A Thousand Gifts
God is teaching me more and more about seeing the beauty in each day, in each moment. Looking for opportunities to see God’s hand all around me. As I have viewed this world I travel through with new eyes, I’ve begun writing everything down. My daily moments of gratitude, and it has changed how I view life, others, myself, and God. Gratitude is healing and beauty and refreshment. God is waking me every day to Himself.
One of the blogs I read is Holy Experience, and daily it drives me to think, pray, cry, reflect on Who God is. Ann began her The Thousand Gifts List a year and a half ago and she has encouraged her readers to do the same. She writes:
Yet my list is different than another’s for a reason: God has made me uniquely me. The Gift List is about gratitude… but it is more. It is about what defines me and my own personal identity. Reflecting on The Thousand Gifts List… “…cracking open a new book… pushing children on the swing…. old men looking at cards in the stationery aisle…” I am thankful for the things on it, yes, but I am also thankful that He has given the gift of me; that God made me who I am and I am one who sees and experiences the world in a way uniquely her own. The Thousand Gifts list is about the gifts Abba gives this child every day… and, ultimately, about the very gift of self, life as I know it.
So, being uniquely me, I write what I am seeing, and I join Ann in her quest to walk through life with a heart changed by the blessings surrounding our lives daily.
1. Sunshine. Windows open with gentle breezes. Swaying curtains breathing fresh air into my home.
2. Jesus in my heart.
3. Worship. Freedom with God each morning.
4. My husband. He is my best friend.
5. Steaming mugs of coffee.
6. Warm socks on tiny cold feet.
7. Three children. Three daily heart smiles.
8. Spinning and falling down. Rosy laughter.
9. Baby’s first sentence bringing me laughter. “Baby a have Uno.”
10. Red letters. Words of Christ for ME.
11. Basketball games with a boy who’s growing up too quickly.
12. Marching feet. Little hands beating tambourine. Playing band. Joyful noise that fills my home.
13. The ding of another email arriving. Connections with friends worlds away.
14. The smell of fresh, cut grass.
15. The rustle of pages during church, evidence of our freedom in this country.
16. Friendships. Hours in fellowship around a table.
17. Game nights. Side-splitting laughter.
18. Meeting new people.
19. Marker stained fingers. Pages covering my fridge.
20. Borrowed life. Ever in HIS care.
What gifts are you seeing today?
Monica said:
I’m so glad you joined Ann’s 1000 gifts! In 1998 I began the “Simple Abundance” journey and started keeping a gratitude journal. It changed my life. It came at a time in my life when I had just been in a horrible car accident (on Port Republic Rd), and it was just basic needs being met that I could muster gratefulness for. I have been back to that point many times since and most recently this past year, but the discipline to give thanks in EVERYTHING has been one of my greatest teachers. I carry this on with Delaney now and every night before bed we say five things we are grateful for. Lately you, my friend, have been a repeat on my list.
Oh how I thank my God for every remembrance of you! Tonight, after reading Zephaniah 3:17, I am thankful for “The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over ME with gladness, He will quiet ME with His love, He will rejoice over ME with singing.” I had this highlighted in my Bible, but I read it tonight as if for the first time. Oh, and I am so thankful for the White Mocha from Starbucks I had yesterday. Something I used to take for granted but now is a rare treat. Seriously, there is little else in this world that brings me to such a happy place as that drink. Thank you, Lord, for Starbucks! 
Kristin M. said:
Ooohh. . .white Mocha from Starbucks IS something to be thankful for! It’s been too long. . . .
Ang, this made me think of driving home from MA on Sunday after a wonderful but exhausting weekend. I was feeling sick, was tired, and monotonously driving with Burress asleep next to me. Then James Taylor sang a word of wisdom to me: “The secret to life is enjoying the passage of time”. Well, he was CLOSE, but I would probably call it A secret, not THE secret.
Anyway, those words have been rattling around in my head for the last several days. Even at those times when so much could be better, there is so much good. A seminary professor of mine talks about “echoes of eden” that we find in the lives of all people, since we were all made in the image of God. I’m thankful for the echoes of Eden in James Taylor, and for the many echoes of Eden that surround us every day in life.
Natalie said:
What defines me and my personal identity?
For one thing: studying the human body and realizing how AMAZING it is. this leads to me to gratitude that I am not limited by any physical limitations or disabilities. and b/c of this, I feel RESPONSIBLE for taking care of my body, my soul and my mind. We all think that it can’t happen to us. But in reality, it could be me. I am thankful andI desperately need to trust God’s hand in my life-day in and day out.
Kristen@nosmallthing said:
It is so ironic that I read this today, because just yesterday I came across my list of 1000 gifts, and thought to myself how I need to keep it going, and how I should put in on my blog (I only have 102, but I haven’t added to it in a while…). Thanks for reminding me!