And my gratitude journal lies open on my bed. Fifty gifts and several hundred more blanks to count the blessings all the way up until a thousand gifts are listed. I realize right now that some days - many days - it will be harder to count gifts. Right now, I'm in the process of getting ready for church, birds are chirping outside, and the sun is shining through the trees.
But I also know that thankfulness has the power to change my perspective. To change me. And that this counting up of one thousand gifts will add up to seeing His love in every moment. This choosing of joy, this living fully alive is what the band Rend Collective calls "the art of celebration." Oh, yes! I want to celebrate! Celebrate grace, celebrate God's goodness.
Joy is hard. It seems very elusive most of the time. But I'm learning that's only true because it requires a dying to self. To my plans, my desires, how I think life should go. And it's there, after making the choice to thank God even when I don't feel like it, that my life opens up to more of Him.
It will be a long journey - every day, all my life. But right now, I'm thankful for this humble beginning...and the color blue.
*Inspired by Ann Voskamp's One Thousand Gifts