Month of Thanks…Day 8

I can’t believe it is already day 8.  I am loving thinking about the things that I have to be thankful for.  I don’t think I take a lot for granted, but it is great to be reminded, in a very tangible way, that nothing I have is from my own effort, it is truly a gift from the Lord.  He alone gives, He alone takes away.

Today, I am thankful for my trip to Africa.  I think I look at what I have very differently now.  I am reminded that all that matters is Jesus.  Knowing Him, making Him known.

I have been burdened for a while now that my children to do not have a clue about what it means to be in want.  Their needs are met daily, heck even the majority of their wants are met in some shape or form, eventually.  And that makes me a little sad.  I have seen children who know what it is to WANT.  Not to want a toy or a certain show, but to want food to eat, medicine to heal, a book to read, someone to teach them to read.

They know what it is to WANT out of their NEED.

And that makes me very sad.

In our family we try to be a yes home and leave no to the really important things.  I have said no a lot more in the last 5 months due to our addition- to friends, to family, to our children.  Now that my girls are older, they understand delayed gratification more and there a few things they have had to wait for, to long for, to realize they are not getting.

But I feel the burden, the conviction that if they never understand what it means to be in want for something simple…..will they ever understand what it means to want Jesus more than life, than breath, than comfort, than stability, than anything?

Will they ever feel desperate for Him

My prayer is that they will.  And I am seeking, asking that God would help me, as their mom, to help them see….life is not about you.

It is about Christ.

Alone.

Today, I am thankful for Africa.  The journey that was hard, difficult, outside of my comfort zone, and completely, utterly, life opening.  It changed me and I can’t see things in my own corner of the world anymore.

And for that, I am blessed.