Thankfulness

"Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."  1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

In the past couple weeks, God has been putting on my heart to be more thankful in my life.  I bought a Joyce Meyer's devotional book on being thankful.  I have a tendency to complain about things I don't have, or things I think I want.  For me the top things I find myself complaining about is not being married and not having a lot of money.  I may not complain out loud, but I sure do complain in my heart and to Jesus. 

"I have come to give you life, and give it to the full"
Thankful for Jesus and what He has dome and doing in my life!

I am also reading "One Thousands gifts" by Ann Voskamp.  "A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are."  In the book, Ann, main theme is to find thankfulness throughout your day.  She writes " If I'm ruthlessly honest, I may have yes to God, yes to Christianity, but I have live the no."

 I can really relate to this.  Jesus says in John 10:10 "I have come that they may have life and it to the full."  Sometimes I believe the lie that I will never get married.  I see friends getting married and building families, and I complain to God that it will never happen to me.  I think this way because of my CP.  Ann writes, "There's a reason I am not writing the story and God is.  He knows how it all works out, where it all leads, what it all means."   I want to believe that even if I never get married and have kids, God's story is better and fuller then I could write.

Tonight, as I was reading the book, Ann wrote about how Jacob wrestled with God in Genesis.  Jacob told God "I will not let you go unless you bless me."  I love the story of Jacob because God touched his hip, and he left limping.  God tells Jacob, "You have wrestled with God, and you've come through."  This spoke to my heart tonight.  I have wrestled in my heart with God.  I have wrestled with having cerebral palsy.   I have wondered why I got it, and "nobody" else did.  Nobody in my little world.   Why do I have to struggle physically everyday to do normal things.   Sometimes I think that if I didn't have CP, I would be married.  Of course, that is a lie, because God is writing my story and I am not. 

Thankful for my family, who have always believed in me,
Even when I did not!

Ann quotes Preacher James H. McConkey, "The Lord has to break us down at the strongest part of our self-life before He can have His own way of blessing us."   Ann adds, "Then we see the blessings."  This speaks to me, before I accepted the Lord, I hated my CP.  The Lord had to break my stronghold on my view of my cp.  I feel like the Lord gave me CP.  He has blessed me in many ways because of my CP.  I believe that nothing happens without going through the Lord first.  He has a plan for me and my CP.

I sometimes complain to God about not having a lot of money.  There are days when I wish I could have done better in college and gotten a teaching degree or a medical degree.  With my CP, it is hard to work full time, but God has really blessed me in my finances.  Washington Family Ranch is about an hour and 15 minutes from the nearest town.  So living here, I am blessed to be able to save in a way that otherwise would be harder living in a town.
 Also with CP, I have more medical bills then probably a normal 34 year old.  I have see the hand of God bless me in this area of my life.  I am grateful for how the Lord has worked in this way.  He has brought some great doctors and physical therapists to help me lose weight and become more active. 
  He has also blessed me in working with disabled adults.  I want to be a special ed. teacher and work with kids.  I am like a teacher, teaching life skills everyday in my job.  I am thankful that I have a job that supported me from going to full time to part time.  I am thankful that my job is less physical and I am more capable to keep up with my job duties. 

There are people in my life I would not have met otherwise!
This is a very special family to me!  Without CP I would have not
met Ward or his family!

I am so grateful God has called me out to Oregon.  He is still writing my story.   Ann writes to expect to see God.  God has made my life so much richer here in Oregon in ways more valuable then money.  As I start my ninth summer at a Young Life camp, I get to see kids have their lives change.  I am so thankful for God changing mine.  In this season of my life, I am also trying to be thankful for my singleness.  During my quiet time at the river, it was as if God was saying, "Bri, I gave you CP because I knew you could overcome it, and you were strong!"  I am thankful for the people God has put in my life because of my CP. My life has also become more richer with friends, here in Oregon! 



I am thankful for my CP.  Even though it can be
hard at times, it has made me who I am today, and brought
me to Jesus!  Thankful for the Shriners, The Center,
and all the medical professions that have help me along they way!
Even though I gave many of them a lot of grief about my exercises!