Prayer Journal (Aug.17.2014b.BJ.)
(BJ = Blessings Journaling)
2014-08-17 09:18:19, Sunday
(B is stirring. I hear him walking upstairs. Yay!)
Good morning, again, Lord. I come to You less grumpy this time, in this new prayer journal entry. Being in Your Word seemed to help cure me of the yuck. Thank You, Lord. To You be the glory.
This came to mind once again:
1 Samuel 12:24 New Living Translation (NLT)
24 But be sure to fear the Lord and faithfully serve him. Think of all the wonderful things he has done for you.
New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
This verse comes to mind as I wonder what You want me to journal over the next year about forty years down, forty or more to go, my 40 project, since I turn four decades old in less than a month. I think 1 Samuel 12:24 is the focus point of 40:
THE BLESSING OF TURNING FORTY:
REFLECTIVE PRAYER JOURNALING AND COUNTING MY BLESSINGS (MY SPIRITUAL MEMOIR)
This title is tentative at this point.
I cannot imagine a better verse for the next year than 1 Samuel 12:24. This is the premise of my journaling project. I couldn't write a better summary or hook--or a one sentence description.
1 Samuel 12:24 New King James Version (NKJV)
24 Only fear the Lord, and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you.
New King James Version (NKJV)
The Holy Bible, New King James Version Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
Lord, for the next year, I want to see if I can count every single blessing of my life... gifts from You--where You show me Your glory.
Yes. All of the blessings in my life.
Here is the verse in every English version or translation of the Bible:
DAILY COUNTING OF BLESSINGS AND BLESSINGS JOURNALING PLAN AND TEMPLATE
1 7 from today 2014
2 3 from 1974-Sept. 12, 1984 and Decade 1
3 3 from 1985-9/12/1994 and Decade 2
4 3 from 1995-9/12/2004 and Decade 3
5 3 from 2003-9/12/2014 and Decade 4
6 3 from 9/13/2014 to today and Decade 5 (This will be 9/13/2014 to 9/12/2015).
2014-08-17 09:48:35
My heart soars just at the thought. How thrilling it will be, Lord, to explore each of those six categories.
Let me see... I have 28 days until my birthday, so that's a total of 393 days I will do 1-5. So, by the end of this 40 project, I will have at least 2,751 new daily blessings, plus a minimum of 1,179 new blessings counted of each of the four decades. (Wow! Wonder of wonders.)
2014-08-17 12:42:53
Went to.breakfast with B and then we went for a drive around our town again. We ended along the water where there are three different types of sea gulls, Moseley, white egret, and a grey heroin. The heroin was new. We hadn't seen him before there. What a treat. (Glory, Lord! Thank You.)
Here's a picture I took from there today:
Glory. Ignoring the parking lot, it's gorgeous. And, the five gulls just added to its splendor. Thank You, Lord.
I just went through more of my vacation photos and sent them to myself via email and added them to my journal on Penzu.
2014-08-17 13:20:55
Looking again at my plan and the daily blessings template and this paragraph I wrote earlier:
Let me see... I have 28 days until my birthday, so that's a total of 393 days I will do 1-5. So, by the end of this 40 project, I will have at least 2,751 new daily blessings, plus a minimum of 1,179 new blessings counted of each of the four decades. (Wow! Wonder of wonders.)
That's minimal. My goal will be to do a great deal more.
If I did this at least, what a treasure I will have at the end of the first year of Decade 5 of my life. (And, to think... When B and I have a kiddo, what a treasure this would be for them as well.) What a blessing it will be to.add to and re-read in the years to come.
And, just imagine if I kept up the counting my blessings daily template daily over the next 40 years, I would have a minimum of 102,200 daily blessings, and a minimum of 43,800 of each of the decades blessings. Now, that would just be incredible.
I cannot help but think how we are so quick to focus on the yuck, and what we see as negative, of our lives that we miss how the yuck is really a blessing. We also focus on the yuck so much we miss all of the good all around, all of the blessings and Your glory, Lord. I don't want to do this.
I want to live a conscious life. So many times we just go through the motions and miss living intentionally and with purpose. This is my goal over the next 393 days. I want to count my blessings, of the past, present, and future. Help me to do so, Lord. I want to count my life's blessings and bring You glory.
Could I do anything better with my life?
I just don't think so.
(Image credits: Stacy Duplease and Remembering Your Present, LLC. August 2014.)
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