I remember our first night in our new house. Well, new to us…it was built in 1950 and came with a ton of character, which is why we loved it. We moved in on my 29th birthday. I remember sitting on the floor in our living room, surrounded by boxes and our furniture thinking ‘I need to memorize this moment of gratitude.’
This house was a huge gift from God. We got a lot more house and yard for the money compared to all the other houses we had looked at. We set out looking for a ‘starter home’ and ended up with a place that could easily be where we stay the rest of our lives. I knew there would be days of frustration to come…because that’s just how life is…so I wanted to make sure I paused to bookmark that day.
And I’m so glad I did. Because in the 4 years we’ve lived here, we’ve had to replace duct work, insulation, roofs, and ceilings. In one of the coldest winters on record here in VA, I lived for almost 2 months without heat (while hubby was deployed…talk about an adventure!) because of issues with the heater. Thanks to years of hubby’s inconsistent schedule and… ‘life’, it still looks like we’re moving in. We’ve made a TON of progress, but you wouldn’t necessarily know that if you walked into the place for the first time.
This house that was such a huge praise report back in May of 2010 has been the foundation for prayer requests many times since then. It would be so easy to forget that this ‘need’ or frustration was once a huge blessing and praise…and ultimately still is.
We pray for God to give us a spouse…and then we pray for God to fix him because he’s driving us crazy ;). We pray for children…and then pray for God to fix them because they’re driving us crazy (or so I’ve heard…hubby and I only have 2 pug fur-kids). How often are today’s prayer requests yesterday’s praise reports? And how often do we forget to praise Him for the initial blessing even if we’re in a new season that requires new requests?
God, may we consistently be reminded of your goodness in our lives. We have so much to be thankful for even in the midst of our ‘requests’!
I challenge you to think of at least one ‘request’ in your life that used to be a ‘praise’…and praise Him for it again today!
Image Credit: Erin Kass