Eucharisteo

My list of Eucharisteo:
...
6.  The sun shining brightly
7.  The sparkle of snow glimmering
...
10.  Hot showers
11.  A friend I can call for no reason at all
12.  Chocolate cake
...
28.  Pretty songbirds
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35.  A God who knows all and sees all
36.  Parents who taught me modesty
37.  My boys giggling in the bathtub
...
47.  Little cheeks to squish and kiss
48.  God's Word to help me parent
49.  Elias' shy head bow and twinkly smile
50.  Small hands picking flowers for Mama
...

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18  "Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."


Ephesians 5:19-20  "...Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."


With two little boys my day can easily become cluttered with the messiness of life.  The to-do lists, the discipline, the teaching, the laughing, the cleaning of messes, and on it goes... until I forget what my day is supposed to consist of.  Ann makes such wonderful points in her book, 'One Thousand Gifts'.   Here are a few things that have really stuck out to me this week:

"Stay calm, enter the moment, give thanks."
"It's only the amateurs - and that I have been and it's been ugly - who think slow and urgent are contradictory, opposite poles."
"Is this what the life experts know?  That in Christ, urgent means slow.  That in Christ, the most urgent necessitates a slow and steady reverence."
"Life is dessert - too brief to hurry.  You don't wolf it down."

"...eucharisteo precedes the miracle."

Matthew 14:19-20  "Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves... They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over."


Psalm 69:30  "I will praise God's name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving."


I dare to suggest that 99.9% of the time, in order to live fully right where you are, your heart is what needs adjustment - not your circumstances.

Father God, you are a giving, merciful Father!  You gave the greatest gift that could ever be given.  You are not a God the consists of only rules.  You love to see your children smile!  Keep my heart in tune with this, Lord.  I know I fail to see your miracles and blessings when I forget to be thankful for what has already been given.  You are beautiful and magnificent!  Give me eyes to see and a heart to recognize, I pray.