I Corinthians 4:7

For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it? ~ I Corinthians 4:7

Everything we have in life is a gift. E.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g.


Nothing should taken for granted. I could lose my sight tomorrow. My hearing. My fingers that enjoy skipping across piano keys and harp strings. My voice that loves to sing.

http://pricelesssimplicity.blogspot.com/

Am I truly grateful? Have I thanked God for these instruments that I use every day, more than a thousand times a day?


A fellow blogger advocates keeping a running list of gratefulness... 1,000 Gifts. While I have not yet read Ann's book 1,000 Gifts, I am an occasional reader of her blog.

And I fell in love with her emphasis on gratefulness... So I join in...

1. A friend loses her baby. I still enjoy my little granddaughter every day.

Elaine Morie Bender, waiting in heaven

2. An acquaintance's spouse is about to go to jail. I have a wonderful, faithful man who loves and daily provides for me.


3. People around the world have no shelter... I enjoy the warmth of a fireplace on a frozen winter evening. They scrounge for food... I am warmed and filled. Their only clothes are on their back... I have a closetful.

Filipino boy starts his own fire.
(photo, Victoria Wonser, missionary in the Philippines)

4. Many around the world sleep outside because they have no bed or home. I have a warm bed with beautiful blankets I love.

Philippines graveyard:
Missionary friends saw a man sleeping here
and many living here in a graveyard.
(photo, Victoria Wonser)

5. A family of seven children including a newborn loses their mother at age 39. I am 39 and I can still call or email my own mother any time. 


What are you grateful for? 


Will you notice and give thanks for the thousands of gifts God has placed all around you?

Divine Appointments

Last week while getting my hair cut, I met a Turkish lady who has immigrated with her husband to Canada... very friendly... just chit-chatted and then later as my haircut was finished and I was gathering my things and paying, I realised she had moved to the back at the sink to get her colour rinsed. I waved goodbye, and as I was driving away from the store, I thought, I should have invited her to church!

I just gave it to the Lord, thinking maybe He would orchestrate our meeting again at the hair stylist’s.

A few days later in WalMart, I was in the baby section getting some Goodnite pull-ups (I’m rarely in the baby section anymore), and a lady came up to me with a huge smile, brightly saying “HI!” I didn’t recognize her because her hair was normal, not full of colour foils! She told me where we’d met, and I immediately knew that God had appointed this meeting!

After talking a few minutes, I invited her to our church, telling her my husband is a pastor. She seemed interested and said that they might come visit. ☺ It may seem like a small thing, but it is so obviously God’s hand in our meeting in WalMart!

There are other seemingly less significant divine appointments, and I believe we many times don't realise that's what they are.

I think back to one day when I had three specific errands to run. I picked up the mail, went to the garage, backed out the car, and then, out of curiosity, decided to open a personal letter I had received and read it while sitting in the car in the driveway. I read it for a few minutes, and based on the message of it, had a little personal time with the Lord in the car. After I had wiped my tears enough to drive, I backed out. In my mind, I reversed my errand order due to one place being closed over lunch. I was only a couple minutes down the road, having made a decision to turn the opposite direction I had initially intended, when I came up over a rise in the road and saw a semi-truck jack-knifed across the road and a small compact car in the ditch.

Had I not stopped to read the letter and have that time with the Lord and changed the order of my errands, I might have been the victim. I later learned that the car crash was fatal.

Though I plan to go to heaven at my appointed time, I would like to go in a less painful way! I thank God for a divine appointment that kept me from the accident that day!

Have you noticed any divine appointments lately?