If you’ve been reading along here, you know that I just finished a whirlwind trip to the states. While talking over some woes with someone, it was suggested that I should keep a list of blessings or things I have to be thankful for. I’ve done this off and on over the years, but it is a discipline that is too easy to push a side. So I have begun…
It is interesting to me the timing that the Lord uses. After all, it is November, a month for gratefulness. So instead of panicking because of my to-do list or thinking about all the things that I shouldn’t be dwelling on, but trusting instead, I choose to think about the little things that make me smile. The things that appear to be insignificant are the little love gestures that bring us pleasure in this life. A new candle found in a land where they don’t normally exist is a shoulder-squeeze that says, “I am thinking about you.” A parking place near an entrance when I am oh-so-tired is an eye-gaze that says, “You are mine and I care about you.” The provision of a special time with family that others may not understand the need of says, “I love you and I care about what gives you joy.”
My God loves me and I choose to look for it in the gestures that He uses to show it on a daily basis. It is my prayer that this will go beyond the month of November…
Drinking at the Springs 
Kim, my heart goes out to you for all of the readjustment and I appreciate your choosing thankfulness over dwelling on it all. I love the very personal ways that you are seeing Him and hearing Him say I love you. Sometimes I feel like I’m the only one that hears Him that way. 🙂 Around my birthday I entered a give a way on a blog because the give a way was a book…but not just any book…it was Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon. For the first time in my life I won something! I felt the arm around my shoulder that said, “I love you.” You are in my prayers, my friend.
Oh…and those to-do lists? I used to make one a mile long and then feel defeated when I couldn’t accomplish it all…never mind the list was long enough for a week’s worth of work. Now…I write out a list and put a star beside three things that are top priority. I judge their priority by, 1. will this benefit my walk with the Lord? 2. will this be something that matters to my husband? 3. How does this coordinate with His purpose for me? It makes it much easier to decide which three to star. Then anything I have time for beyond that is like icing on the cake.
You continue to inspire me, Kim! May the Lord bless you richly for your service to Him. Being a missionary is NOT one big vacation as some people tend to think. I know…remember our daughter was on the field for 12 years. I hope you will continue to share your thankfulness with us.
(((hugs)))
Dianna
Thanks for your to-do list idea. That’s a good one! I’m going to do it. Thank you for your kind comments to me. You cheer me on!
I too will start a ‘thankful’ list each day that I can remember too. Even little everyday tasks can be overwhelming because they so many times must be done again and again. God’s love makes us rich in Christ….I feel it. Remember when Pastor H. used to say live with eternity stamped on your eyes? And Mrs Alice would say that we are like a sunflower. As we age we lift our faces up to God as a sunflower turns its flower head up to the sun. All so true and many times lost in the hustle of life. Your post really makes a person think….and come up a few notches to the good…=) Have a nice day! k. You will be in my prayers.