We were sitting on the kitchen counter waiting for the kettle and Murray said:

‘Until people realise that God’s priorities are his glory, and the spread of his Kingdom, they’re going to be miserable.’

It’s like, if we can just view sufferings and victories and delays and opportunities and all the crazy complexities and straight-line simplicities of life through that big-picture lens, so much of the small-picture comes breathtakingly into focus and there’s joy, and there’s gratitude.

Here are 39 things that came into focus for me this week. (I’ve used the first 13 challenges of Ann Voskamp’s May Joy Dare):

3 gifts tasted:

703 Camembert

704 Milo Flakes

705 Fudge

3 gifts flat:

706 Exquisite photo of Scott enlarged and in an envelope from my mom-in-law

707 Sheet of clean white printing paper

708 The memory of my (flat) stomach pre-kids

3 gifts found in difficult people:

709 So often they are right and have valuable wisdom worth hearing

710 I need a dose of cold-prickly now and then to snap out of it / get over myself

711 They reveal things about me. (Bad things. That I should work on.)

3 gifts before 9am:

712 Cold quiet bright stars in still-dark morning sky when I let Lola out and stand at the kitchen door

713 Juice bottles full and ready in little school bags

714 Teeth brushed

A gift in a sign, a smile, a snack:

715 A Mother’s Day poster with: ‘MOM’ – and mirrored beneath it: ‘WOW’ – and the words: ‘Whichever way you look at it.’

716 The way Teacher Karen smiles at Cam

717 Banana bran muffins in the freezer – so easy for lunchboxes

3 gifts found in Christ:

718 Storm-calming

719 Total acceptance

720 Hope

3 gifts about my home:

721 Place of peace, where Christ is King

722 French doors and fireplaces

723 The place my soul can walk barefoot

3 gifts inside a closet:

724 Scarves I’d forgotten I had

725 Boys’ warm jackets

726 Linen for guests

3 gifts found in the dark:

727 Seclusion

728 Silence

729 Sleep

A gift outside, inside, upside down:

730 Shady parking spot

731 Piano

732 Cake flipped out on a cooling rack

3 gifts about my parents:

733 Flawless integrity – astuteness – uprightness

734 Selfless sacrifice

735 Value placed on love, laughter and learning

3 gifts held in hand today:

736 Children

737 Mascara

738 House keys

3 gifts found in my mother:

739 Ingenious wisdom

740 Magnanimous, generous spirit

741 Undying commitment to and love for me, my husband and my sons

I’d love to hear how you’re counting the gifts!

Photo credit