Thursday, October 1, 2020

Grateful

 I enjoyed reading Psalm 27 this morning while soaking up the light of the aptly placed big ball of fire. (God is so good and wise!) I listened to the bird pair chattering about their breakfast and happily squinted at the glistening reflection of rays on the nearby lake.


                                        The view from the back deck overlooking the lake.

I'm grateful, not just for the obvious beauty around me, but for everything. EVERY good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of Lights in whom there is not shadow of turning.  (James 1:17) It is a truth we bank our lives upon, and one of the first memory verses our kids learned---long before we left for Uganda. And we all still live by it today--here in this sometimes seemingly foreign land of the U.S. 

I am deeply grateful. The people who have invited us to stay in their house have given us a respite I doubt they can come close to understanding. God is active in their lives, having called them out of the country for a season. We needed a change, one that would give us privacy in a place MUCH closer to the kids' school. Is it an arrangement that just happened? No, it is an arrangement made by the Giver of all good and perfect gifts. We couldn't have dreamed up this arrangement--He orchestrated it to perfection.

The kids entering the school. We're so grateful that they are able to attend in person every day!!

I am overwhelmingly grateful. This short distance to the kids' school means we can ferry them back and forth 3-4 times a day and still not spend as much time in the car in that many jaunts as we would traveling just one direction from Aurora to Littleton. The location of this temporary housing means we don't spend between 3 and 6 hours a day in the car anymore!!!! Plus, the kids are able to ride their bikes to school on many days as well.

               Kevin was able to purchase a scooter recently and many days he rides it to school.

The above may seem small, but small steps comprise a journey. Small pebbles cover a stream bed offering habitat and stability to God's creatures. Small gestures build a lifelong friendship. Small thoughts breed dreams resulting in change for good. And small amounts of faith in a BIG God yield transformation. And this small blog is a means for me to get back into writing which I have neglected for awhile.

I am forever grateful. God provides for us a way to look for Him and find Him. He prods us to look, He invites us to look, He encourages us to look and He wants to be seen by us. I have to ask myself, how often am I looking? What am I doing when I'm not looking? And whatever I'm engaged in when I'm not looking--why and how did it garner my attention? Oh, Lord draw me into the awareness of You because You are always with me. Psalm 27:9, 10, 14 all tell me that God has been my help, He will take care of me, and He strengthens my heart. I am grateful for the reminder of these truths.

And so, I am humbly grateful, every day. I'm grateful that He is God, perfect, good, loving, wise, forgiving, powerful, light and life.

This is simply an attempt to regain some of the ability I haven't exercised in awhile of writing what my heart feels toward Him. May this small expression of gratefulness bless you as it's blessed me.

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