As a child I was an avid reader. I loved it. My favorite part of vacation was the long car ride, so I could finish the 3 books that I brought with me everywhere I went.
Even my Maid-of-Honor referenced this love in her speech at my wedding, calling me out for probably having a book hidden in my bag for the day.
The love has morphed from fiction, to a new appreciation for nonfiction books. But the trouble with those is that since there is no story, I am way less likely to actually get all the way to the end. This used to frustrate me, but I have come to realize that any bit of information taken from these books is worth it, even if not read to the very last page.
Recently I read a few chapters of a book called “One Thousand Gifts” by Ann Voskamp. The book is about many things, but highlights her journey to a deeper intimacy with God through gratefulness. Her mission is to identify 1,000 blessings in her life, big and small. I will not do the book justice, but I can highlight an idea that really stuck out to me in this book.
Giving something a name.
We experience so many things every day. Many things are so common that we don’t even really notice it for what it is anymore. But the author described her journey to see things in a new light, which started by giving it a name.
There is a power in giving something a name, a category. To speak it into being just by specifically acknowledging it.
Think of Adam at the beginning of creation. He was given the task of giving everything a name. This did not change the fact that it already existed. But it gave it an identity and a category.
We have the ability to do that in our own life as well. We can call things blessings. We can call sin, what it is… sin. We can identify truth. It doesn’t change what it is, but it makes it more real to us.
The sun in the morning is a blessing from God, but it can so easily be overlooked and taken for granted. But if we take a minute to look at it…. To truly see it and to call it what it is, a blessing, that is what it becomes. Before it was a just a reality, but now it is a blessing. Because we choose to call it that.
The noise of a child can be irritating. But if we choose to realize that it means they are alive and well taken care and happy, then it is a blessing.
The laundry piles up out of control. Its stressful and inconvenient. But we can choose to call in a blessing. We have money to afford clothes, and lots of people to wear and dirty them.
Our husbands get home late which throws off our dinner plans. And it is a blessing because they have a job that they love that provides for our needs.
We have a say in how we see the world. God blesses us everyday. We can choose to see it that way or not, but it doesn’t change anything. Nothing but our own joy. How dare we look at the world and not feel blessed or grateful?
Should we pick and choose which gift from God we are grateful for? They are all undeserved beauty. All little gifts from the Father to give us joy during the day.
Little moments from Him to remind us that He is thinking of us and caring for us. And we don’t deserve a bit of it. And that is the real beauty.
Don’t we love “just because gifts”. Like flowers on a random day. A surprise latte at work because someone thought of us. Or a sweet text from a friend for no reason. We love that! But God gives us that every day. In the sunshine. In the mess. In the worry and in the stress. Those things that are just “normal” don’t have to be normal They are planned intentionally by God. For us.
So let us choose to call it what it is… A blessing!
Give it a name
Read here for part 2.