Reflecting on God’s Goodness

After a wonderfully crazy-busy summer, I’m sitting in the cockpit of our boat-home, sipping coffee and soaking in the sunshine. As I do so, I’m reflecting on the many demonstrations of God’s goodness over the past eight weeks.

Reading this Scripture verse this morning challenged me to stop and take time to reflect. To acknowledge the truth of this promise. To say thank-you to the Giver of every good and perfect gift. And so, here’s a partial list of the goodnesses I’ve experienced this summer:

• A weekend spent with my kids and grandkids.
• Seeing their excitement when my son’s children met their wee cousin for the first time.
• Welcoming a new niece to the family when she married my nephew.
• Sharing ministry in Poland with my oldest daughter and her husband.
• Great weather at our camps in Romania and Poland.
• Deep, meaningful conversations with campers in Romania and Poland.
• Safe travels overseas and back. And our luggage traveled with us.
• Having our youngest daughter, her husband, and three-month-old on board for four days of sailing. The fun of a whale sighting on that trip.
• Being available to help the above family when they moved up north.
• Grandbaby snuggles.
• Seeing my youngest granddaughter smile every time I sing “Jesus Loves Me” to her.
• A skilled chiropractor who’s helping me deal with a frozen shoulder.
• The ability to carry on despite the pain of that shoulder.
• A husband whose sailing expertise keeps us safe when we’re away from the dock.
• Electric fans to keep us cool on the boat when outside temperatures soar as they’re doing today.
• The convenience of a washer and dryer for doing laundry even though I have to walk a city block to use them. How many women in the world have neither or only a washing machine?
• Having dry weather during the time that we wait for two replacement windows for our boat-home.
• Discovering that I can walk to and from the gym where we have our membership. Granted, it takes 40 minutes one way, but hey—I can do it when Gene is using the car.
• Finding a nearby blackberry patch that, on the first picking, provided enough berries for three pies.
• Having a little freezer that works well enough to freeze those blackberries for future enjoyment.
• The ability to have phone calls with my senior mom who lives about 13 hours’ drive away.
• Eyesight to see the beauty of the area in which we live.
• The opportunity to use my life coaching experience to work with a new client who approached me after reading my bio on the First 5 Bible study app.
• The privilege of being on the First 5 writing team.
• The ability to sleep well on an air mattress, in a sleeping bag, whenever staying in the home of someone who doesn’t have a spare bedroom.

I did a brainspill—that is, I wrote down these things as quickly as they came to mind. Then I went back over each one and paused to savor the memory and give thanks. What a great exercise that was! It truly helped me see evidences of God’s presence in my life and recognize His blessings on so many levels.

May I encourage you to do a brain spill of your own? Then take time to reflect. Maybe you could do so with friends or with your kids over a meal. How long might your list of God’s goodnesses be?

#bgbg2  #gratitude  #GodIsGood #givethanks  #Christiandevotions