\u201cThanks, God. She\u2019s amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Just an everyday prayer that slipped from my lips while I sat at the patio table writing this week. I was off in the land where the book takes place and Stormy was barking at jet aircraft 20,000 feet overhead and more.<\/p>\n
Somewhere along the way I got in the habit of praying for the little things. The silly dog that barks at airplanes, the delicious ribs for dinner, the beautiful book that another author lavished their efforts and love upon. All of these things are worthy of praise.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s pretty easy to take this stuff for granted. Most people just assume that\u2019s how the universe should be. I have known enough pain and witnessed enough misery to make it very clear to me that none of it is a given. God has his hand in all the good things. The simple and the complex, they all come from Him. <\/p>\n
That\u2019s a perspective that didn\u2019t flow naturally from my life experiences. Someone, or several someones, had to open my eyes to the gifts that our Creator lavishes upon us every day. Once you know to look for them, and acknowledge them, it becomes an embarrassment of riches. <\/p>\n
One example is work. I don\u2019t like going to work and being confined there every workday. But I do like those paychecks. I do like my desk \u2013 it\u2019s comfortable and cluttered with fragments of my life. I like most of my coworkers. The work itself? That goes from hate to rapture in minutes on occasion. <\/p>\n
When I\u2019m honest about the work itself, I see what an amazing gift that can be. I am blessed with skills and a brain that uniquely suit me for that job. I can be frustrated and angry when it doesn\u2019t go well, but for the most part it gives me an opportunity to shine in the reflected glow of the One who created me. I get into a rhythm that allows the day to flow around me and rush me toward the exit ten hours later. Hours fly by and time evaporates in a comfortable office with heat and air conditioning. <\/p>\n
I\u2019m well aware that I could be an unemployed man living under a bridge. It\u2019s not too far away for so many of my brothers and sisters from the past. Mental health issues, addiction, bad choices \u2013 all of them can contribute to that desk and chair becoming a shopping cart and a bonfire. I get it: I\u2019m blessed.<\/p>\n
Do you take the time to thank Him for the things that come your way? Even the bad things that make you cringe and cry? I\u2019ve probably got more pleasure from surviving those moments than from relishing the good ones. I just have to remember when to tilt my eyes toward Heaven and acknowledge the gift. I hope you find that time in your day as well. <\/p>\n
I have to go now, somebody is barking at a bulldozer and needs to go inside. But even that\u2019s for the good: it put a smile on my face.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cThanks, God. She\u2019s amazing.\u201d Just an everyday prayer that slipped from my lips while I sat at the patio table writing this week. I was off in the land where the book takes place and Stormy was barking at jet …<\/span> Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1572,5,1],"tags":[1444,4442,217,167,162,4144,203,1233,1979],"class_list":["post-8602","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-prayer-requests","category-sincere-stuff","category-uncategorized","tag-addiction","tag-airplanes","tag-barking","tag-commotion-in-the-pews","tag-joseph-courtemanche","tag-mental-health","tag-prayer","tag-stormy","tag-work"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/commotioninthepews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8602","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/commotioninthepews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/commotioninthepews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commotioninthepews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commotioninthepews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8602"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/commotioninthepews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8602\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8606,"href":"https:\/\/commotioninthepews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8602\/revisions\/8606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/commotioninthepews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commotioninthepews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8602"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commotioninthepews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}