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| CR: offthebeatentrek.blogspot.com |
A friend gave my son a gift of a tic-tac-toe game many years ago when my son was still in elementary. The "X's" and the "O's" were made of blue and red glass against the wooden base. I never wanted to hide it and just to re-arrange, I set it on the corner table and paired it with a table top decoration that serves as a reminder for me to be grateful each day.
I like to start my day to always be thankful, especially at these trying times when nothing is constant. Plans change. People do, too. Peace can become conflicts. Joy can turn to sorrows. Faith is being constantly pummeled and being knocked out with blows of worries. Days where hope is in a tug of war with doubts, fears, disbelief, distrust, dislike, and despair.
But there's my reminder. In a corner. To start my day with a grateful heart. As I do, my heart and mind is strengthened each day, knowing that God's grace always sustains me in all of my weaknesses. I look each time now at the "tic-tac-toe". It doesn't appear like a table top game anymore to me. They serve as a reminder also of God's invisible hugs and kisses. I feel His reassurance that no matter what occurs in a day, He is faithful and His promises are true! As I thank Him, I feel that His blessings aren't always given. Sometimes, He doesn't give what we ask for but instead, takes something away that will expose our vulnerabilities that we think we can manage to tackle on our own. That is also a blessing. If the Gardener prunes what is not productive in our grafted vine, the process is painful, but the removal is a blessing in order for a branch to yield fruits.
He takes away my fears, my loneliness, my pride. How can I not be thankful each day when He died on the cross so I can live? So can you! Or anyone who trusts and believe in Jesus.
So, there goes the table top deco and the tic-tac-toe game serving its purpose of helping me focus on the One Who never disappoints! Each day! Here I am thinking that love is shaped like a heart. But when I surrendered my life to Jesus, I know now, that love is shaped like a cross and formed by pierced Hands.
“When I lay these questions before God I get no answer. But a rather special sort of 'No answer.' It is not the locked door. It is more like a silent, certainly not uncompassionate, gaze. As though He shook His head not in refusal but waiving the question. Like, 'Peace, child; you don't understand.” ~ C.S. Lewis
