Today is Sunday which means by nature it is “family day.” My mom and I go to church, get coffee and breakfast on the way home, then later on have lunch together with my dad and brother, then off to work I go. For some reason today was different for me, it may be because the holiday season is over and life will go back to normal, it may be becasue my moms birthday is tomorrow and I do not get to celebrate it with her, or it may be because I received a large donation for my trip. All of these things aside I believe that today is different because the message my pastor delievered today was exactly what my heart and mind needed to hear this morning.
Doxology of Gratitude was the message this morning, which my pastor explained means the study of gratefulness.The message went somewhat like this; thank you God for my job, a roof over my head, the car I drive, and my family. What we seem to forget a lot of the time is that God wants us to praise him in everything, thank you God for this warm shower, for the electicity to make my house warm, for the music in the car on my way to work, the people I work with, I think you get the point. At every moment of our lives God is giving us wonderful gifts that we most often look over and dont think of as gifts.
Something that I realized on my way home from church is that through this process of the last few months I have left out one really important person, God. After I got accepted into The World Race I have put him to the side, I have been so focused on how I am going to raise the money, spending every possible second with my family, and preparing for the trip I have not given him any thanks! So here it is, thank you God for the strength to go outside my comfort and apply, thank you for my roomates who sat with me while I applied, thank you for Kaysie my interviewer for sharing her story with me, thank you for my parents for supporting me even if they think I am mildly insane, thank you for my church family for emotionally supporting me, thank you for Courtney a girl that is going on the race with me that reached a hand out to get to know me before the trip, and most of all thank you God for putting this journey on my heart to spread your word and love all over the world!
A new years resolution of mine is to change my perspective on life, be thankful for and in everything, starting each day in amazment that you have another chance to live in his glory and love.
Thanks for reading,
Jesse
