Lately, as in the past three months while I've been teaching, life has felt hectic and stressful most of the time. (Hence the lack of blogging.) Even on weekends, I tend to feel an overwhelming sense of what needs to be accomplished that I am not currently accomplishing, and a sense of despair when I feel too tired to attempt accomplishing it.
That's why today felt like a real gift from God. I don't know why sometimes I feel extra grateful for what I have, when I know that I am blessed all the time. There are days when you have to fight so hard for an attitude of contentment and a grateful heart, and other days when that spirit just seems to envelope your mind all on its own. Today I was especially grateful for everything I got to experience:
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| My sweet little girl |
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| So much rain! (If you don't live in the desert, you might not realize just how rare this is.) |
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| A Christmas-y front room |
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| The people who live with me in this house |
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| Christmas flowers from my husband |
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| A gingerbread house kit (another surprise from my husband)... |
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| ...and someone to build it with! |
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| My toddler's "smiley face"... |
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| ...and her "kissy face." |
Also, I am grateful for the book of Galatians, which is not pictured here because I've been reading Martin Luther's
Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians on my Kindle, and a picture of a Kindle would be boring. As long as I can remember, I've struggled with the idea that I should try to earn my salvation or at least, to a certain extent, try to repay God. Grace is a foreign concept to my heart. So earlier this year I decided to read Galatians over and over and study it until I got it. And the more I study it, the more this knowledge that God saved me out of love all on His own, without any help from me, is slowly sinking in. It's wonderful. It makes me more grateful for Christ, and also more grateful for all the gifts He gives me.
