Behind the Clouds (Greatful Tuesdays #17)

Dear Heavenly Father,

I thank you for the face that’s looking at me right now, encouraging me to do what I said I’d do. (Not that giving thanks is hard, it’s just incompatible with apathy — my pastime of choice it seems.)

Thank you for friendship. God, do you feel like we recognize this brilliant design enough? I’m having trouble getting over the remarkablity of it: efficiency that would dazzle an engineer and beauty to render an artist speechless with wonder.

Thank you for the view outside my window right now. It’s mostly dark, but there still light in the sky, making the silhouette of a power line pole look striking. The movement of the clouds is beautiful also.

Thank you that I’ll be seeing The Queen of Arts and England is a few weeks. Thank you for allowing us the relationship we have and for how you have used it to grow me. Now that I think about it, since I’m so people-driven, it makes sense that you would use a person to point out things in my heart you want to change.

Thank you for being Emmanuel enough to even want to change me, to bring the real me, the me that was raised to life with your Son, into focus. Thank you for not being satisfied with a perception of me that is distorted by the blur of sin. Thank you for forgiving me and not listening to me when I resist your healing touch, the hard gift of restoration you bring.

God, humanity is messy. The design I was praising you for earlier is broken here on earth. People rub up against each other, we break. Things hurt badly. We hurt each other without knowing it. Thank you so much for those who are willing to forgive me for the damaging things I do, even without knowing it or asking for forgiveness.

God, I’m grateful for this time too. For the peaceful valley this is. God, people read these thoughts, but they don’t see how the last thing in the world I wanted to do a few minutes ago was sit down at this computer at focus on giving thanks to you.

Is there a moment when beauty cannot be found in your creation, God? The view out the window has changed. It’s dark enough that I don’t know whether or not, in another frame of mind, I would have given it a second thought, but it is still beautiful.

Thank you God, so much for the meal and conversation we were able to have with the guy at Taco Bell the other day. I don’t really like Taco Bell that much, but I like it much better since we were able to share about you with someone we just met. Thank you for orchestrating that time. I would love to meet and talk with him again.

God, thank you for driving lessons this morning and for Jim. Thank you for the gift of learning. It’s embarrassing to be learning such basic thing at this age, but I’m grateful that it’s happening anyway. I know that I need what Jim’s teaching.

God, forgive me for my hard heart, for missing all the things I could be singing your name for. Peel away my blindness, and open my eyes to the colors and light of your world. Thank you for the thousands of other things I haven’t written here, that I could have. Allow me to fall in love with you.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen