Sometime ago I sat outside in the beauty of creation, reflecting upon Psalm 104 and the greatness of God. A Psalm that is so rich in declaring who God is, how wonderful His creation is, and how greatly He is to be praised because of this. As I meditated on this Psalm, I was challenged by reading the following words by Don Postema regarding this Psalm. He writes: The psalmist's eyes and ears were really in love, discovering the world, penetrating beneath the surface and finding God. He realized life as He lived it and was albe to celebrate it in thanksgiving and praise. How much more breathtaking our lives could be if were deeply aware of the gifts of God that surround us and engage us. If we were awake!
Those words struck a chord with me as I longed to be awake, long to have a breathtaking life. And I realized that perhaps I often miss this because I think it is found in something huge, something spectacular, something that is kind of out of my grasp. So this month I have attempted to be awake, to simply see the gifts God has brought my way, and thus worship God more deeply. To simply live in gratitude of being His child, and to worship Him in thankfulness. So this month I found myself living in gratitude and thankfulness for the gift of my family, one of the gifts that tops my list when I think of the blessings in my life.
As Postema writes: A thankful life is a response to seeing life as a gift from God and realizing that our lives belong to God. God is the Giver; we are the thanks-givers. But to recognize the gifts and the Giver we need to be alert and awake; to have our eyes, ears, minds, and hearts open to what is going on around us. We need to savor each moment as thought it were a bowl of homemade soup prepared by someone who loves us very much. The Psalmist knew that he writes.
How sweet to spend the first few weeks of June, in the final prep for the Manitoba Marathon where Nathan and I ran the 10k together. The days were so special as he would come home from school, and we'd set out for our run - running and talking about life and enjoying the warm spring air. Though I probably enjoyed the early start of the run on Marathon Sunday more than he did, what a great way to start Father's Day.
Then, came the weeks towards the end of June when we celebrated Jenna's grad. What a wonderful and reflective time that was. To celebrate her accomplishments, to celebrate who she is and has become, to reflect on the fact that time is moving along as we now have a graduate that has her whole life ahead of her to explore the mysteries of God! Standing next to her as a sinful, messed up man and yet so proud of her and excited for her gave me a small glimpse of God's love towards me. If I as a sinful, human father can feel so proud of her, how does a perfect Heavenly Father lavish His affection on me. What a thought hey!!
And then I followed that up with 3 days at Camp Arnes as a parent chaperone for Zach's year end class camp. To go from the euphoria of grade 12's finishing high school to the pandomonium of soon to be junior high's celebrating their year end was a treat for me. To be able to spend those days with Zach and his friends was special.
Oh and interspersed in all of this was golfing with my boys and my brother, sitting in the warmth of our garden with Monica just enjoying the days, visiting family in Saskatoon, and the joy of watching my boys persue their basketball interests. And to top all of that, today I was out for breakfast with Monica as we celebrated 22 rich years of marriage! Yes many moments to savor as a special bowl of homemade soup, given to me by God. Yet I realize how so often all the anxiety of life and the things that can cause such worry in me, so richly choke out all of these moments, and I lose sight of the blessings and ultimately of God and the truth that today is the day He has made, so just sit back and be glad, and rejoice in it.
So today I pray that I, that you, will be awake and alert to live this day in gratitude to God and the sweet moments He has given us to savor!!
So this past month, I have been savoring the moments like that bowl of soup.
Those words struck a chord with me as I longed to be awake, long to have a breathtaking life. And I realized that perhaps I often miss this because I think it is found in something huge, something spectacular, something that is kind of out of my grasp. So this month I have attempted to be awake, to simply see the gifts God has brought my way, and thus worship God more deeply. To simply live in gratitude of being His child, and to worship Him in thankfulness. So this month I found myself living in gratitude and thankfulness for the gift of my family, one of the gifts that tops my list when I think of the blessings in my life.
As Postema writes: A thankful life is a response to seeing life as a gift from God and realizing that our lives belong to God. God is the Giver; we are the thanks-givers. But to recognize the gifts and the Giver we need to be alert and awake; to have our eyes, ears, minds, and hearts open to what is going on around us. We need to savor each moment as thought it were a bowl of homemade soup prepared by someone who loves us very much. The Psalmist knew that he writes.
How sweet to spend the first few weeks of June, in the final prep for the Manitoba Marathon where Nathan and I ran the 10k together. The days were so special as he would come home from school, and we'd set out for our run - running and talking about life and enjoying the warm spring air. Though I probably enjoyed the early start of the run on Marathon Sunday more than he did, what a great way to start Father's Day.
Then, came the weeks towards the end of June when we celebrated Jenna's grad. What a wonderful and reflective time that was. To celebrate her accomplishments, to celebrate who she is and has become, to reflect on the fact that time is moving along as we now have a graduate that has her whole life ahead of her to explore the mysteries of God! Standing next to her as a sinful, messed up man and yet so proud of her and excited for her gave me a small glimpse of God's love towards me. If I as a sinful, human father can feel so proud of her, how does a perfect Heavenly Father lavish His affection on me. What a thought hey!!
Oh and interspersed in all of this was golfing with my boys and my brother, sitting in the warmth of our garden with Monica just enjoying the days, visiting family in Saskatoon, and the joy of watching my boys persue their basketball interests. And to top all of that, today I was out for breakfast with Monica as we celebrated 22 rich years of marriage! Yes many moments to savor as a special bowl of homemade soup, given to me by God. Yet I realize how so often all the anxiety of life and the things that can cause such worry in me, so richly choke out all of these moments, and I lose sight of the blessings and ultimately of God and the truth that today is the day He has made, so just sit back and be glad, and rejoice in it.
So today I pray that I, that you, will be awake and alert to live this day in gratitude to God and the sweet moments He has given us to savor!!
So this past month, I have been savoring the moments like that bowl of soup.
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