Counting to 1,000 (522-548)

This week as I continue counting up one thousand gifts from God, I want to share these encouraging words from Lysa TerKeurst’s recent Proverbs 31 Devotional:

Daniel prayed, Thank You God. ‘Three times a day, he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.’ (Daniel 6:10b, NIV)

Since Daniel’s response is so opposite of the way most of us would react, it makes me stop and ponder. Our initial responses are usually a by-product of the rituals we’ve established in our life. Daniel had made it his habit to be thankful.

Therefore, who God is and what God provides was front and center in Daniel’s heart — even in the midst of heartbreak.”

Oh, to be like Daniel. To make it my habit to be thankful.

522. how passionately they sprinkle pepper and salt on their hard-boiled eggs

523. how he helps her whittle the soap with her brand new Swiss Army knife

524. the crowd of forty elementary homeschoolers practicing the Pledge of Allegiance and singing “My Country ‘Tis of Thee”

525. the playful little girl’s mom who smiles at she chases a beach ball down the sporting goods aisle at Target

526. the wind rushing wild through the tree leaves

527. the sparkle in his eyes and smile as he jokes about eating his mama’s sandwich

528. the sweet and tender little snuggles of a one-month-old

529. how she squeezes my neck tight and tells me she loves me “to Pluto and back a thousand-hundred times”

530. the end-of-school, track-and-field day with wonderful friends, watermelon and a wild water slide

531. the golden brown edges of the marshmallow while it toasts

532. an evening huddled around the backyard fire pit