button, button, who's got the button?!

ever heard the worship song that goes,
"You give and take away, You give and take away.
my heart will chose to say, Lord blessed is Your name" ?
...well i've been singing it for years and years but have a new appreciation of the words.

lately, God's been been teaching me to be grateful things I already had.
examples:




*having a button on my winter coat. i have other coats, but this one i got last year is my absolute favorite.

while playing in the snow, the button fell off and it took me over a month of forgetting to sew it back on. now i appreciate being able to close my coat to better keep me warm :)




*my wallet. yep, remember when i mentioned i had lost my wallet? four days later i found it on the dashboard of my car! already having cancelled my bank cards, it was nice not to have to go get a new driver's license and to still have an old navy gift card. these were posessions i already had and yet was newly thankful for. i realized that they're still a luxury to be thankful for; i don't really need them but life is easier with bank cards, AAA, a driver's license and a coupla bucks in cash.



*my bike. i know, you're thinking "really jennifer, you're gonna talk about your bike againnn?" yes, yes i am. it's just supah exciting to have the mode of fun transportation back!
it's something i took for granted; it was free and i was like 'well everyone on campus has a bike, it's nothing to be very thankful for now that i've had it for a few months.' totally wrong.



*other things like hot water from the kitchen sink and NOT having my car blow smoke at me through the ac vents.

it really doesn't matter how these things ended up outta my life for a while. God restored them to me in a way that makes me discover how blessed i am with even the little things and that i really don't have to depend on having posessions, there not mine anyway.

*****i feel this could be preparing my heart a little for when i return home from 6weeks in China this July, shocked with gratitude for what God has already provided me with and seeing all that i can live without!