Tuesday, March 03, 2009

All this while the cookies bake...

My poor husband is on the couch next to me, passed out with yet another one of his nasty headaches, and I am baking cookies so I thought that I woul sit down and actually blog while the cookies bake. I am going to try to keep up with this blog more than just once every two months. So here I am:

I was talking to my kids in our devos this morning about how much we have to be thankful for. We have been talking this week about how God provides for us daily. We have been going through the Lord's prayer with my worship pastor's wife and each week we examine a section of the prayer. This week the section is, "give us this day our daily bread." And He does! What a miracle.

Today I challenged each of the kids to think of one thing in their dialy lives that they take for granted, that if God didn't provide them with it daily their lives would be totally different. We took time to think of all the things it take to make our lives what they are. For me I thought of my job. I know that just a tiny little part of what I have to be thankful for, but I remember teaching in Thailand and how miserable I was in that job. What a crazy situation that was. I think of my time in the States after I returned from Thailand when I was struggling to find a job, and I was feeling miserable and useless. And I pass the big Egyptian government schools in the morning, with their 1:60 teacher-student ratios, and their nasty fist fights on the yard and think 'I could be teaching there.' Remembering all that makes me think just how happy I am to be walking toward my school with all of my precious students. My daily life could be so different.

I think of other things too. The ability to walk. My days would sure be different without that. My ability to love, to connect, to communicate (living in a country that doesn't speak your language sure makes you grateful for the times when you can communicate). My days would be much different without all of that. Coffee!!!! Now what would my days look like without that?!?

Wow. God has been so good to me. Living here, in a city where most people lack one or many of the things that I have daily, is a sounding reminder of what God does for me every moment.

And all of that is just in the physical realm. How much more is He doing unseen. How much more is he doing in my heart. How much more has He already done to purchase my salvation. Just thinking of it all overwhelms me, brings me to tears.

How good He is to me.

7 comments:

Vicki said...

Im sorry that John gets headaches also-they are such a drag!..What a great exercise in being content in all-we start out finding one thing we are thankful for (even if it is little)then one thing leads to another then we realize how very blessed we are-then we are changed realizing how very good God is to us.
Thanks for the reminder.

Vicki said...

ps -what kind of cookies?

Jacque said...

Amen! I think my life would be so different if I didn't have my friends, family, car, apartment! I Thank God I do have those people and those things in my life! Amen!

Debbie said...

God is so good & gracious & merciful! We have much to be thankful for. Thank you Sweetie for sharing your heart.

amoetspes said...

Chocolate cookies. Mmmm. I fed them to my kids at the end of homework club today.

Jordan@Me and My 8 said...

Yeah. When it comes down to it, we are so blessed. Sorry John has (had) a headache. Urgh.

0r4cl3 said...

Indeed, it is nice, especially after a long or stressful day to sit down and think about the "things" that God gives us that we don't even realize (until they're gone, of course).