In our prayer class, the last few weeks we have been talking about gratitude. Prayer flows from thankful hearts. I know this. The last few weeks, however, I can’t say that my heart has been overflowing with thankfulness. But my professor made a good point in class. He pointed out that when we give thanks, we often quickly “run out” of things to be thankful about. It would be easy to pause, give one more cursory glance through my mind’s eye and decide that I’m done. But he insisted that we stop, take a breath, and think of more, pushing past the roadblock. We do this in other areas of life, but somehow think that prayers of thanksgiving should be so spontaneous that we shouldn’t work at it. So, right now I’m going to work at it. I have a miserable cold and I’m sitting here with a hot water bottle on my neck and a box of Kleenex at my side. My nose is red and raw and my head is throbbing, but I know that I can be thankful. Why not now?
SO, here goes. I am thankful for:
1. Life. I am alive! 2. Salvation. Christ has set me free. I will spend eternity with Him. 3. My son who is hilarious and makes me laugh everyday. 4. My husband who is so incredibly thoughtful, he went and got my chapstick for my dry lips and filled up the hot water bottle without me even asking, and just told me I was stunningly beautiful and … let me tell you, the only thing stunning about me right now is how big the bags under my eyes have gotten—it’s pretty stunning! 5. Soft toilet paper that is gentle on my nose. 6. A beautiful warm sunny day with brilliant blue sky. 7. Going walking with Dutch, even though I was exhausted afterwards. 8. Spicy hot and sour soup from Lam’s Chinese kitchen for dinner—clears the sinuses! 9. My incredibly conversation with Lorrie Fulton this past week and how she ministered so much to me. 10. A super precious card from my sister-in-law this week that meant the world to me. 11. Getting to have our dearest friends, Aaron and Candi, back in Oregon! 12. Getting to join their families for a special dinner last weekend-we felt so honored. 13. Getting to see my friend Grace this past weekend. 14. A fun birthday party for Moriah Kamph, who is one year old now! 15. A perfectly timed visit with Tyson and Tracy and Kai Smith … and the dream that maybe they’ll move to Molalla someday! J 16. These yummy Christmas tree cookie things that have been in the freezer since … well, it’s obvious. I thought they’d be gross, but they were super yummy! 17. This great all-natural muffin recipe from a friend that I make for Dutch and he loves them! 18. That Dutch can walk like a big boy! 19. Bathtubs. 20. Hot tea 21. Hot showers (pretty much thankful for hot water in any form.) 22. A car that runs and gets good gas mileage. 23. Our realtor, Carole Sawyer, who is the best. 24. A super comfortable bed where I can sleep in approximately 9 minutes (I’m supposed to spend an hour on this exercise). 25. Books! Love them. Right now I’m reading Love Walked In by Maria de los Santos. 26. Getting ahead in school so that all my reading’s done and now I just get to write the papers and enjoy the classes. 27. My dear Multnomah girlfriends Liz and Lyndi. 28. My amazing professors who challenge me. 29. A great conversation I got to have with my mom last night. 30. Emailing with Janae almost every day. 31. A fabulous catch-up session mall walking with Megan the heart-breaker last week. J 32. Email. 33. My own laptop that is tiny and fits anywhere. 34. The extra-life battery that Jeff bought me that lasts all day. 35. Water. 36. Honey and lemon in my tea (I already said tea but I didn’t specify the honey and lemon). 37. The Bible. I love it. 38. That fact that I can talk to God and He listens. 39. The fact that someday God is going to bless us with a home. 40. The beautiful refridgerator and furniture that are sitting outside in the garage. 41. My parents – they are amazing. 42. Our church home, Foothills. 43. The opportunity to maybe speak at a women’s retreat—SO exciting! 44. Next week we have off of school. 45. It’s almost March which equals SPRING! 46. Nyquil. 47. Dayquil. 48. The river outside my bedroom window. 49. Vinegar and salt water gargle (I’m actually not thankful for it at all but my mom says that it helps so I’m thankful for that). 50. Vitamin C.