It is a great word: Eucharisteo: "To be grateful, feel thankful. To give thanks".
It's perfect. I love it. I need it. To live it. I need to LIVE it.
I have recently been introduced to the book, A Thousand Gifts: A dare to live fully right where you are. One of my favorite quotes, thus far, is the reminder that "Thanksgiving always precedes the miracle". Quite often, the "miracle" for me, is changing my perspective - turning my eyes from the mess of my life to the glory of Him who loves me through it.
It doesn't matter the situation - I am reminded that the appropriate response is thanksgiving. Sure, it is easier when everything is going well - when I could effortlessly scream my thanks from the mountaintop. But it's in the midst of the struggle - the midst of REAL LIFE - that it has been most important for me to remember.
My friend, Karen, always reminded me, "there is a gift in the pain".... and she has been right. I have never experienced a difficult or painful situation that didn't come with a gift hidden within it. The challenge has been to search for it - and to trust that it is there.
One of the things I most appreciate about this book: It is challenging me to remember (and frequently search for) the "Thousand Gifts" that surround me in in my everyday life. The little things - perhaps more so than the great, obvious gifts. The things I tend to overlook. The gifts from God that I walk right past because I am too busy or self-focused to realize are waiting right there for me. Especially for me.
In searching for and seeking those things, those gifts, the miracle happens: my perspective changes, my eyes are open, and I get to see Him at work, and experience His goodness. Right here. Right now. Right where I am... in the midst of my messy little world. In literally thousands of ways!
Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you
~ 1 Thessalonians 5:18
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