Sunday, January 20, 2013

Anticipating the goodness of God...

It's so simple, but such an important foundational truth.
God is good and He does good. (Psalm 119:68)
The enemy uses the same tactic today that he did in the garden.
He lies and deceives and gets us to doubt that God is good. 
(He's good through and through with not one iota of darkness in Him).
The enemy gets us to doubt that God does good.
In fact, he'll stir up the will of man to do all sorts of horrendous things,
 and then point his slimy finger at God and blame Him for it.
Start counting God's goodness in your life and you'll stop believing the enemy and start believing the Truth.
In fact you'll start anticipating God's goodness.
After all, His goodness and mercy are following you,
 chasing you right down to overtake you, 
every day of your life.
**********
In 2012 I followed the prompts in Ann Voskamp's Joy Dare in counting my thanks.
In 2013 I'm going back to the way I did it in the beginning,
just noticing and recording the many extraordinary blessings in my ordinary life.
And so I continue to count my thanks
piling up gratitude day by day
in my little black journal.
(and capturing some of them via my camera or iPhone)

#2684-#2712
1/14/13
-watching the snow fall outside my office window
-the whole family over for dinner
-homemade chili and homemade broccoli cheese soup
-listening to my two oldest grandkids read aloud

1/15/12
-having fun changing a few things around the house
-being able to run again after last month's sprained foot
-getting the grandkids ready for bed

1/16/12
-texts from the Hubs
-encouragement
-watching a favorite older movie with the grands

1/17/13
-a gorgeous day after two gray and rainy ones
-feeling better after a flu bug
-a friend's daughter giving me some great second hand clothes
-being able to share some that didn't work for me with another friend
-the Hub's meeting with his mentor

1/18/13
-sunny again!
-date day with the Hubs!
-the two youngest grands spending the night while mommy and daddy are away
-all the grands, (except baby granddaughter), watching an old, funny Jerry Lewis movie
-making some yummy, homemade granola bars

1/19/13
-baby granddaughter slept 13 hours straight
-her loving when I whisper in her ear
-only grandson and almost 4 year old granddaughter playing outside and having lunch and hot cocoa out on the patio in the cold 
-the Hub's help cleaning the house when the grandbabies went home

1/20/13
-a very special water baptism today
-praying and God helping me to find something that I thought I had lost
-a beautiful afternoon


Gratefully yours,

10 comments:

  1. I liked the prompts from last year, but I think the unprompted and spontaneous moments of thanksgiving are even more precious to me.

    BTW, I love your XO mantel!

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  2. What a wonderful week-- The photo is amazing!

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  3. Great capture in the first photo!! :) So so true what you said too. :) I just saw your comment you left for me a couple of days ago, so sorry not to respond till now. I like Wordpress but am still figuring it out. I really just had no choice but to switch. :/

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  4. whispers to grandbabies... so precious. Happy times. blessings to you from Uganda

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  5. He's a good God - all the time!
    ~Adrienne~

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  6. Love hearing about your family, looking at the snow--a rare sight in the desert, soups that sound yummy and warm the tummy, date nights with hubby (a good reminder), and the quote from Joyce Meyer. Your lead photo is gorgeous!
    Good to be here again. Love the new design. I'm ready for a change.
    Blessings,
    Janis

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  7. I'm glad you are over the flu. I didn't even know you were sick. Did I? I love soup, too. I love watching snow fall, but I hate to shovel. God is good, and he does good. All the time.

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  8. I love this quote! It's so true that when anticipate His goodness in our lives we are more apt to see it. I need to start counting my gifts again. I am supposed to do it with my monday link up, and keep forgetting. Perhaps I'm not anticipating enough!

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  9. Visiting from Ann's site... what a gorgeous picture of your granddaughter! And I love what you have to say about anticipating God's goodness.

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  10. Beautiful list, Elizabeth! Have a blessed week. :)

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