thankfulness and fullness of JOY.

in this season the Lord is healing my blind eyes. i have been so blind to Him. to his glory. to his goodness in my life. i have missed it a hundred times a day. why? i have been so blind.

in Romans 8 it says the Father is "causes everything to work together for the good of those who love Him."

everything is everything.

so why am i not seeing this?

if we open our eyes, not to the world, but to Jesus, looking for what HE is doing and saying. if we begin to call out and name these God-works, these moments that he is so fully using for our good, these simple, day to day happenings. and if we then begin to thank him and revel in who he is and the way he is so present in these moments, filling our lives with his goodness then...

our JOY begins to flow.

as we get totally wrapped up in God's absolute nearness to us, we can't help but be consumed with joy. a joy that runs so much deeper than the passing happiness of a nice moment. its a joy that beams even in the midst of painful circumstances. its a joy that actually carries us through.

if we will open our eyes to God... we will see that his goodness is actually spilling over in our lives...in everything. and by thanking him in these moments, we are filled with a deep joy that comes from acknowledging that our lives are in the hands of the most awesome and good God.

i have found this so wonderfully true in my life in this season. i have been so changed by a grateful heart and eyes FULLY opened to the One who loves me so deeply.

"why would the world need more anger, more outrage? how does it save the world to reject unabashed joy when it is joy that saves us? rejecting joy to stand in solidarity with suffering doesn't rescue the suffering, the converse does. the brave who focus on all things good and all things beautiful and all things true, even in small, who give thanks for it and discover joy even in the here and now, they are the change agents who bring fullest Light to all the world." ann voskamp from 1000 gifts.

happy thanksgiving and happy holidays!

may your lives OVERFLOW with the joy of the Lord!

(pic is my beautiful niece claire layla!)