Jumping On The Band Wagon

I think November is when people on social media start posting something they’re thankful for every day until Thanksgiving. Or maybe it’s the whole month…I don’t know. I thought about doing something similar to this on the November blog, but seeing that November 1^st has come and gone, clearly I am late to the party. No surprise there!

Now I’m starting to feel the pressure. What’s the first thing I’m going to share with the world that I’m thankful for? Should it be a little thing? Should it be funny? Should I bite the bullet and just say Jesus? I mean, that’s the textbook Sunday School answer. If you don’t know what to say at church just say Jesus or God and you’re bound to be right, right? Oh the pressure! It’s mounting. Do I save the best for last or do I lead with it? Now, that I’ve gone on and on about it, I need whatever I share to be awesome. The weight of trying to produce awesome is heavy, friends. No doubt I will buckle and not rise to the occasion. So let’s lower the expectation, shall we?

I’m not going Jesus just yet, but I won’t go totally generic and say Starbucks fall flavors (even though they are the bombdiggidy). We’re going to land somewhere in the middle.

This is what I’m thankful for. This is a journal my husband gave to me for my birthday this year. What you need to know is that I’m not much of a journaler. (Gasp!) I know, right? I claim to be a Christian but I don’t journal?! The shame! But my husband, in his thoughtfulness, knew I wanted to write. The thing about my husband is, he believes in me infinitely more than I believe in myself. Giving me this journal was his way of telling me, “I believe in your dreams and here’s something to get you started”. He’s kind of rad like that.

Anyway, I let the journal sit there for three months, untouched. Then I read the book, “Start” by Jon Acuff. If you have a dream, GO BUY THIS BOOK!!! This book is awesome because it breaks down your dream into baby steps. My first baby step was writing in this journal. Now I’m very close to being halfway through writing in it. This is sort of epic for me since I probably own six journals and they are all either blank or have less than ten pages worth of writing in them.

So today, this is what I’m thankful for because it represents God teaching me how to be brave. He’s teaching me that words matter and they are powerful. And being brave requires obedience, not fearlessness. I think doing the things I’m scared of helps me grow and isn’t that the whole point of this life anyway? I’m thankful for the empty pages of this book that I’m trusting God to fill. Go be brave, friends.