Thursday, November 24, 2011

Thankful Thursday: Thanksgiving 2011

With a nod to Kelly who started me on this tradition, I have to break from Multitude Mondays once a year and devote my Thanksgiving Day post to a mega-gift list. How quickly can you think of 100 things you are thankful for this year, 100 undeserved gifts showered on you? Mine include...

1. evidence of God's grace at work in my life, changing me
2. having to humble myself and ask forgiveness
3. learning things that make me question what I thought I knew and believed
4. being forced into situations where my weaknesses, not my strengths, are on display
5. reminders of how finite and limited I am

6. God never sleeps
7. He never changes
8. He extends forgiveness freely and endlessly
9. He gives guidance and wisdom to those who ask for it
10. the way His power is displayed in my weakness

11. windows
12. arches
13. cozy fires
14. marble runs
15. wooden train tracks

16. Kindle library lending
17. the ability to read
18. more books in our house than I have time to read
19. people who are gifted storytellers, in print or on film
20. soap

21. hair elastics
22. photography
23. mascara
24. striped shirts
25. laptop computers

26. fuzzy sweaters
27. boys in matching blue oxfords
28. the click of high heels on hard surfaces
29. the clickety-clack of rapid typing on a keyboard
30. the fact that I don't have tinnitus

31. intricate, hand-stitched quilts
32. old houses with character
33. family heirlooms
34. family stories
35. family resemblances

36. being adopted as a daughter of the King
37. being molded and transformed to resemble Him
38. an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade
39. knowing that He is able to keep me
40. the anticipation of what Heaven might be like

41. my children knowing and loving some of their great-grandparents
42. our parents' and grandparents' delight in our children
43. beautiful wrinkles and aged faces
44. baby-soft skin
45. a conscious awareness of how rare and precious those moments are

46. written prayers in my journal
47. others' written prayers
48. not having to compose formal prayers with eloquent language in order to speak with God
49. Jesus opening the way for me to access the throne of grace
50. the Spirit interceding for me when I don't have words to pray

51. wedding rings
52. comfy sweatpants
53. heavy blankets
54. hairbrushes
55. toothbrushes

56. friends who take time to encourage
57. friends who let me know I have encouraged them
58. adjusted perspectives
59. the discomfort of gray areas and realizing I don't have all the answers
60. a wise husband with whom to hash through complex issues

61. living in a climate with all four seasons
62. the glorious colors of fall
63. stark, bare branches against a winter blue sky
64. the way I appreciate the color green so much more in spring
65. the extended daylight of summer

66. not knowing the future
67. knowing the One who controls the future
68. His promises to work all things for my good and His glory
69. the times He doesn't give me what I want and think I need
70. the times I am able to see and appreciate how what He gives is better

71. the astounding variety of gifts and passions God has given humans
72. people who love and are good at things I do/am not
73. people who are better than me at the things I love and try to do
74. the times God uses my gifts to bless others
75. times of quiet and anonymity

76. cousin hugs
77. argyle
78. pearls
79. DNA
80. thunderstorms

81. email
82. snail mail
83. long walks
84. leather couches
85. bridges

86. music
87. pumpkin desserts
88. frou-frou coffee drinks
89. antique convertibles
90. sharp knives

91. God condescending to become man
92. Jesus rising from the dead and being exalted above all
93. the grandeur and glory of the redemptive narrative of Scripture
94. the poetry and honesty of the psalms
95. knowing how the story ends

96. Steve
97. Elijah
98. Jude
99. our church
100. being indwelt by the Holy Spirit

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