Giving Thanks

Halloween's over...time for Christmas!

Wait....what? Yep, that has been the retail trend for the past few years - before the kids have even come down off the trick or treat sugar high, the Christmas decorations are already on the shelves! I'll admit I, myself have been caught up in the early bird Christmas spirit. In fact, i've already listened to a few Christmas songs on my ipod, and watched Elf for the first of what will be many times this season. I love wandering through the malls watching people do their shopping! I'm like a kid, well....at Christmas! (no pun intended)

But even with all the anticipated excitedness of Christmas just around the corner, I can't allow myself to bypass the wonderfulness of Thanksgiving. I have so many things in my life that I am incredibly thankful for. So, as a means to remind me of that, and keep from going into Christmas overkill, i've decided to have the "20 Days of Thanksgiving." (not at all like the 12 Days of Christmas...this is a completely original thought. Well, not really....) I've prayed that God will lay on my heart something specific that I need to be thankful for each day for the next 20 days...and i'm going to share those with you - I encourage you to do the same. I was reminded of the first thing just the other day while having coffee with a friend...

Day 1: Today I am thankful for grace.

I love it when God shows up in the smallest and strangest places to remind us of the most important things. Back in the spring, I had found my heart wrestling with acceptance. I know that my identity is firmly and deeply rooted in Christ's love for me, but every now and then the enemy tries to taunt me with self-condemnation. Even though I know that Jesus has fully forgiven me for my past sins, I find myself occasionally struggling with receiving that forgiveness. Consequently when this happens, the enemy will use that as a tool to make me feel broken - telling me that noone will ever want to love someone who has made such prodigiously unwise decisions as I have in the past.

Fast forward to Memorial Day weekend. I spent 4 fun-filled days at the beach with about 25 of my closest friends. On the way home we stopped for our traditional breakfast at Cracker Barrel. The wait to seat our group was about an hour, so we proceeded to wander aimlessly through the cute little country store in the front of the restaurant playing with toys, smelling all the candles, and basically just goofing off to kill the time.

At one point, I stood at a table full of useless knick-knack toys. I picked up this cute little wooden bird, which would balance on your finger like a perch. I placed it on my finger and jokingly showed my new pet to my friend Jessica, who was standing nearby. As I laughed and turned to put it back, it fell from my finger, breaking into three pieces. i instantly felt like that kid in the glass store who just knocked over a set of dishes. I picked it up and immediately started towards the cash register, prepared to pay for my blunder. However as soon as I stood up, one of the Cracker Barrel greeters stood directly in front of me, smiling with her hand outstretched in my direction. Apparently she had witnessed the whole thing. I apologized profusely and told her that I would immediately pay for my fault. She just smiled at me (visibly missing quite a few teeth), took the bird out of my hand and said "honey, if I made you pay for that i'd have to make every single child that comes in here and breaks something pay for theirs too...it's ok." And with that, she walked off to put it in the back room.

As she walked away, I felt so sheepish. Even though she told me it was fine, I couldn't help but feel guilty for being so careless and silly. And then I noticed something. As she walked back out of the storeroom, I noticed the name that was embroidered on her apron.

Her name was Grace.

I was overcome with emotion - I stood there and just teared up right in the middle of a restaurant, right in front of all my friends. And in that moment, I felt God whispering to me. I knew that I was the "bird," broken...but still forgiven. I got it. It amazed me to see how God could use some petty experience in a restaurant to calm my heart over what I had been fighting. I resisted the urge to go and hug the nice lady, for fear that she might think I was nuts - she had no idea how God just used her in my life in such a big way.

As we drove home, I just kept thanking God over and over for using something so small to remind me of something so big - that He extends us ALL grace so that we may freely receive it and live fully redeemed in His power of forgiveness. No, we don't deserve it, but He loves us so much that He gives it to us regardless. And I thanked Him for allowing me to hear his whisper, even in the middle of a busy restaurant lobby.

What are you thankful for today?