Every year the same thing.
It won't matter if we wanted it to or not.
It ends.
December 31 comes and goes and another year is gone.
December 31 comes and goes and another year is gone.
It passes too fast.
Each year is done quicker than the last one.
And the months.
...Days.
It seems like it was only yesterday that my children were running through the house
laughing and yelling...
Now it is theirs.
And while I yearned for quiet in the "parenting" days...
the quiet we live with now can be deafening in the absence of the noise.
I crave the noise.
I miss the yesterdays.
So the years ends and we look back.
Psalm 103 is a reminder to consider the past... to not forget His benefits.
I have been looking over some of these benefits in my own life.
My gratitude list is now seven years old, 8 books full, and over 10,000 gifts recorded.
This is not said as an attempt to brag.
I am still in awe...
*****
the way sunlight peeks through the blinds in the morning
the singing (oh my, the singing)
His promises made and kept
a baby giraffe
Irmas reminding...You are Lord...in and OF the storm
music that makes it to my heart
trash pick up!
a glimpse of glory around the edges of dark ominous clouds
Holy Spirit prayers for us in groans we don't know...but You get it!
free limes!
cardinal perched in the willow
You have tomorrow in the palm of Your hand...You know what it holds
that when things are more than I can handle, you remind me I was never meant to
Loquacious... :)... the word
You are still God of the "what-ifs", and you have this. Really.
Naomi's bitter cry in Ruth 1:20-21, echoed by Job in Job 27:1-2
(this is not their heart cry...it is their heart crying in pain.)
for Your untold mercies that have put me in this place
(never safe, but finding refuge in You)
stained glass and plastic suncatchers painted by grands
Sometimes a life verse can change...sometimes daily.
for a friend who is teaching me by her faith in the face of a Cat. 5 storm.
(disturbing truths of trust and not running... planted for a purpose)
brokenness. mine.
You know my needs, and tell me "No Fear"
Hope showing up - not yet, but anticipated
*****
Looking back, time and again, I have seen His faithfulness to us.
to me.
In big ways and in small ways.
In obvious ways
In subtle quiet ways.
He wants me to remember them.
To "not forget" them.
His benefits.
So I keep this list.
And praise His goodness.
To me.
And you?
...
"My soul, praise the Lord, and do not forget all His benefits.
He forgives all your sin;
He heals all your diseases.
He redeems your life from the Pit;
He crowns you with faithful love and compassion.
He satisfies you with goodness;
your youth is renewed like the eagle,
The Lord executes acts of righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.
He revealed His ways to Moses, His deeds to the people of Israel.
The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger and rich in faithful love.
He will not always accuse us or be angry forever.
He has not dealt with us as our sins deserve
or repaid us according to our offenses
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is His faithful love toward those who fear Him.
As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.
As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him."
Psalm 103:2-13
...
How has God shown you His goodness in 2017?
In the closing days of this year... I need to remember.
And to praise Him!
"Don't cry because it's over... smile because it happened"
Dr. Seuss
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