It's not quite a quiver full, but it's a start!

Monday, November 7, 2011

On My Journey to 1,000

In high school I ran the 400. It is the hardest race physically for most people because it's the longest sprint. You have to give 100% of your energy for an entire 1/4 of a mile. If you slow your pace even the slightest, the odds of winning begin to dwindle. I guess there's something still ingrained in me about that 1/4 mark. I set a goal to finish 250 of my 1,000 things to be thankful for by Thanksgiving. That's a pace of 10 a day, completely do-able! However, when I started, I felt the need to "sprint" through the first 1/4. Of course, once I started getting the idea of reaching the halfway mark and completely smashing my personal goal it was too irresistible. I knew if I made it through the "hardest" part of the race (that first 1/4) that I could do it! Surprisingly, the lessons I learned on the track field, still apply to my everyday challenges.

Daily List of Thanksgiving
It is Day 8 of my 25 days of Thanksgiving and I am on #326 on my journey to 1,000. The funny thing was the first 250 that I thought would be "so easy" really weren't. Not that they weren't easy to recognize. In fact, they were the easiest to notice daily. Our beautiful home, our loving family, getting out of debt, etc. The easiest way to feel blessed is for me to think about the first 250 things. The problem was not in recognizing them or feeling blessed by them. I had a hard time being thankful for them. I know it sounds weird, but just imagine how much stranger it felt! How could I find it hard to be thankful for all of the amazing blessings in my life? I guess it wasn't so much the actual act of thankfullness that was so hard, but I felt pretty silly voicing to God just what I was thankful for. Like I said, weird, I know. It wasn't natural, it didn't come easily, and I felt like it was not doing me any good admitting to God how thankful I am for these obvious blessings in my life. But I did it anyway, and I did it quickly. I figured if I could get these "easy" things out of the way it would get easier to thank God because I wouldn't feel so silly. But it wasn't about what I was thanking God for, it was the actual act of thanking Him that I struggled with. And the amazing thing was, by the time I got to 250 it had become so natural, so easy to thank God for the daily blessings of my life. It no longer felt silly. In fact, the act of thanking God turned into an offering of praise to Him. I'm still thanking God for the "obvious" things (even on #326). The fruits of the Spirit, the promises found in scripture, the aspects of who God is, the physical blessings of my life...there truly is so much to be thankful for. Now that I've sprinted through the first 1/4, I'm excited about this new desire I have to slow down, pace myself, and enjoy the act of thanksgiving. And now, I can continue on my way to reaching my new goal of 500 things by Thanksgiving!

3 comments:

  1. Good for you to keep a list. I Thank God every day for the blessing he has given me and my family. We live an amazing life and we are trying to share with others:) Thanks for linking up to the NOBH

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  2. I meant to tell you I love your header line, "Turning this ordinary responsibility into an extraordinary opportunity." Love it:)

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  3. Thank you! As my pastor said about the header line, "It was God inspired."

    I think the most important part of this challenge for me was to make it a physical act of Thanksgiving rather than just a mental one. It took the worship of giving thanks to a whole new level!

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