Give Thanks with a Grateful Heart

Lately, for the past couple of months anyway, God has just been blowing me away with blessing. You know how hard it is to describe how big God’s love is and actually fathom or put that into words? That is how I feel right now about gratefulness. I feel like God is being so good to me, but that word alone does not do Him justice. And I know no word could ever give Him all of the thanks He is worthy of, but I want to at least acknowledge some of the things in my life that I am so incredible thankful for right now.

Life

I love life. Because of the life that Jesus lived on earth and the fact that He conquered death through dying the cross and being resurrected, we get to have life. John 10:10 says, “…I come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” Life is beautiful. It is not always easy, but when you serve a gracious, loving Father, it is always good. I have been blessed to spend quality time with people I love, do spontaneous, random things with friends, travel, sit and admire God’s creation, graduate from college with a job that I love, and just simply live. Think about that. Are you really “living”? Are you loving life? Every moment and not taking it for granted? The fact that we get to live is a blessing, and one that I am extremely thankful for.

My Job

I just started a real job! And I will write a separate post all about it later, but right now I wanna express gratitude towards it. In the position that I am in, I will have the opportunity to really make a difference in the lives of students in high school, as well as generations to come. I know that I will need God's grace every day to go into the school and do what is expected of me. But I am thankful. I love people. I love their story. I love to encourage. And I know that these are gifts that God has given me, so only by His grace and for His glory will I be able to do these things every day. It's a blessing to have a job and it's an even bigger blessing to love it. God gave me both, and for that, I am so grateful.

California

You may not know why I love California so much, but let me just try and tell you how much :) California is home. It's been home for 6 years now and it will continue to be so. There are a list of people there that I just love to tears. Literally tears. The people there have made a huge impact in my life whether they were trying to or not. One has showed me how to have faith. How to face the world and boldly step out knowing that God is always at least a couple steps ahead of you, and He's not gonna let you down. No, things are not always easy, but when you live by faith and walk in the Spirit, it makes a difference. Another person has shown me how to truly embrace the Lord. There have been times when she would come to me and pray for me and cry with me, without me even having to say a word. She is beautiful. She turns to the Lord for everything and is constantly breathing in His peace and presence in every moment of life, no matter where she is. I love that. One has also shown me a life of sacrifice and life of selflessness. Those kind of go together, huh? In any situation, he is the first to ask how you are, how you really are, and truly listen and care. And he does this with everyone. He is incredibly hospitable, funny, creative, and loving. Another has been a dear friend for a very long time. One I can sit and talk to for hours and know that I am genuinely cared about, and hopefully they feel the same. We can have ridiculous fun and laugh together, but we can also be real and honest with each other. All of these people do that for me actually. I could write an individual post about all of them, but there is more time for that.

Grace

I am weak. I do not have it all together. I fail. I do not always choose others over myself. I do not always do what I know God wants me to. Yet, I sit here and I know that I have a Father that loves me unconditionally. He looks down and smiles at me. He paints the sky every day so that I can walk outside and be utterly amazed by His beauty. There are times when I just want to curl up in a ball, but by the grace of God, I get up and live. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 says, "But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." This verse is constantly on my ming and in my heart. God wouldn't give us grace if He didn't love us, but we know that He loves us because He sent His son to die on the cross for our sins. He wants us to have His grace. He loves us, not because He has to, because He wants to. I love that.

There are many more things that I am grateful for, so I may have to write a Part 2 :) I hope you find yourself soaking up the blessings God has bestowed upon you so graciously. Do not take the people in your life for granted, wherever they are. Pick up the phone, a pen, or a keyboard and tell them how much they mean to you. It may be exactly what they need to hear. When I get stressed or overwhelmed, my mom has always taught me to just start praising God. Praise Him and thank Him for who He is. He is beautiful. He is gracious. He is love. He is steadfast in faithfulness.

I am thankful for YOU. YOU are beautiful. YOU are His. He loves YOU.

Waiting for Superman

We could be waiting forever. If you haven't watched the film "Waiting for Superman," I encourage you to do so- and don't forget a BOX of Kleenex if you're a crier like me :) This is week one of training for my new job called AdviseTX! I will write more on that later, but right now I am just overflowing with sentiments about this film. It opened my eyes, inspired, compelled, broke, and deeply deeply moved me.

The film basically outlines the lives of elementary age students in low income areas around the US and the kind of education they are getting, or not getting for that matter. They showed Charter schools, public schools, private schools, etc. But this is not what hit me. It was the heart displayed in the film.

The parents/guardians:

Several different children were spotlighted and followed throughout a year or so of their education process. One particular mom worked, but she did not just work to meet her own needs, her primary purpose was to assure that her child got to attend school, school that cost $500/month, which is a small fortune when you live the way these do. Her passion and the heartbreak that was displayed was absolutely incredible. A grandmother, forced to be mom because of the death of her son, expressed her deep passion and support for her child by doing what she could to make sure her "son" could go to a boarding school. You wanna know what she could do? Sit there, enter his name in a drawing, and hope for the best. Seeing him go off to boarding school would be hard, but she knew that it would be worth it. This story is one that broke my heart the most, and if you watch the movie, you will know why. (And then we can talk about it!)

The children:

They want to learn. They want to live lives better than the ones they are living now. They want to do better for themselves now, at 8, in order to help their future children. They want to become doctors so that they can help people. They cry when they do not get to attend a kindergarten graduation ceremony with their classmates because they know their mother could not meet the tuition payment. They see little chance for themselves compared to others, but they are not letting that get in their way! They are pushing through those barriers! It was inspiring.

I could talk about the teachers, but at the moment I am still a little bitter and conflicted towards them. This film made me extremely thankful for the education that I received in my small 700 person town. Our school has very little funding, but I was extremely blessed with teachers that wanted me to learn; that didn't just give me a worksheet so that they got out of teaching; they didn't sit and read the newspaper while our class went crazy or slept. They wouldn't put up with that. I am sure that there are others who feel differently about my school, but that is where the conflict comes in. Some kids genuinely have no desire to learn which affects their outcome in class. Some teachers do not teach, which affects the student's desire to learn. Some students have so much going on outside of school that it is physically and mentally impossible to come to school and learn. This too is an entirely new issue.

Well, I could go on and on. My heart broke for the children. Seeing 35 spots in a charter school with 700 applicants standing by to see if their name was randomly drawn out of a hat, was one of the hardest things to watch. My heart broke for the selfishness of the teachers. My heart broke for the sacrifice of the parents.

This movie compelled me. I wanted to go get as much money as possible and give it to that mother so her little girl could attend her graduation ceremony. I am extremely excited to move to Beaumont! I want to see the beautiful faces of the students! I hope to make every moment count. My time with the students will fly by. Being given the opportunity to make a difference that could affect generations, is priceless.

Think about the way that you are making a difference in the lives of others, your family, your friends, the person checking you out or behind you in line at the grocery store. People are watching you. You could be the superman they are waiting for. Let your life count!