Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights who does not change like shifting shadows. James 1:17
A few weeks ago, I came across a journal I’d kept after reading the book One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are by Ann Voskamp, a gift from a friend. The author is given the challenge by a close friend to write down gifts from God, of any size, so to speak, until she reached 1000. She took the challenge and I was also inspired to do it!
Then, last weekend, as I was realizing the grimness of our lives in facing the coronavirus and so many challenges surrounding it, I decided it was time. Time to write a brand new list of God’s gifts.
In my “Chaplain’s Corner” message for my retirement community residents I shared this idea with them. Our COO liked the idea so much that journals are being ordered for my residents.
I’m so thankful! Thankful that I am noticing God’s gifts in the storm and thankful that others will be joining me. You might like to read the book. Maybe you’d like to take the 1000 gifts challenge, too. If you do, I’d love to hear about it. We know God’s gifts are endless but I’ve found by writing them down I am taking more notice of them.
PS ~A helpful hint is to keep your journal or notepad close by with a writing instrument handy.
“It is in the dark that God is passing by. The bridge and our lives shake not because God has abandoned, but the exact opposite: God is passing by. God is in the tremors. Dark is the holiest ground, the glory passing by. In the blackest, God is closest, at work, forging His perfect and right will. Though it is black and we can't see and our world seems to be free-falling and we feel utterly alone, Christ is most present to us...”
Pam Creech is the chaplain at Lambeth House, a continuous care retirement community in Uptown. She and her husband Glenn served as missionaries in Asia for 30 years before moving to New Orleans in early 2016. They are the parents of two sons, two daughters by marriage, and two grandchildren. She enjoys coffee, king cake, and chargrilled oysters!
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