Gifts Given to Me...

Remember when I used to do Count Your Blessings Sunday? You don't? Oh well, at one point I did because I was trying to help a dear friend focus on her blessings instead of what she didn't have. She and I did it for a while and then, well, it just kind of fell by the wayside. Then I read this book One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp, and oh my! If you haven't read it, it's a MUST READ! Seriously, everyone I have directed towards this book has said what an incredible blessing it has become in their life. It was when I read it that I started counting my gifts, my daily blessings again with a passion. But again, it fell to the wayside and I think when I stopped I ended up finding 182 in one month. I never made it to one thousand.

Fast forward to now and my dear bloggy friend Kate has picked up the book and been blessed. She subtly has challenged me to begin again. So here I am, recording the gifts God has sent, watching for opportunities to be thankful. I must admit, I haven't been consistent this week, but what I have found I have treasured. Here's mine:

1. early morning snuggles with my Bethany

2. the delightful voices of my children playing together and getting along

3. spending one on one time just Yohn and I every day at our lunch break

4. my lifegroup

5. watching growth in others

6. feeling God's nudging and knowing that I need to spend time just He and I

7. my little boy's faith

8. my precious daughter's giving spirit

9. throwing away stuff and being okay with it

10. freecycle

11. my son's basketball coach who is instilling in the boys to push themselves and do their very best, always

12. being able to go right to God in the stressful moments of the day and admitting I can't do it on my own

13. praying for others

14. my husband's sweet letter he sent via e-mail, encouraging me and loving me

Next week, I'm gonna try to log them in daily as remembering really only comes from writing them down and appreciation flows when you can really see what's been done just for you. A gift, each and every one.

I encourage you to hop on over to my friend Kate's blog and leave her some encouragement this week. Also, Ann Voskamp will be posting her Gifts tomorrow for Multitude Monday. If you haven't read her book you could still check out her blog and see why I say READ THE BOOK!