia Crow)
23. I’m thankful for the way we cry because something is wonderful just as we cry because something is sad.
How good God is to redeem our tears.
24. I’m thankful for exciting food that comes in a variety of textures, tastes and forms.
"After a good dinner, one can forgive anyone, even one's own relations." (Oscar Wilde)
25. I'm thankful for my family that loves unconditionally and points my face to Jesus.
It gives me just a glimpse of the character of God.
"As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." (Joshua 24:15)
26. I’m thankful for roommates who comfort, love and forgive me even when I’m obstinate and cross.
"The mark of Friendship is not that help will be given when the pinch comes (of course it will) but that, having been given, it makes no difference at all."(C.S. Lewis)
27. I’m thankful for the intricacies of the tiniest hedgehog and the majesty of the largest whale.
Because animals are honestly just really cool.
28. I’m thankful for Jesus, who walked this earth and felt temptation, human emotion and pain, yet died for me even still.
How scandalous His grace is.
29. I'm thankful for cats and how weird and inexplicable they are.
"What greater gift than the love of a cat?" (Charles Dickens)
30. I'm thankful that, even if all the material things I am thankful for were taken away, I would still have Jesus Christ and the constant presence of His Spirit.
And it would be enough.
"Begin to wake to the wonder of the small.
Begin to find joy in what really matters.
Begin to change your one wild life.
...So that when you wake in the morning, you can't help unfold your hands to the heavens, and though you grieve and though you wonder, though the world is ugly, it is beautiful - and though time moves on, and the planet spins, a blur, its moments are holy... Because this is how you spend your one life well -
Receiving each moment for what it really is: holy, ordinary, amazing grace.
A gift." (Ann Voskamp)
