Hit the Pause Button
As the years have passed, I have found immense value in taking a regular account of the grace in my life. How healthy it is to stop and count your blessings. How we owe it to ourselves to often “hit the pause button” and recognize the gift of the moment, the value of people, and the opportunities given in this particular season. Even in a difficult time such as this, with the limitations and struggles the Pandemic might bring, there is always so much to be thankful for. Is life perfect? No, it will never be, but blessings can easily be found.
An Attitude of Gratitude
I have always purposed to ask myself “can you believe you get to do this?”. I have found this type of thinking fosters a sense of privilege and thankfulness for the life we get to live day in and day out. Oh boy, Are you kidding me? Precious family and friends? Our vibrant little church? Ministering the word? Living and ministering on The Coast of England? The promises and presence of God each day? How easily we can allow thankfulness to float to the top. An attitude of gratitude makes all the difference doesn’t it? We can quickly find so much to be thankful for when we stop and “consider what great things God has done for us” (1 Sam 12:24).
The Best days of our Lives
Some years ago, Marina and I read a simple article that deeply blessed us. It featured a young family that had spent a few hours at the beach when the weather turned and they had to pack up. It was the usual spectacle of a family gathering sandy beach toys, folding up chairs and picking up the debris from their day. With wet towels in their arms, bags on their shoulders they try to get their children to comply with the exit strategy. Whining and resistance followed, to the amusement and disdain of different ones around them. Eventually, laden with beach stuff and children they began to trudge through the sand. An elderly couple sat in deckchairs nearby watching. The man leaned over to his wife, looked into her smiling, wrinkled face, and said “Oh do you remember dear? those were the best days of our life, weren’t they?”. That little story serves up a powerful lesson. My wife and I have now coined the phrase “these are the best days of our lives”. We say it to each other as a reminder, especially in the face of family mayhem and craziness. It can help put things back in the right perspective. As Christians, we can say that through every season, all the way to the end, because of God;s great grace in our lives.
Let’s hit the pause button often, consider His great graces, and embrace the best days of our life.
