Ann writes it… a Fight for Joy, a gratitude journal, a listing of gifts…
Johnson Oatman, Jr. wrote it this way…
When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.
Refrain:
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your blessings, see what God hath done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.
Are you ever burdened with a load of care?
Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?
Count your many blessings, every doubt will fly,
And you will keep singing as the days go by.
Refrain
When you look at others with their lands and gold,
Think that Christ has promised you His wealth untold;
Count your many blessings. Wealth can never buy
Your reward in heaven, nor your home on high.
Refrain
So, amid the conflict whether great or small,
Do not be disheartened, God is over all;
Count your many blessings, angels will attend,
Help and comfort give you to your journey’s end.
Refrain
Something tells me Johnson Oatman, Jr. understood it.
191. The thin streak of brightest orange low on the horizon…
192. in the amount of time it takes to scoop four rounded mounds of dark brown deliciousness into is paper bed…
193. the horizon gives birth to its deep red-orange orb of warmth.
194. brick that stands indifferent…
195. to the blasts of howling wind.
196. long soft blond tangled by a good night’s rest
197. the clattering of silverware on counter top…
198. as the artist-son prepares his meal alone…
199. so he can wage a successful ambush on his day of colonizing, averaging, and punctuation.
200. hearing him, now joined by his smallest sister, unselfishly prepare Little Miss Independent’s breakfast too.
201. the quiet gentle loving banter between he and she
202. he speaks to her in gentle tones, teaching her as he goes along
203. Remembering her shocked-out-loud reaction of “Aye-yi-yi!” As the woman with the bobbed florescent lime green wig passes us in the store.
204. That she reminds me of it a month later, as we walk the same aisle, with a laugh and a grin.
205. crackle and snap from the fireplace
206. “Wanna sit with me? There is room enough for both of us.” ~quiet son to smallest daughter
207. noticing my twelve year old has quietly begun her own “gift list” …quietly counting like her mama
208. seeing a son’s tender heart exposed
209. the sounds of three kids playing “Thomas”
210. ideas being exchanged and cooperation taking place with no arguing or bossing
211. adult dinner with friends
212. a website approved faster than expected
213. a space heater doing it’s job
214. some one willing to host my first Gathering
215. an abundance of new reading material…
216. a rearranged room providing space for a small desk
217. “Are you washed in the blood, in the soul cleansing blood of the lamb?” sung by the quiet six year old as he races train around track
218. yesterday’s sermon, God speaking so clearly through my husband.
219. Our time of planting on foreign soil
220. being reminded by the Lord that she is twelve and alive and not in a grave at age two
221. Gloria Inting
222. That the friends we met while leaving the field have continued on a friendship with a special couple we introduced them to
223. Witnessing my parents join our church, choosing a son-in-law to be their Pastor, with eyes brimming -theirs and mine.
224. falling asleep listening to the quiet cries of an owl in the distance. (a drastic change from noisy chickens, whiney goats, and the unsettling bellows of a cow only ten feet from your pillow, as he lounges against your compound wall.)
225. snapping and popping of the oil filled space heater warming up
226. He gives “oil of joy for mourning”
227. and “the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness,” heaviness that was brought on by double-standards set against me.
228. and “beauty for ashes” ~Isaiah 61:3
229. a dry puppy cage at 8AM!
230. the honking of Canadian geese heard overhead…
231. their shadowy outlines barely seen in the thick morning fog.
232. silky soft puppy ears
233. a plate of cinnamon-applesauce ornaments made for me when I was unable to stay for the craft fellowship.
234. that they remembered me and thought of me… their pastor’s wife
235. Seeing the front of the church filled with children practicing for a Christmas play.
236. the indwelling and filling of the Holy Spirit…
237. that He wants me to seek Him so much that my ‘life-glass’ overflows with His ‘living water-Spirit’…
238. that He speaks through his Word
239. tight buds on a plant that has never bloomed
240. a husband’s plans for decorating for Christmas
I am thankful the Lord brought me across Ann Voskamp’s blog. Meeting her in person and witnessing first hand the grace flowing through her. This listing of gifts. The reading of her book. God is teaching so much through it all and is intertwining His own confirmation and added blessing through his Word during private personal reading done parallel. Thankful to know God is teaching and leading and I am hearing it and paying attention…
