I've been thinking a lot lately about the blessings of life, in particular how much I have to be grateful for. Though it's not that season when gratitude is what we normally to talk about (several more months to November!), I've been taking stock of how much I really do have to be thankful. Light has come to some really dark places in my life and in the lives of those I love the most and for this I can't help but name aloud the Lord's provisions.
And this is what I know: if we wait long enough and wait some more, I do believe that God will meet all our needs in accordance with the people we were made to be! This is not to say that every unresolved situation in and around us get resolved. No, but it does mean that we are given what we need to keep going, to take the next step. I call this provision: God's love for us.
So, today I wanted to share some of the things currently on my gratitude list. Maybe it will encourage you to make one too.
- Feed the Children. Though Kevin has just begun his work there, I can already tell how our relationship as a family with this amazing organization is going to be the source of so many blessings in our lives-- opportunities to meet new people, opportunities for us to both grow professionally and opportunities to give back out of the richness of our blessings given to us. Kevin is so happy in his new job. It is joy to watch from the sidelines!
- Opportunities for rest. It is good to reconnect with Kevin over the weekend in FL as we've been a part for a while (which is never very much fun). I'm excited that my writing Rev. friend, Ruth, will be leading Washington Plaza's services while I'm away. And, really taking my day off today is a very wonderful thing!
- New learning. I spoke aloud the desire I had a couple of months ago to learn more about spiritual direction and soon it all came to be! I'm looking forward to the week ahead that awaits in California as I will begin training in the practice of spiritual direction at the Chaplaincy Institute for Arts and Interfaith Ministries. I'm going to be learning more in the next several weeks about ministry to folks both in and outside the Christian tradition. Stay tuned for more updates.
- The joy of friendships old and new. Helen Keller once said: “I would rather walk with a friend in the dark, than alone in the light." And such has been true of those who continue to walk with me right now. Our lives may not be perfect, but we are willing to share them with one another and such makes all the difference! Or as Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, "The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, not the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship; it is the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when you discover that someone else believes in you and is willing to trust you with a friendship.” I'm glad I have people in my life who are willing to share their lives so openly with me which encourages me to do the same. We are all the better for it, I believe.
- And the moments of joy that come in my work. Moments like finding I have been kissed by an elderly woman during our communion service as I gave her bread. (My cheeks were stained in red lipstick through the rest of the worship service as the congregation erupted in laughter that I couldn't figure out where it came from!) Moments like talking about end of the life plans with those who are facing impending death. Moments like finding something I said in a sermon touching the life situation of someone who lost hope in God's provisions for her.
So, today I give thanks. I give thanks for all of these things, all of God's provisions. And I give thanks for you, my faithful blog readers for letting me share more of my story with you each time I post. I am blessed.
And you- what can you say "thank you, thank you, thank you" for today? Anne Lamott said once that this is the best prayer of them all!
