Thank You List Saturday - Just Plain Thankful

The other night I was thinking about some of the things God's been teaching me lately and I had this image of myself not so long ago:

(unfortunately an accurate re-enactment would include a whiny voice)
I don't think God really has any plans for me. I'm just me. I'm not useful or impressive. I'm just lucky He saved me. My job is to just stand around and keep my nose clean until I get to heaven. Don't take up too much of His time because He's got better things to do than give an assignment to someone like me.

Ahhh, the good old days. Actually, despite the whining there's a little bit of accurate information in my rant. I am just me. I'm not particularly impressive (I know you disagree Mommy and Daddy) or useful although Obi Wan-da does think I come in handy when she wants me to change her dolls. And I am so fortunate that the God of the universe decided to save me because I couldn't do it on my own, but who am I to second guess God when he says:

"'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'" Jeremiah 29:11

Someone who's looking at herself and not at Jesus, that's who. I could spend all day talking about how unqualified I am to serve the Lord. I could go through a whole list that would surely make you nod your head and say yep, this one is better off in a corner with the safety scissors and away from the paste. But the point is that it's not about me and what I can't or shouldn't do. It's about God and what He can and does do.

Which brings me to the whole thankfulness thing. I spent so long focused on myself and my circumstances that I fooled myself into thinking that God wasn't thinking about me. I wasn't looking at all He had given me to be thankful for.

Oh blind and foolish girl.

I didn't see that He tells me He loves me every time I walk through the door of my home and into the open arms of my family. Or when my parents call just to see how I'm doing. Or as the birds sing on my morning walks. Or when He sends a special friend my way to make me laugh. Or every single time the sun comes up to start a new day.

Every one of those things and so much more should remind me that I'm loved and that God's desire for me is to do so much more than stand in the corner wiping my nose with a kleenex. Not because I'm all that, but because He just IS.

So today (and I hope every day) I'm going to be thankful for THAT.