"If you don't recognize the worth of the masterpiece you already have,
you can waste your life looking for more that doesn't matter." {Ann Voskamp}
Every moment of the day is an opportunity to be grateful, to praise God. Especially in the midst of the hard times. I don't want a life lived that will only be joyful and grateful when it's easy to be joyful and grateful. It's during the difficult times, the arguments, the pits when it is actually hard to practice these disciplines that my heart is actually put to test.
Will I trust my way, the way I think things should go as the best?
Or will I choose God's way, choose to praise Him, to trust Him when I'm not sure how the situations will work out?
One small moment at a time is the best place to begin. Not "when everything is happy as a peach, then I'll be thankful." But now, right in this very moment.
"And we could be like a river of that living water. We could widen and deepen, we could course our way through hard things and plow fresh new ways. And our perspective could reflect a Kingdom, our lives could be a refuge and our choices could be a courage that goes against the current."
1. Celebrating the sweet baby of a dear friend / 2. Dressing up an American trio, complete with a baby bald eagle's silly construction paper beak / 3. Experiencing firsts together - first football game for Maddie / 4. Gathering together with family and food and laughter / 5. A teensy bow for her itty bitty hair / 6. Two years of marriage down, many more to come
