Thank You, Jesus

 “O our God, we thank you and praise your glorious name!”—1 Chronicles 29:13 (NLT)

While my morning quiet time is important for me to stay grounded, engaging with God throughout my day is what keeps me most at peace. One way I do this is giving thanks to God for little things I sometimes take for granted.

A full calendar with back-to-back activities gives me anxiety. I try not to do that, but this time of the year it tends to happen. I looked at the next two weeks and thought, when am I going to have time to write my blog posts, tape and edit? I was tempted to say, No, to activities that I knew God wanted me to do.

One was meeting a few of the ladies from my small group for lunch. Only 3 of us were able to make it, so I didn’t want to cancel. We met at a restaurant in a touristy area where parking is limited. I pulled through the back lot with no luck. Thinking I was going to have to park at a distance, I turn the corner and what do I see? A parallel spot directly in front of the restaurant! I said, Thank You, Jesus. I know that was a sweet gift from Him to make sure I approached my lunch with the right attitude. Had I needed to park further away, not only would it have made me a few minutes late, but I also would have been flustered about it.

The following day, my husband told me he was planning on taking off half a day. I had already had a lunch date planned with a friend that I had rescheduled as well as a doctor appointment. Looking at my calendar for the following week, I knew I couldn’t change either one. I ran a few errands trying to kill some time. I felt a nudge to call the doctor’s office to see if I might be able to get in earlier. They had a cancellation. Thank You, Jesus. This allowed me to spend more time with my husband.

The last thing that occurred this week was for Saturday. We had back-to back activities from 9 am to 6 pm that included quite a bit of drive time as well. The weather forecast was stormy weather.  My husband had a long week at work but didn’t want to disappoint our children by cancelling any of the planned events.

Friday morning, my son felt sick. He tested positive for the flu. His wife felt as if she was coming down with something too. My daughter and her husband were coming in town to join us for the festivities. Since they included her brother and sister-in-law and they were unable to go now, she called us. They were only one hour into their drive, so we told them to turn around. Especially, since they will be coming back in a few weeks for Christmas.

They too were trying to pack too much into their weekend. They wouldn’t have been in until Friday evening and were driving home Saturday afternoon. We were able to change our tickets for when they are back in town and hopefully everyone will be healthy.

God knew my husband needed to unwind on Saturday not rushing from one activity to another. We went from having 3 places to go to one. Thank You, Jesus.

However, this now put a kink in my timeline for our family Christmas photos. Since I forgot to do it at Thanksgiving, the plan was to do it on Saturday. Normally something like this stresses me out but I felt the Holy Spirit say to me, you don’t have to get it out early. Worst-case scenario, we do a collage card with photos from each family that probably won’t get to people until after Christmas. It can be a Happy New Year card.

I know these may seem like silly things, but when we can see God’s hand and give thanks in something as simple as a good parking spot, we have peace. This peace overflows into the rest of my life. A perfect example is me not worrying about when my family and friends receive our annual family photo card. Not only that, freeing up my day on Saturday, enabled me to write not one but two blog posts. God is so good.

Are you letting the hustle and bustle of this holiday season steal your joy? Try doing what I did this week by thanking Jesus for the little things throughout your day. He wants you to have a full heart that will overflow to others around you. Thank You, Jesus.

Father God,

Forgive me when I fail to give You thanks for all of the ways You provide for me each day. Open my eyes to see your sovereignty and wonderful works in my life. Help me to find joy in the sweet little gifts You sprinkle throughout my day; from parking spots to freeing up my busy schedule which enables me to spend more time doing Your work.  Thank You for the strength, comfort and peace I receive from You. You are all powerful. No plans of Yours can be thwarted. I pray these things in the name of Jesus. Amen.

December Verse

“In him was life, and the life was the light of men.”—John 1:4 (ESV)

If you are knitting or crocheting gifts to give away, please make sure you tweet @KnitPrayShare or share your projects on the Knit, Pray, Share Facebook page or Instagram using the hashtag #KnitPrayShare. Be sure to attach a tag to whatever gift you make.

Spirit of Giving

“Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” 2 Corinthians 9:7

Do you have any friends or does someone come to mind when you think of a generous person? Of course, all of the women that are a part of the Knit, Pray, Crochet ministry come to my mind when I think of cheerful givers. However this week I want to highlight one of my sisters in Christ, Patti.

Patti has a giving heart all of the time, not only the month of December. She gets joy from making and giving away her handmade items, which aren’t limited to knit/crochet. She also sews and gifts what she makes as well. She is one talented lady. I am blessed to be able to call her, friend. She motivates me to want to do more. She has been knitting/crocheting various items throughout the year using up her yarn scraps. When she finishes them, she puts them in a big Rubbermaid bin. She had hair scrunchies, hats, headbands, ear warmers, scarves, shawls and even a few baby blankets.

It was laid on her heart to bring this bin somewhere public to bless others with what she had made. Last week, she brought them to our weekly gathering. I went around the restaurant asking people to come to our table to pick out any items that were being given away. One group of ladies wanted to pay us for what they took. We told them, no, they are for you. We want to be a blessing to you. We were also able to talk to them about our ministry. They asked if it was okay if they gave us money to buy more yarn. Of course, I wasn’t going to turn that down!

We met two other ladies who were in town visiting from Virginia. We enjoyed talking with them and seeing their excitement picking out some gifts for themselves. I also invited the employees to come “shopping.” One of the women asked Patti, if she minded if she took some for Christmas gifts. She told her, you can take whatever you want. I don’t care what happens with them once they leave here. She responded with a grateful heart letting her know how much this was going to help her.

Even though all of us didn’t make the gifts that were given away, we all left with full hearts. We were able to talk about our ministry as well as share the love of Jesus through our conversations we had with those who came back to our table. All of us together were able to bring the light of Jesus into someone’s day. This is what fills our hearts.

Patti and I had envisioned being a part of a church group such as this over a decade ago. Along the years, we have questioned if we were doing what God wanted us to do. I have no doubt this ministry has been orchestrated by the hands of God. From the people He has brought into it as well as the organizations which receive our donations.

God invites us to partner with Him to reach every corner of the world with the Good News of Jesus Christ. God provides for what He guides. Some days, I have to pinch myself that He can use my knitting as a ministry tool to do this.

What are some non-crafty ways you can be generous to others in your community to share the love of Jesus? I had a lady at the gym whose friend from her church makes homemade lip balm. She gave her several to give away. I was one of the recipients. She didn’t make what she gave away. You don’t need to either. When we give, we are blessed in return. Again, if you aren’t financially able to give that type of gift, something as simple as writing or speaking someone words of affirmation is a way to be a blessing.

Father God.

Forgive me when I miss the chance to be generous; whether it be a physical gift or the gift of my time. I ask for eyes to be open on how to be a blessing to someone this week. Help me to carry Your Light with me wherever I go so that others can see it shining through my heart. I thank You for friendships that encourage me to continue with my ministry. I lift those up to You who are struggling with how You can use them. It is in the mighty name of Jesus that I pray these things. Amen.

 December Verse

“In him was life, and the life was the light of men.”—John 1:4 (ESV)

If you are knitting or crocheting gifts to give away, please make sure you tweet @KnitPrayShare or share your projects on the Knit, Pray, Share Facebook page or Instagram using the hashtag #KnitPrayShare. Be sure to attach a tag to whatever gift you make.