Gifts 54-60

It is not hard for me to think of gifts or blessings today. Some days, I confess, I stare at the screen and feel like I have to work hard to "think of" something to be thankful for. I wonder how that makes God feel, when all around me there are blessings...everywhere I look? But the harsh truth is that all around me there is pain and hardship as well. It seems as though the more days I spend on this spinning planet, the more acutely aware I am of the contrast between good and evil, joy and sorrow; but at the same time, the more I also have have become aware of God's overarching Hand that guides it all. Today at least, I can choose to let the darkness show the contrast to the light. I can let the hardships, broken friendships, and other hurts that I see around me be a way to illuminate the blessings that we have in Christ. I feel every day a little more that there is nothing on earth, in this life, that compares to the riches of the love of our Lord. NOTHING. All else falls apart, disintegrates through time. All else ends up as dust, no matter how we try to grasp at it. I don't mean to sound depressing, it is not to me...it just points me in the right direction. My hope will never be here, in McDonough, Georgia, or anywhere else on earth. My hope is only to be found in the Lord, the newness of life that He brings by atoning for every wrong ever done to another, whether by us or to us.
Well I have rambled long enough!

#54- friends to have us over to swim in their pool and be such good company all morning!

#55- a job to keep a paycheck coming in and food on the table.

#56- the steadiness of said job that allows me to stay at home with my kiddos.

#57- Vacation Bible School at church where my kids learn so much more than just what is in the lessons...they learn how to serve others, by watching grown-ups who serve them. They are watching and learning all of the time, and I am so thankful to have a family at church that consistently models serving and loving to my children!

#58- "old lady" bathing suits with little skirts that hide, well, everything!

#59- the fact that I don't have to cook a dinner (except for the days Mike is home because he needs to eat too...) at all this week because we will be eating at church before VBS. That may seem silly but I am SO excited to have a break from planning dinner all week!

#60- that my girls love to paint pictures...I love the color their paintings add to our home!