Gifts and Gratitude.
One book on my "to read" list is One Thousand Gifts by Anne Voskamp. It's about recognizing and naming very specifically the gifts God gives to us daily and God's power found in gratitude. I do believe God has perhaps given us one thousand good gifts in just the past mere 36 hours.
-a broken arm rather than a broken head.
-grandparents and an uncle who were down on the court right now next to Nathan while I turned my van around down the block after receiving a call that he had gotten hurt.
-paramedics who know how to splint arms and move bodies carefully.
-An athletic director/asst. principal at Carver who handled the situation with care and skill.
-pain medication rather than having to rely on biting down on a stick or drinking whiskey. :)
-health insurance coverage.
-a twin sister who has a deeply compassionate heart and loves her brother so much.
-a dad who works hard to provide and whose job includes health insurance. A dad who is always calm, cool, and collected. A dad who loves his son.
-a big support network of friends and family across the community, nation, and world who pray, encourage, and love well in person or from their knees, facebook, phone calls, emails, and texts.
-a highly recommended orthopedic surgeon.
-first world medical facilities, staff, and multiple options for care.
-medical facilities that were less than a block away from the incident.
-a first surgery that cleans the wound and protects against infection.
-a friend who brings me a nutritious smoothie for breakfast at the hospital.
-a doctor friend who works here and who brings up a dvd player and movies for N.
-another friend who somehow knows Nathan likes Whopper malted milk balls, who gave him a nice pack of colorful Sharpies for cast signatures, who prays unceasingly.
-family friends who send a roll of thin mints with well wishes attached.
-a friend who brings Burt's Bees lip balm just at the right time, as the one lip balm we had was just about gone.
-an aunt who brings favorites...cream soda, movies, a small Hawkeye hoop
-a grandma who watches N so that the rest of us can go cheer Sara on in the annual Variety Show. (outstanding show...this was itself a gift in many ways).
-friends who try to help me eat well by bringing nutritious snacks; friends who cater to Nathan's sweet tooth and bring what appears to be an entire movie theater worth of junk food into the room.
-visiting and praying family, friends, teachers, coaches
And these are just a sampling of the good gifts God has given us the past few days!
The Kingdom of God does indeed break through all around us in a given day, not only with the gifts God gives us, but also with the powerful, transforming gift of gratitude for these blessings.
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