This next week kicks off an amazing holiday season for me. Next week it starts because next week begins rehearsals and planning for the rest of Thanksgiving and Advent. I travel to see friends, friends travel to see me, I get to see my family, and I am SO excited.
I'm thankful for the lessons I've learned about love, life, patience, service, encouragement, brothers, Christ, music and children- I'm thankful that I get to see those people on Sunday and Monday.
I'm thankful for music.
For the chance to listen to it and make it. For the people I work with every week to make music for God. I'm thankful for the feelings it produces, and the relationships it builds. I'm thankful for performers and concerts that bring friends together :). I'm thankful for country music...that I not so secretly love to listen to sometimes because it holds sweet memories. I'm thankful for the music that makes me dance, that makes me cry, and for the songs that have gotten me and others through (or been the soundtrack to) the more challenging times. And for the ability to sing and play instruments. What an amazing gift it has been for me to have and to share, and I thank God.
I am thankful for faithful servants in the church.
I get to work with them every day and experience their own passions for God and his people. They teach me a lot, and I have learned more about myself and my own beliefs and passion for ministry because of these people. I have learned more about God and loved Him more because of these people.
I am thankful for friends, again.
Because I have so many, I am truly blessed by their presence and support in my life. Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday... they all consist of friends.
I am thankful for family.
That my dad calls me almost every day just to hear my voice and tell me he loves me... and remind me to do the important logistical things (get rewards for using your credit card :), oil changed....). I love my mother. I love talking to her on the phone and just chatting like mothers and daughters should. I love hearing that she's proud of me for the way I have handled painful experiences because... I know she has also felt that kind of pain before, and I love that even though there is pain, that we have that shared experience. I love looking back and saying "you were right, I was wrong :)". I love my sister because she is just straight up amazing :). I love her heart, and her beautiful spirit, and her ridiculous talent, and passion for people... and still, our ability to be completely anti-social when we're together because we're perfectly content to spend time together. She laughs at me, and I laugh at her. I'm thankful because I know that this is a rare gem in life, and not everyone gets to experience this kind of love. I'm thankful for every hard time and ever challenge we have faced and will continue to face as a family.
I am thankful for food.
I am among the very few in this world who eats well and regularly. My heart breaks and I feel a little guilty even saying that out loud because I should be ashamed at how selfish I am. But I do give thanks for every meal that I have. God's ways are mysterious, but why should I have food while another eats dirt and oil once a day for nutrition? Ugh. I'm so grateful. So blessed, and so undeserving of such love. "The least of these" is always on my heart. I pray that God puts things in my path to reach out to them, and that I would see...
I am thankful for this moment.
I am thankful for the past and the memories therein, and for the possibilities that the future holds for me. But one is gone, and the other is not even a real thing. The only thing that is real... is now. And I am thankful.
Rejoice always, pray continually, and give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians :16-18
No comments:
Post a Comment