"Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." Ephesians 5:19-20Thanks for everything? That began a deeper quest to understand gratitude that continues to this day.
Now, fifteen or more years later, my prayers almost always begin with "Thank you..." and not only has that changed the way I understand my world, it is reflected in my children's prayers as well.
Imagine my joy when I began to see gratitude journals popping up all over the blogosphere, a river of thanksgiving driven by a precious daughter of the King whose life has also been changed by having a thankful heart.
How can I not gleefully jump into this river of bounty and ride, bobbing and splashing, with my sisters in Christ! Blogging my thankfulness, yes, yes!
So here I am, far from our dry Texas farm, in Hawaii, the state in which I was born, but to which I have not returned for twenty years. Easy indeed it is for me to start my gratitude list here...
1 ~ my father's generosity in bringing our families to this beautiful place for a shared vacation
2 ~ papaya, pineapple and rice for breakfast
3 ~ the friendship between my husband and brother
4 ~ clear blue waters
5 ~ a growing friendship with my sister-in-law
6 ~ the smell of flowering trees wafting past my nose while worshiping in church
7 ~ newly met brothers and sisters in Christ on a tiny island in the middle of the Pacific
8 ~ seeing, touching, cooking and tasting breadfruit for the first time
9 ~ seeing with my own eyes the green flash as the sun set over the Pacific
10 ~ coffee made from freshly ground beans grown right on this island
11 ~ a little boy overcoming his fear of the water
12 ~ my creative husband inspiring our little one to be brave by pretending to be knights slaying dragons
13 ~ long stretches of silence with only the wind and waves in my ears
14 ~ the exhilaration of riding a wave
15 ~ an island resident who bought a turkey for us before we arrived so we'd be sure to have one for Thanksgiving dinner
16 ~ a long shoulder and back rub from my gifted sister-in-law
17 ~ smiling long haired children covered in wet sand
18 ~ plumeria flowers scattered over the ground and tucked into my hair by my little girl
19 ~ a gas station bathroom smelling sweet and filled with fresh flowers
20 ~ a rainbow over Honolulu as we flew to Moloka'i, colorful gift from the Gift Giver
...and we give thanks and praise for the tremendous gift of our baby daughter born here many years ago.
ReplyDeletebeautiful! sweet smelling thanksgiving. I've never been to Hawaii, but it sure looks beautiful! The beginning of your post made me think of a hymn, it starts out,
ReplyDelete"Once it was the blessing, Now it is the Lord, Once it was the feeling, Now it is His Word; Once His gift I wanted, Now, the Giver own;..."
I was listening to it on a long trip this holiday, and thinking of sharing it on my blog..now if I can figure out how to share the actual melody or singing of it...
much grace and peace to you and your family this week!
It was incredible Jen. So much to be thankful for.
ReplyDeleteI like the lyrics to that hymn, I hadn't heard it before. I did a quick search; sometimes I find songs I want to share via youtube. There really wasn't a good one there, but perhaps this link might give your readers a sense of the song: http://www.hymnal.net/hymn.php/h/513