Imagine that you’re four years old and it’s the morning of your birthday. You’ve awakened to the delicious aroma of pancakes and bacon being cooked for breakfast in the kitchen downstairs. You stretch your limbs beneath the bed covers and slowly open your sleepy eyes to discover brightly-colored balloons gently tied to your favorite stuffed animal. Your bare little feet excitedly bounce to the floor where you find a new pair of soft slippers and quickly wiggle your toes into them. Then suddenly, from down the hall, a perky little puppy scampers into your room, bounds into your lap, and licks your face til you’re smothered in kisses! You can’t help but squeal and laugh til your sides hurt and you think you will burst. This is four-year-old heaven and you, my friend, are in the middle of it!
I know this sounds like every little kid’s dream or perhaps the stuff of children’s bedtime stories. But in our fast-paced, grown up lives, we’re often too distracted to realize that we are, in fact, being showered with wonderful blessings, much in the same way, all the time. Granted, it’s rarely balloons and puppies, but we exist in an abundance of beauty and grace that is ours for the taking if we learn to open our eyes to see it.
What did you awaken to this morning? Did you feel the clean air filling your lungs with life-sustaining oxygen? Did you notice the subtle pink sunrise painted on the horizon just outside your window? Did you savor that first sip of coffee - its rich aroma and full-bodied flavor? Did you embrace the precious mantle of parenthood as you held your baby for his first morning feeding? Did you catch the little wave your 6-year-old tossed in your direction? Did you let that quick “I love you” from your spouse settle into your heart? Did you wiggle your toes into God’s new mercies promised each day, like velvety soft slippers?
Okay, maybe your morning got off to a rough start. Maybe your child is sick or you’re not feeling well yourself. Perhaps you’re going through a difficult time in a relationship and you carry a pit in the bottom of your stomach. Financial problems? Challenges at work? I get it. In fact, we all get it. Life isn’t a bowl of cherries. We almost always have some kind of fire we’re trying to extinguish at any given moment. But while the flames in our lives make it hard to focus on anything else, they don’t negate the gifts that are still present all around us.
The Bible tells us…
“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” —James 1:17
Every. Good. Thing. No exceptions. From the largest blessing in your life to the smallest detail of goodness. Each is God’s gift to you. Whether you recognize it, acknowledge it, give thanks for it, or completely overlook it—it was your heavenly Father who sovereignly positioned it for you—your enjoyment, your blessing.
“But while the flames in our lives make it hard to focus on anything else, they don’t negate the gifts that are still present all around us.”
Sure, it’s hard to truly appreciate a kind word or a stranger’s smile when you have the weight of the world on your shoulders. But I’ve come to believe that it’s precisely in our most challenging times that we need to see and be grateful for those gifts all the more. Being keenly aware of God’s outpouring of abundant goodness toward us reminds us that we are not forgotten, but instead are constantly being cared for in very personal ways.
It takes practice and intentionality to begin to observe all the good we have, to pause long enough to count our blessings and to acknowledge that regardless of our trials and difficult circumstances, our lives are steeped in some of the finest gifts of heaven.
The truth is that if we develop greater awareness of the good things around us every day, and nurture a heart of gratitude, we will come to understand that we are being lavished with gifts just as generously as our imaginary four-year-old’s birthday morning. Let’s be people of gratitude. Let’s not miss the opportunity to unwrap every gift God has placed before us. When we do, we may find we too can’t help but to laugh and squeal til our sides hurt or at least feel a joy that resonates deeply within our hearts.