Day 9 Counting of Blessings

April 16, 2014, Wednesday, 750 a.m.

Thank You, Lord, for:

THE STORMS OF LIFE

182 The storms in life. The weather kind and the storms of the heart. After all, they bring rain to cleanse and soothe all of the muck and mire in our lives, all of the dirt and filth. They cleanse, fertilize, rejuvenate, and help us grow and mature. If it wasn’t for the storms, we would never grow in this way. We would, instead, remain stagnate and dry-up or rot.

The storms can be scary and make us feel uneasy. They even might make us mad or frustrated. However, they are essential for growth. We can either close our eyes and hope they pass us by. Or, we can fully live through them and take it all in so we don’t miss anything. When we do that, we are remaining open to see how God is going to work through us, in us, and all around us. If we close our eyes and think of the past or try to wish away this storm, we miss all of the blessings right in front of us and all around.

183 Another year of taxes are finished. Whew.

ANSWERED PRAYER

184 There were two backpacks found last night at the Boston Marathon finish line, but nothing happened. Thank God.

185 A YEAR OF ALWAYS GIVING THANKS: THE JOURNAL OF MY JOURNEY, PART 1

186 Email—being able to reach friends and loved ones across the globe immediately and at their convenience—easily and at essentially no cost.

187 The Book of Romans

188 The bible

189 Prayer

190 How God uses us.

WAITING ROOM PERIODS

191 How God uses our waiting room periods for His glory. What I mean by this is sometimes, god doesn’t answer our prayer immediately. Well… that’s not true. Sometimes, His answer is: Wait. He always answers our prayers. It might be a full-fledged answer, He might say nothing (which means wait—not yet), or He might say nothing (which means no), or He might say no right away or yes right away. He might also teach us something then and there or through it.

It’s in the waiting room periods I tend to learn the most.

Oh, how I wish I would remember this when I went through them! I usually mumble, grumble, complain, and am just flat-dab ugly, anxious (worry, fret, stress), and fail to trust God. He knows what He is doing, after all. Through the years, I do this less and less. But, I still do it. I am still trying to stop it—and just trust.

192 My husband’s Mom.

“THE FIVE LOVE LANGUAGES” BY GARY CHAPMAN

193 “THE FIVE LOVE LANGUAGES” BY GARY CHAPMAN (This is the material B and I use when we lead marriage retreats—and apply to our own marriage. It’s good stuff.)

194 B made my love tank max out, for the good, this morning, when we had only been awake for fifteen minutes, if that, after he heard Zack and I downstairs and Zack decided to drink too much water, too fast, and Zack then promptly got sick all over the floor. Big mess worth. I ran out of paper towels just as I started clean-up and the paper towels are too high for me to reach, so that only delayed clean-up. B came down and saved the day. He helped me clean-up and then told me to go sit and he made me coffee and brought it to me, and he fed the critters. Yep. That means so much. That was worth about ten gold stars right there—and acts of service isn’t my primary or secondary love language. In fact, it’s #4, so the fact he filled my love tank and earned all those stars is saying something! What a good man B is—and thank God for him and for his mega big and gigantic heart.

195 I will have lunch with B later. I’m looking forward to it.

196 All of the good Bible study teachers around.

197 Another new day. It’s an opportunity and is the Lord’s Day—not mine.