My beloved friend Margaret Feinberg writes in The Sacred Echo, that God whispers so that we can be still long enough to listen. I've been drawn even more to this thought as I read through a HUGE God whisper by another beloved author, Ann Voskamp, in one thousand gifts. God speaks to us in the every day mundane things and I've been making a list, as I shared with you all on my last post.
So I received one such God whisper in the mail a few days ago. It was a belated birthday card from a lady who always signs at the bottom, "your American Grandmother". This lady is over 75 years old and for the life of me I don't know how she remembers my birthday. Whether I move from one college apartment to another, to now the home I share with my hubby & son, she ALWAYS finds my address! I mean, why keep up after 22 years? I think I know. She gave my dad a ride to the airport on the most tragic day of his life. She made the invitation for my family to come to the USA. She's always been there for us ever since. Like a little angel of the Lord reminding us of God's gentle hand when your world turns upside down and then explodes. But still, God speaks thru her persistence. Such is His love. He runs after me. No matter how far away I've gone from Him. No matter where I've been or stand today. No matter the juxtaposition of offending emotions in my small little heart. He's there. He finds my forwarded address and finds. Me. HERE.
The whisper was so loud in this card that I had to share it with you, friend. Because it's my turn to whisper Truth into your confused, tired, dried up heart, perhaps? Here it is. The card came late because it got returned to her. I've moved on her, again! But she insisted. Sent it back to me. Do you send God's message back to Him because you don't want it? Holy Spirit asks. But. God sends it back. RETRY! Try again to hear my love whisper child. You doubt? okay. Here again:
You're a Gift from God
Remember, you go nowhere by accident.
Wherever you go, God is sending you.
Wherever you are, God has placed you there.
God puts you there for a reason.
Christ goes with you and empowers you.
It is His Spirit that works through you wherever you go or wherever you are.
So believe this, and then go confidently in His name,
knowing that the love, joy, and grace of Almighty God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
will be with you always.
Enjoy the path God has you in! Walk forward with joy in the Lord!
He has you here for "such a time as this"!
You are loved, your American Grandmother, Donna Thomas
Showing posts with label ann voskamp. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ann voskamp. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Monday, May 23, 2011
~one thousand gifts~
I know. *gasp* I'm writing again. Carlos Fuentes, one of my inspirations in the Latin American prose & fiction, told me one day that he believes in no such thing as inspiration when he writes, instead he believes in discipline. We must write daily, whether we want to or not. Practice makes perfect.
So, I was challenged, but the rebel in me sometimes doesn't obey just to prove the opposite. That I can still write well, even when I don't write often (or at all!) as it has been this past year! GAH!
Which brings me to my reason for writing today. Same thing happens with my journaling. I used to write so often, but then I had a baby...ha! (Insert first year of baby's life here. No more explanation needed) A few months ago, though, I started reading a life-changing book, One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. Challenging, thoughtful, riveting to the soul. One way that it moved a crazy small group of us who meet at the un-godly hour of 7am on Saturday mornings, was by starting a thankfulness journal, or gratitude journal. Ann talks about the Road to Emmaus and how Jesus was best recognized by the sad disciples at the end of the road, during the breaking of bread and giving thanks. It was in the moment of giving thanks that the resurrected and glorious Christ was seen to the naked eye.
So our author, Ann, was challenged by a friend, to start a gratitude journal. Giving thanks in order to "see" God perhaps, in her day? so our little group of women, we started one, too. I loved the formula because it didn't force me to write the long paragraphs that I'm resisting to write *lately*. It was like a grocery or to-do list.
I liked the simplicity. Looking for God's touch. God's provision. God's light. God's presence. God's voice. God's warmth. God's gifts. In the every day. In the mundane. In those little things that, if you aren't looking, you don't see Him walking by you.
Some seemed silly. Some deep & huge. All Him. And I found that in my "thanksgiving", I was starting to see Him, walking on the road to Emmaus. And so I've been searching for Jesus since December. I haven't lost Him, mind you, no worries. But, I've been looking closer, deeper, more intimately. Looking for not the same old-same old. And I've found Him. In this journal that I hope to reach 1000 gifts. Or perhaps I'll go beyond that and my children will read it as my gospel of how I saw Jesus face-to-face.
So now it's evening, and I'm following Dr. Fuentes' advice of writing with discipline. My son's asleep. My husband's tweeting. It's time to write. Short words. Short phrases. Words of Thanksgiving that feed my trust in Him. Open my eyes wide to see Him. Wanna see the silliness? I flipped back in my journal to see what happened "on the road" since I started writing...
#2. dirty, cakey, sticky sippy cups by kitchen sink, because it means my baby had milk to drink.
#10. God's angels protecting me during car crash in snow
#13. Dove chocolate
#60. hubby doing 3 loads of laundry
#62. warm folded towels
#78. road trip with kim roth
#80. daffodils at the monastery
#103. my son kissing me on cheek as i rocked him to sleep in the dark
#111. money to buy groceries
#145. nash's hair standing up when he wakes
#186. nash and abe strolling down the road in a gardening cart
#192. killing the tick crawling up my leg
#205. mediterranean bday dinner with my hubby
#222. hubby getting job after 3 years in the waiting room with God
#235. seeing a pregnant friend getting 3 free kids meals at Chic-fill-a
Silly Jesus. Showing Himself to me in the every day. Silly how much He loves me (and you). Will you look for Him on the road? Believe me. He's there. My eyes have seen His glory.
grateful,
~Ines
So, I was challenged, but the rebel in me sometimes doesn't obey just to prove the opposite. That I can still write well, even when I don't write often (or at all!) as it has been this past year! GAH!
Which brings me to my reason for writing today. Same thing happens with my journaling. I used to write so often, but then I had a baby...ha! (Insert first year of baby's life here. No more explanation needed) A few months ago, though, I started reading a life-changing book, One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. Challenging, thoughtful, riveting to the soul. One way that it moved a crazy small group of us who meet at the un-godly hour of 7am on Saturday mornings, was by starting a thankfulness journal, or gratitude journal. Ann talks about the Road to Emmaus and how Jesus was best recognized by the sad disciples at the end of the road, during the breaking of bread and giving thanks. It was in the moment of giving thanks that the resurrected and glorious Christ was seen to the naked eye.
So our author, Ann, was challenged by a friend, to start a gratitude journal. Giving thanks in order to "see" God perhaps, in her day? so our little group of women, we started one, too. I loved the formula because it didn't force me to write the long paragraphs that I'm resisting to write *lately*. It was like a grocery or to-do list.
I liked the simplicity. Looking for God's touch. God's provision. God's light. God's presence. God's voice. God's warmth. God's gifts. In the every day. In the mundane. In those little things that, if you aren't looking, you don't see Him walking by you.
Some seemed silly. Some deep & huge. All Him. And I found that in my "thanksgiving", I was starting to see Him, walking on the road to Emmaus. And so I've been searching for Jesus since December. I haven't lost Him, mind you, no worries. But, I've been looking closer, deeper, more intimately. Looking for not the same old-same old. And I've found Him. In this journal that I hope to reach 1000 gifts. Or perhaps I'll go beyond that and my children will read it as my gospel of how I saw Jesus face-to-face.
So now it's evening, and I'm following Dr. Fuentes' advice of writing with discipline. My son's asleep. My husband's tweeting. It's time to write. Short words. Short phrases. Words of Thanksgiving that feed my trust in Him. Open my eyes wide to see Him. Wanna see the silliness? I flipped back in my journal to see what happened "on the road" since I started writing...
#2. dirty, cakey, sticky sippy cups by kitchen sink, because it means my baby had milk to drink.
#10. God's angels protecting me during car crash in snow
#13. Dove chocolate
#60. hubby doing 3 loads of laundry
#62. warm folded towels
#78. road trip with kim roth
#80. daffodils at the monastery
#103. my son kissing me on cheek as i rocked him to sleep in the dark
#111. money to buy groceries
#145. nash's hair standing up when he wakes
#186. nash and abe strolling down the road in a gardening cart
#192. killing the tick crawling up my leg
#205. mediterranean bday dinner with my hubby
#222. hubby getting job after 3 years in the waiting room with God
#235. seeing a pregnant friend getting 3 free kids meals at Chic-fill-a
Silly Jesus. Showing Himself to me in the every day. Silly how much He loves me (and you). Will you look for Him on the road? Believe me. He's there. My eyes have seen His glory.
grateful,
~Ines
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