Giving of thanks

Tired this weekend. But lots of things to be thankful for, to be glad about, like:

Beauty.
Exploration.
Glorious weather.
Good long girl talks.
Random acts of kindness.
Smiling at strangers.
Early mornings.
Baking.
Food.
Hugs.
Chivalry.
Spontaneity.
Late-night ramblings.
Catching up with old friends.
Time with the Word.
Encouragement.
Sharing.
Prayer.

Especially when the world entices me to fear (of change, of adult responsibility, of the darkness of human nature, of deep-seated bitterness, of  lack of desire and motivation and impetus, of things unknown), I thank God for his promise of security in salvation in Christ Jesus, a salvation and redemption that can never be taken away no matter the circumstances. Transform my heart, take away my desire to hold my life in my own two hands. Your provision is more than enough.
And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.


So, so thankful for Your constancy, Your faithfulness, and for the gift of fellowship with brothers and sisters in the faith.

Thankful also for sleep and rest. Starting now. Goodnight, world.

Future

Something I heard today at Caren's church --

God writes the last chapter of our lives; what is there to be afraid of in the future?

Blessings

Things I am thankful for:

• amazing older brothers and sisters in Christ, and their sharing and caring and vulnerability and encouragement
• wonderful younger brothers and sisters who are thoughtful, sincere, and unexpectedly kind
• family at home who support me and call me even when I don't remember to call them
• PAIR kids who really appreciate what we do, who are curious and enthusiastic about learning, who want to develop deeper relationships with their volunteers
• good friends in college to learn alongside and grow from and build up
• time set apart to listen in the silence
• physical rest
• a relational and personal God who forever loves, cares for, and listens to His children

And a beautiful poem that Audrey Hepburn loved:

Time-Tested Beauty Tips

For attractive lips,
speak words of kindness.

For lovely eyes,
seek out the good in people.

For a slim figure,
share your food with the hungry.

For beautiful hair,
let a child run his fingers through it once a day.

For poise,
walk with the knowledge you'll never walk alone.

People, even more than things,
have to be restored, renewed, revived,
reclaimed and redeemed and redeemed ...

Never throw out anybody. Remember, if you ever need a
helping hand, you'll find one at the end of your arm.

As you grow older you will discover that you have two hands.
One for helping yourself, the other for helping others.

10 Resolutions for Mental Health

It's spring recess! Yay! And I just read a beautiful set of resolutions:

1. At least once every day I shall look steadily up at the sky and remember that I, a consciousness with a conscience, am on a planet traveling in space with wonderfully mysterious things above and about me.

2. Instead of the accustomed idea of a mindless and endless evolutionary change to which we can neither add nor subtract, I shall suppose the universe guided by an Intelligence which, as Aristotle said of Greek drama, requires a beginning, a middle, and an end. I think this will save me from the cynicism expressed by Bertrand Russell before his death when he said: "There is darkness without, and when I die there will be darkness within. There is no splendor, no vastness anywhere, only triviality for a moment, and then nothing."

3. I shall not fall into the falsehood that this day, or any day, is merely another ambiguous and plodding twenty-four hours, but rather a unique event, filled, if I so wish, with worthy potentialities. I shall not be fool enough to suppose that trouble and pain are wholly evil parentheses in my existence, but just as likely ladders to be climbed toward moral and spiritual manhood.

4. I shall not turn my life into a thin, straight line which prefers abstractions to reality. I shall know what I am doing when I abstract, which of course I shall often have to do.

5. I shall not demean my own uniqueness by envy of others. I shall stop boring into myself to discover what psychological or social categories I might belong to. Mostly I shall simply forget about myself and do my work.

6. I shall open my eyes and ears. Once every day I shall simply stare at a tree, a flower, a cloud, or a person. I shall not then be concerned at all to ask what they are but simply be glad that they are. I shall joyfully allow them the mystery of what Lewis calls their "divine, magical, terrifying and ecstatic" existence.

7. I shall sometimes look back at the freshness of vision I had in childhood and try, at least for a little while, to be, in the words of Lewis Carroll, the "child of the pure unclouded brow, and dreaming eyes of wonder."

8. I shall follow Darwin's advice and turn frequently to imaginative things such as good literature and good music, preferably, as Lewis suggests, an old book and timeless music.

9. I shall not allow the devilish onrush of this century to usurp all my energies but will instead, as Charles Williams suggested, "fulfill the moment as the moment." I shall try to live well just now because the only time that exists is now.

10. Even if I turn out to be wrong, I shall bet my life on the assumption that this world is not idiotic, neither run by an absentee landlord, but that today, this very day, some stroke is being added to the cosmic canvas that in due course I shall understand with joy as a stroke made by the architect who calls himself Alpha and Omega.

So many blessings =)

borrowed from John Piper at http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/10-resolutions-for-mental-health