17 January 2010

All of Life Is Pure Gift

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Inspiration and logo from holy experience


Gratitude... goes beyond the "mine" and "thine"
and claims the truth that all of life is a pure gift.
In the past I always thought of gratitude
as a spontaneous response to the awareness of gifts received,
but now I realize that gratitude can also be lived as a discipline.
The discipline of gratitude is the explicit effort to acknowledge
that all I am and have
is given to me as a gift of love,
a gift to be celebrated with joy.

~ Henri J. M. Nouwen


Amen! Here I continue this discipline of gratitude, this journey through grace, the eager anticipation and discovery of His love gifts to me this past week. In worship, adoration and praise, do I offer this gift back to the Lover of my soul, wrapped in thankfulness, as I begin my Sabbath.


356.

Eggly surprises

I opened my egg carton yesterday to find
funny and creative faces greeting me.
My teen daughter decorated these odd orbs.
Hello, Bob the Tomato, Larry the Cucumber,
Darth Vader, Jenny the guinea pig,
and the Evil Easter Bunny...
Laugh out loud fun!


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Exploring the in-the-making

Walking through a house being built across the street,
imagining what will be...
imagining what He will make me to be
as the Master Builder continues His work in and through my little life.


358.

Adrenalin rush fun

Out came the old college sweat shirt
as our family enjoyed a good and close basketball game,
cheering in the stands,
shouting the count down of the clock,
cheering for my and my husband's alma mater's team.
And our boys got free tickets for Scouts Day
and we received free pizza and soda from the concession stand. :)


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Young men taking time for young boys

Basketball team members autograph free posters for Scouts.
It was a blessing to hear my boys compliment each one on their game
and see the gracious and smiling responses from these athletes.
I enjoyed letting them know I was an alum
until I realized that they were not born when I graduated!!
Oh well... time marches on and waits for no man.


360.

Graphic from Doorposts

Repentance

Consciously deciding to not rehearse in my head my disappointment
in my husband's handling of reproof and correction of my son
and instead praying to God a list of gratitude of what he did well,
thanking the Lord for what was great and wonderful in my husband
(such as his use of this great resource).
I repented, even as my son did.
And life sprung up where deadness had crept in.


All that I have
all that I am
I owe it all
to my Redeemer and Friend.


To learn more about the 1000 Gift List and the Gratitude Community, click on the links on the menu at the top of the blog. Join the joy...
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4 comments:

Aisling said...

Love the egg pictures. If anyone else in my family ever used the eggs I might try that one myself, but I reckon I am the only one who ever goes in the carton.

Annesta said...

Sharaya,
Your list blessed my heart completely this morning. It is so difficult to sit back and say nothing when hubby reprimands in a way that we do not agree with. It's even harder when the conflict occurs between adult daughter and dad. My heart is heavy for hurtful conversation that happened at our house last night.
Thank you for the reminder to count the gifts of my husband.
Grace and peace
annesta

Jenny said...

I loved the eggs! A tangible piece of surprise joy! Blessings...

Jessica said...

I too need to learn to be still and allow my hubby to lead in disciplining...in his way.
Oh to still my tongue.
Thank you for reminding me to look for the gratitude.
so good.
Happy Gratitude Monday.
J.