“Now, our God, we give You thanks, and praise Your glorious name.”

-1 Chronicles 29:13

A few years ago my friend Darla and I taught a Sunday School class of 5th and 6th graders. The focus of the entire year of study was God’s names — He has hundreds. I’m not sure how much those 5th and 6th graders learned, but I was forever changed by discovering what the names of God reveal about His character. Because His names are so closely tied to His reputation, God cares about them and how we use them. His name is glorious and worthy of praise, and He is to be thanked much!

719. hearing 26 people tell of their love for Jesus and then watching them all get baptized — what joy!

720. a tea party to remember what would have been her 65th birthday

721. backyard water fights and sprinklers on a hot afternoon

722. how they delight in and applaud the daring acts of the one-ring, traveling circus

723. chocolate chip cookies — again

724. snuggling on the couch reading Gone-Away Lake

725. shopping for school supplies

726. brown paper packages full of new school books

727. encouragement from John Piper’s interview with Louie Giglio

728. Bible lessons in compassion and humility

729. a whole Saturday afternoon spent developing a literature study for little girls

730. a surprise visit from their piano teacher

731. the monthly prayer meeting at church

732. eating pizza to help send several of my former Sunday School students on a short-term mission trip

733. flowers blooming like snowballs — those classy annabelle hydrangeas

734. rainy mornings

735. Jesus’s acts of compassion and mercy

736. hearing their sweet prayers for rain in Ethiopia

737. the kind babysitter with whom they greatly adore every moment

738. a quiet dinner and time to talk — just the two of us

739. hollyhocks in bloom

740. lifting songs to praise Him

741. simple Sunday picnics on the lake while we wave to friends on their boats

742. courage to dive in deep — and how refreshing the water feels as I escape the heat

743. their ear-to-ear grins as they crash into the big waves

744. sails to get us back to the marina when the motor breaks down

745. the last dose of antibiotics

746. a call across the miles from my daddy

747. a friend’s hug

748. joyfully wrapping up an online book club event and continuing to dig deeper into Colossians 3:12-15

749. pursuing the fear of the Lord (Proverbs 2:1-5) as hidden treasure

750. the little girl who’d rather read books and play tic-tac-toe in the orthodontist’s waiting room

751. smile fixers

 

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