Capacity.

I wrote the following words on BuyTheField on November 21, 2017....

"It's time for thanksgiving and it's time for Thanksgiving. This is seemingly "the" designated time for thankful hearts and the actual day of Thanksgiving is in a couple of days. I think that it's valuable to slow in November each year and ponder gratitude. Some years ago Lea and I were prompted to think about gratitude, not primarily as a November rarity, but as a way of life. Here's the back story.

Our dear friend Emily sent Lea a book. It arrived in the mail and it was added to Lea's stack of future reads. Lea really enjoys reading. The book that Emily sent was titled "One Thousand Gifts" by Ann Voskamp. As Lea began to read 1000 Gifts it began to stir her immediately. Ann wrote about her awareness that God was inviting her to cultivate gratitude, actually tend her heart in growth towards gratitude in both really difficult times as well as simple daily living. Here's what she did. She got a journal and throughout the day as she became aware of something that she was thankful for, even what seemed to be the slightest thing, she would write it down. She writes winsomely that all of sudden, after a period of time of practicing this cultivation, that she wrote down the number 1000 and wrote something down that she was thankful for. It wasn't about the number, but hitting 1000 caused an awareness that something was happening in her. Her heart was changing. Gratitude was being cultivated.

As Lea read and shared about her reading experience, we were aware of the invitation from the Lord to begin to practice gratitude as a family. Lea and I were aware that gratitude did not come naturally and that some tending was called for. Here's what we did. At the end of our dinner time, we took a few minutes and each person present shared some things that they were aware they had noticed gratitude for during the day to that point. Sometimes a few things, sometimes many things. Each person jotted them down and we went around and shared out loud. ( We now write them down in a journal) The number was not the issue. Cultivating gratitude was. Years later, we continue to do it. There aren't as many around the table as there were when we started. It is still impacting us."

And it's still impacting us. Here's the current story. God is still cultivating in us. He's planting in us. He's growing in us. He's loving us.

This past Saturday, Lea, Grannie and I drove to Nashville to spend a few hours with Taylor, Ashley and Emma. Simple delight. Time with people we love. Watching Taylor and Ashley embrace a new time in their life with Emma. Seeing Emma smile. Listening to her cry. Watching Mem (Lea) interacting with her granddaughter. Precious. We then drove back to Beacon Hall on Signal for a special sabbath meal with Trey. At the end of our pizza time, we took out our Thankfulness journal. And Trey spoke the 10,000th thankfulness. Trey spoke number 10,000. "10,000 items of thanksgiving", he said. We celebrated. We shot off a confetti cannon all over the dining room. It was epic and tender and quiet.

What were we celebrating? A big number? Nope. Perseverance? Nope. Seeming spiritual? Nope.

Capacity from Jesus for more.

My friend Buddy says that right in the middle of our natural decrease in our capacity physically and mentally, something is happening. He says, "But I have never had a decrease of capacity in anything regarding my spirit. As a matter of fact, my spirit is on the rise as I age. Within me is a growing desire for the way things were meant to be. Within me is the craving to celebrate. Within me is a letting-go-of past hurts and simple frustrations. Despite slow memory loss and failing body parts, something of my spirit is taking over. And so is yours."

That's what I believe we were confetti celebrating about. God increasing the capacity of our spirit because of His presence in us.

Lea and I thought about it all week. We bought the confetti cannon. We planned for Trey to be the heart to name the 10,000th one. We wanted to. There was a craving to celebrate any capacity that is there absolutely, only because God put it there. He is cultivating it. He's there.

Could this be real today?

No decrease of capacity in anything regarding your spirit.

Growing desire for the way things were meant to be.

Craving to celebrate within.

Releasing past hurts and frustrations.

Jesus capacity.

I'm thankful.

And last night was 10,001.

There's more.