Grace, Thankfulness, Joy

It's one thing to give thanks for the trials in your own life: for the darkness that falls with depression, or the chaos that reigns in a house with over-tired children and the anger and frustration that leaks from exhausted, self-focused lips.

It's another thing entirely to sit in hospital, by the bed of a friend and pray thanksgiving over that moment.

To beseech God for His hand of healing to fall and His comfort and strength to carry them through the unknown moments and the questions that arise because of it, and to raise thanks for her being there, for the moments that God is using. And the way He is working.

Do those prayers, of offering thanks in a hospital, sound harsh? I can only pray that my fumbling words bring the comfort of the great Comforter to her, that my heart will shine through and that God Himself will hold her and her family in the unknown moments and the waiting game that comes.

Today I am thankful for

homemade cinnamon buns,

sunshine,

melting snow,

wind blowing through the house,

clothes on the line (1st time this year!),

sticky,

messy kitchen floors,

friends who will surround each other and cover each other in prayer.

Perspective can always adopt gratitude — and gratitude always parents joy. 

- Ann Voskamp