A Posture of Gratitude...

The discipline of gratitude...

I'm thankful for the steelhead that are running up the little stream behind my house.  Something about seeing this beasts in the wild just lights me up.

I'm thankful for my wood stove and the one-of-a-kind heat it provides for our family.  I love how our whole family hovers around it together as a point of central communal life.

I'm thankful for the joy and energy and curiosity of my sons.  They want to race, try new things, explore, stay active, and take adventures all the time.  Their spirit revives me on some days.

I'm thankful for my parents.  I was reading Hebrews where it talked of Jesus being the merciful and faithful High Priest...man, my parents have been merciful and faithful advocates for me all the days of my life.

I'm thankful for good health and for the vitality the Lord has given me at this point in my life.  I feel a surge of energy and strength these days that I haven't felt in many, many years.

I'm thankful for the personality that God formed in me from an early age.  I like who I am and the mixture of gifts and desires that I "get to" live out in this world.

I'm thankful for the way I feel things.  Sometimes I can struggle with the shadow-side of my emotions, but I must say that I love how deeply God has created me to feel.  I'd have it no other way.

I'm thankful for the ability God gave us as humans to choose.  There are days that the gift of Free Will is just astounding the think about.  I can make decisions to do or not do things that change everything.

I'm thankful for the calling God gave me to be a pastor.  I can't imagine doing anything else.  I consider it a great privilege to carry people's heart before God and carry God's heart before people.

I'm thankful for my faithful wife.  God knew just who I needed and providentially brought us together 21 years ago.  It has been my salvation as I look back...what a train wreck I would be without her.

I'm thankful for my three-of-a-kind daughters.  They are each different in disposition, but gloriously similar of heart.  I can't believe I get to be a father to these treasures, these daughters...my little girls.

I'm thankful for the sunshine bursting through the windows today...

which reminds me...I need to get outside and enjoy this day.  It's my day off and I best take in the beauty of it.  This day will only come once and I want to drink it in for all its worth.

I'm grateful.  That is my posture as I get ready to head out the door.