Counting Gifts

Have you ever felt like God was telling you something?

When the sermon last week and the song on the radio and that conversation with a friend have all had the same theme?

When that one idea keeps coming up, over and over?

I've had that.

The past few months have been that for me.

A few months ago, I sat with Trevor and told him about this restlessness in my soul, how I felt so far from contentment that I started to dislike everything around me. "You just need to count your blessings," he said. "Be thankful for what we have."

And so I started writing and taking pictures and posting blessings every week. Because life is beautiful. And I am incredibly blessed.

About a month later (was it a month? My timeline may be way off...), my Life Group started a new series. On a book called One Thousand Gifts. A challenge to find blessings in every ordinary moment.

Okay, God. I get it!

But I didn't know how much learning I'd do from that seemingly simple task of counting gifts. The book gives examples- teeny tiny things that may seem so... insignificant. But when you look at these little blessings through the lens of an almighty God, giving me this moment, this little glimpse of beauty, as a gift... it changes everything. 

If I'm busy noticing the ladybug on the railing,

If I'm giving thanks for the rain-smell in the air,

If I see the beauty in the way the folded towels sit on the living room floor,

I can't bemoan things beyond my control, I can't focus on the things I don't have, I can't say that God doesn't love me enough. I'm busy seeing the gifts, the tiny things, that show me that He does. He really does.


So I encourage you- find those blessings. Name the gifts. It really makes a difference.