Thankful Hearts — Broken Saints

We are back in California, and Dorothy couldn't have said it better- there's no place like home! We love California the most! ❤️

That said, what an amazing experience we have had! The day we drove from Las Vegas to Southern California, we recounted all the cities, experiences, mishaps, and more that we have had since the first day we drove away. What an incredible adventure we have been on! We have broken down- many times, and continued on, experienced the hospitality of strangers in small towns, walked through our nation's biggest cities, stood at the top of the One World Financial Center, saw Niagara Falls, went horseback riding in the Black Hills, visited Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota and the Mall of America in Minnesota. We walked the Freedom Trail in Boston and the National Mall in D.C. We visited friends around the country and churches whom we had already loved without having ever been there before. We spent hours and hours cramped together in a pickup truck, singing or reading (okay that was mainly me singing or reading to them while they painfully endured it!), making dub smash videos, and playing Life on the iPad.

Dinner with Bill and Carol Gribac in Chicago... Okay Joliet, close to Chicago

Prayer meeting at the Brooklyn Tabernacle

Dinner with our dear friend Anthony in New Jersey

Josh and Pastor Ray Ortlund at Immanuel Church in Nashville

Casey and Ashley happened to be in Nashville at the same time we were

An afternoon with our longtime friend Mandi and her wonderful kids in Nashville

Thanksgiving dinner with our precious friends, the Gribacs, in McKinney, Texas

The Village Church in Flower Mound, Texas

I seriously sit back in awe that I was given the gift of traveling across the United States in an rv... (and a trailer, ha!) with my family!! The memories we made will be forever close to my heart. But the deep closeness and love the six of us have shared through these experiences is the greatest gift of all.

One year ago this month I started reading a book called One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. At the time I was deeply grieving the loss of my sister-in-law's life. It was a heavy and dark time for our family. Through that book I was challenged to allow God to shape my thinking and heart attitude into a pattern of thankfulness in the midst of pain and brokenness.

To practice thanksgiving.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says, "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."

That last verse- "in everything give thanks." I've pondered that so much over the last year. In everything? That is a pretty tall order, God. How is that even possible?

So back to the book. What the author challenged me to do was to start naming the things I am thankful for. One thousand gifts.

It is easy to generally say thank you to God, but what if I actually named each thing I saw throughout each day that I was thankful for? So I started doing that. I bought a notebook, and started numbering and naming gifts that I was thankful for. Practicing thanksgiving.

And life got harder. Heavier. More challenging.

But I still practiced thanksgiving. Not in a mountain-conquering way. I wasn't happily singing "Oh well, God will use it for good!" while I danced a jig. I was crying and broken. But I still wrote things down I was thankful for.

Goodnight kisses from my kids. Kind words from a friend. Laughter. Thunderstorms. Books. Music. Sunsets. Safe keeping. God's faithfulness and mercy. New opportunities.

The list goes on.

This morning I spent some time looking back over my thankful list. This last year has been packed full of trials. But is has also been packed full of gifts. And as I looked through my list, I saw this last year through the lens of thanksgiving. I remember the pain, but I remember the gifts God has given me through the pain. During the pain. And sometimes, because of the pain. And my heart is encouraged. I sit with my notebook on my lap remembering how full the last 12 months have been, and I am filled with joy for the many gifts God has given me.

Life is hard. That is just a fact. But if I counted the difficulties over this last year, or even throughout my life, the number wouldn't even come close to how many gifts I am given every single day by my loving Father in heaven.

So the question is, what will I look at?

Or rather, Who will I look at?

He is always good. My circumstances don't change that. I can count my pains, or I can count my blessings. And as I am practicing thanksgiving, literally counting one thousand gifts, my eyes are turned to the Giver of those gifts. And I rejoice.

One thing I am extremely thankful for, is you. The love you have poured out to us, the prayers and practical help you have given us, the kind words and encouragement... Words fail to express the depth of my gratitude. You have reminded us of God's specific love for us. Sometimes you have said it to us with your words. And sometimes you demonstrated it with your lives. And both have been deeply encouraging and life-giving. So a very sincere and specific "thank you" to you.

Now we are facing the next season of life. Only God knows what that will bring. But today, we are encouraged, refreshed, and hopeful. And I pray that also for you.❤️

- Andrea