God, I thank you ...

God I thank you for a list of things too long to mention in one sitting. The list would fill reams of paper, if I really sat and thought about it. 

I thank you for allowing me to wake up this morning and spend another day in your incredible creation.

I thank you for the breath in my lungs. I thank you for a beating heart, eyes that see, ears that hear, fingers that touch, a tongue that tastes.  I thank you for legs that carry me, and arms that can show love through a hug, or a hand up, or an act of service.

I thank you for the beauty of the sky, of clouds, trees, flowers, of fields of wheat, of the reflective nature of a still lake.

I thank you for the inner and outer beauty of my wife, of my kids, of my parents, of my sister, of my cousins, aunts and uncles, of my close friends, of my brothers and sisters in Christ.

I thank you for the opportunity to live a life that praises you, that worships you, that shows your love and your light to this world.

I thank you for waking me up, God, and showing me the light. I thank you that, despite my sin and the fact that I continue to sin, that you loved me so much that you sent your only begotten Son to die for me ... and if I were the only person on earth, in your glorious creation, he still would have died for me. Just me.

God, I pray that I live a life of thanks, of appreciation for the avalanche of blessings that you have showered upon me and my family.

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His love endures forever.

Happy Thanksgiving all.

The Intoxication of Existence

G.K. Chesterton had a true zest for life. He saw life as invaluable, an incomparable gift. He wrote a poem entitled, "By the Babe Unborn".  In it, he pictures a baby, laying in the womb of his mother imagining a world of bright blue skies, grassy hills, beautiful trees, still water ... which to him is just a beautiful dream.

But if he could actually be there, to attain that dream, and see such a world and live in it, his gratitude would be unending.

They should not hear a word from me
Of selfishness or scorn,
If only I could find the door
If only I were born.

Babies remind us to be in awe of the world. We should never stop being in awe of babies.

Chesterton said each time a baby is born, it is as if a whole new world has been created, because the world is being seen for the first time by a new soul as if it were the first day of creation. Inside that little head, there is a new system of stars, new grass, new cities, a new sea.

All the true things about happiness have been said and are always being said, and yet we have managed to ignore them.

We put so much emphasis on the pursuit of happiness rather than on the happiness itself. All the things we need to make us reason to be happy live within our grasp. If we pause in our frantic pursuit of happiness, if we stop and try to picture happiness, it is something different from the fuss and frustration that fills our pursuit.

Happiness is something simple and basic. And everyone knows this, if they would only stop and consider it.

From Common Sense 101: Lessons from G.K. Chesterton