1/365

Simple Gifts.

Monday, January 25, 2010
"Exhausted, spent, encouraged. What a day! Mondays aren't my favorite, and going into this one I was not particularly thrilled. I prayed specifically that God would give me the strength needed to make it, and He did.
Went to dinner with a friend. Truly a blessing. Then went bowling with girls from school. We prayed lanes would be open for us- and three were! Just the number we needed.
God is so kind- even in the LITTLE things- like providing bowling lanes. God truly does supply all my needs."

This is what life is about. Praising Jesus for the simple (yet awesome) gifts He gives us daily. That's what I want to focus on over the next year. Do I promise to write an entry every day? :) I am laughing at the thought...

The CROSS: This is the most simple, yet significant gift given to mankind. I praise God for sending His perfect Son, Jesus Christ, to the earth to die for me. The best part is that Jesus didn't only die for me, He conquered death, defeating sin- all on my behalf (and yours!).

As a young child with small faith, I accepted Jesus into my heart. I was trying to sleep as just a little 4 year old, but couldn't. I kept thinking about what would happen to me if I died, and I knew even as a young child that I didn't know Jesus and that if I died I surely wouldn't go where He was. That night I called my mom into the room and asked her to explain to me how I could know that I would live in heaven after I died. Simple faith.

My mom explained to me that because I was a sinner (which, I know, is hard for you to believe :)), someone had to pay for that sin. And because God loved me so much, He sent Jesus to this earth to die on the cross for my sin. And she explained that I needed to talk to Jesus the best that I knew how and to tell him how I felt about my sins (that i was sorry) and ask Him to forgive me and to be my Savior.

Did I understand exactly what Jesus Christ had done for me on the cross? No. But I still don't fully understand the perfect love of my dear Savior. Until I'm face to face with Him I won't be able to comprehend this love.

So, for day 1/365 on this "Journey of Thanks", I thank Jesus for the cross and the relationship it provides with my Savior. I am thankful that my "religion" is so much more than that... it is a personal relationship with the Creator of the Universe. What an awesome thought!