This past year, a dear friend gave me a book called “A
Thousand Gifts”. The general concept was
not a novelty to me, however I accepted the challenge contained within and began to journal once more. This time, however, I would only number the blessings of life;
every single thing, big or small, that I was truly thankful to God for.
So I began. At first I thought it would be a breeze. I’d reach 1,000, easy. Well…it proved to be a much greater undertaking
then I had imagined it would be. So I began this blog, which you are now reading, first & foremost to encourage others, but also to keep myself
accountable. I also invited several young
ladies I knew to attempt it as well. After the initial incentive wore off, I was
left to try and keep myself accountable.
After the first week I had reached a whopping 30 blessings. Honestly, it was a great first start but at
the time it looked miniscule in comparison to the 1,000 I had imagined whipping
out. But rather than give up, I began to
search a little deeper into God’s beautiful and awe-inspiring creation, the
everyday miracles that happen in our busy little lives. I took it day by day, blessing by blessing
and as a result each step lifted my spirits and filled me with inner joy. I began, and am still learning, to gain an
attitude of gratitude. Trust me, it
doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a work in
progress.
It has been months since this all began and at long last I
reached the intended 1,000th blessing in my journal this week. I was elated to say the least. I immediately messaged a few friends and
shouted the news across the house to my sister.
I don’t know if God was showing off more than usual this
week or if, through counting my blessings and searching hard to find them, I
have begun to actually see things I had missed before, but this week was filled
with an incredible number of answered prayers.
Now that I have reached 1,000 I will continue to journal my
blessings, perhaps for the rest of my life...hence the blog title "A Thousand and Counting". It keeps my thoughts on things above and helps me to be aware of how
much God loves me & how much I am blessed. After all He's done, one of the greatest things I can give back to Him is a heart of thanksgiving. There have been weeks where I have lost focus but He continues to
draw me back through His constant blessings that are impossible to miss.
When I look back over my life I desire only
to remember these blessings - the "God things" rather than the "me things" - to find
beauty in the simple and great. Before, my journal entries seemed naturally to center around
my life, but now each journal entry is centered around God & how I see Him through the blessings in this life, which is where the focus of my writing should
have been all along.
True, God's blessings are innumerable, but I desire
to count them because by doing so I have begun, ever so slowly, to change
from the inside out into what God intended me to be all along; a God-seeker,
worshiper, and servant with a grateful heart. When I pray, I begin with thanks rather than immediately asking for Him to bless me or answer my prayer requests.
How fitting that I should come across the following verse in my
morning devotions this week:
“Many, O Lord my God, are thy wonderful works which thou
hast done, and thy thoughts which are towards us: they cannot be reckoned up in
order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can
be numbered.” -Psalm 40:5
“So count the ways He loves, a thousand, more, never stop,
that when you wake in the morning you can’t help turn humbly to the east,
unfold your hands to the heavens, and though you tremble and though you wonder,
though the world is ugly, it is beautiful, and you can slow and you can trust
and you can receive each moment as grace.” –Ann Voskamp “A Thousand Gifts”
If you are interested in the challenge I have undertaken but
do not have the time to read Ann’s book, please take a minute out of your busy
day to watch this video. It is a summary of her book in four minutes. I believe it will
inspire you to count your blessings too:
