A Journal of Thanks

Because of several inspirational ideas I've heard over the years, I've decided to start an online journal (aka: blog) of thankfulness. Why? Let me tell you.

At the 2011 Women's Retreat hosted by Corban University, one of my professors did a break-out session on "Contentment." And I learned one of the main ways to stay content: be thankful. Count your blessings. She recommended keeping a journal each day of things that happened that you can be thankful for. Even after a really bad day it is good to find something positive, no matter how big or how small.

The mom of one of my best friends read the book One Thousand Gifts, and was inspired to record the gifts (blessings) that came each day. I have yet to read the book, but it's on my list.

The Bible asks us to be thankful, and to tell of God's wondrous deeds. Not only is this a journal of thankfulness, but each entry is a milestone to remind me of God's faithfulness and of how good my life really is.

The reason why the journal is online is simply because I can blog from my phone, which I always have with me, at any moment of any day. I don't have to keep track of a notebook or remember to get it out to write in. I use my phone for a lot of "notes to self" so this just seemed the easiest.

This blog post is going to be my only promotion of my online gratitude journal, because I don't want to "brag." You are more than welcome to follow my gratitude journal and read it, especially if it inspires thanksgiving in your heart.

The blog can be found here. Check it out if you wish! And maybe this will inspire you to reflect on the blessings in your life.

Anonymous Blessing

Jason and I were really stressed, I mean really stressed, about the groomsmen situation for Friday night. In fact, it might have caused a bit of frustration and conflict. You see, my mom had graciously paid for one hotel room at the Hawthorne for the guys on the Friday night before our wedding. This was super convenient because it's within 5 miles of the wedding cite, and all the guys could stay together (fun!). But there would be a total of 9 guys needing to sleep that night, and the hotel wouldn't allow that many in one room. So we could get a second one, but we had no clue how we would pay for it! If we canceled both rooms then the guys couldn't all stay togther (they'd stay and get ready at their own houses), which was never how I pictured it going! Plus, I wanted my getting ready photos. We kept going back and forth...get just the one room and make a few guys stay somewhere else -- but that's rude!!...get the two rooms -- but who will pay??!!...get no rooms -- but where will they stay?? Will there be getting ready pictures??

Most of these conversations took place at 11pm at night (tip: don't have stressful conversations at 11pm at night) or threw text while we were both at work (tip: don't have text conversations about something super stressful). As you can guess, this had become a heavy burden on our shoulders. All of the sudden I got a new text:

"There is an extra room reserved and paid for at the hawthorne for groomsmen as a wedding gift for the bride and groom..."

It was from a number I didn't have in my phone, and I, nor anyone else, still don't know who it was. But I thank God for anonymous blessings, and since the person was so humble as to send an anonymous gift, I'm going to brag about them on my blog.

Dear Anonymous Giver,
THANK YOU! As you can tell, you relieved a HUGE burden on our shoulders. We were already feeling silly for being so frustrated over something so small, but your text brought so much peace to the situation and our hearts. Thank you so much.

April 29, 2011

Friday April 29th was a day full of anxiousness for me!! Besides the normal race-day nerves, I was also taking the exam to become a certified personal trainer. I don't even know how many hours I'd been studying for this...lots. It's out of 800 points but you only need 550 to pass. Four students in my class had taken it before me, and two of them had failed!! There are 150 multiple choice questions and you get 150 minutes to take the test. The testing center was in Portland, and the classroom was very institutionalized - sanitary - white walls - intimidating. At the end of the computerized exam, you click one button, "End Review," which submits all your answers!! The next screen to come up tells you if you passed of failed, but not in big bold letters. You have to read the whole screen!!! Nerve-wracking!! Here are the results:

(Sorry for the poor picture quality)

Praise God I passed!! Now, I am officially, Lauren Cross, C.P.T. Soon, I will be

Lauren Koemans, C.P.T.

Good Things.

Even when there's stressful things and tough things... I can still confidently say this:

"Let all that I am praise the Lord; with my whole heart, I will praise His holy name. Let all that I am praise the Lord, may I never forget the good things He does for me. He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies. He fills my life with good things. My youth is renewed like the eagles..." Psalm 103:1-5

This whole Psalm is soooo good! I think it just might be my favorite =)

Lord, help me to always remember the good things You've done for me. Open my eyes to see "good things" in each and every day. They're always there, because You ONLY give good things. I just need help seeing them sometimes, especially on really "bad" days. I'm so thankful for the good things You've given me. You've spoiled me, given me way more than I deserve! Thank you for my great running buddies and friends here at Corban, Mel, Courtney, Christi, and Amy. Thank you for my family. Thank you for Jason. Thank you for the really pretty cherry blossom trees! Thank you for this successful track season! Thank you for life. You are so good. Help me to say that regardless of the day or season of my life.

Answered Prayers

"In the 3,000 meter steeplechase, Cross finished fifth with a school-record time of 12:13.51 bettering her previously set Cascade Collegiate Conference qualifying time. The second-year Warrior ran the second fastest time in the conference this season, as she broke Corban's school-record by more than six seconds." To read the full article, click here. The race, the Willamette Invitational, took place on Friday, April 1.

I'm very thankful for how my track season has been going, especially after a not so great cross-country season! And I'm definitely giving God the credit! This is a career best steeple time for me! I also finally broke 20 in the 5k, on the TRACK no less! Just before spring break I ran a 19:52 at the Willamette Dual Meet. (Maybe I need to run on Willamette's track more often?). I never expected to break 20 on the track. I can't handle running in circles! But I did. It's all God. And it totally goes back to the idea of surrendering my timeline. I expected to break 20 in cross this season, and even hoped to break it last year. It didn't make sense that I wouldn't! I was a bit confused that I didn't. But God know what He was doing. And He still answered my prayers, but in HIS timing.

The Giver of Good Gifts

James 1:17 "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows."

Chapel yesterday was a very good an inspiring message about God being the Giver of Good gifts. Of course this is something most of us know in our head, but can forget in our heart. Either that or we don't surrender our timeline to God and we get impatient with His "lack of giving." (Think Abraham and Sarah...using Hagar). Sometimes we don't expect gifts from Him, or we expect them to occur in a different way, so we miss out on the gifts He does give. Sometimes we think we are entitled to more and more and more, and we take for granted the gifts we do have. Sometimes we think we are unworthy of any gift He might give, so we pass up the ones He offers. Pray this week that God will open your eyes to the gifts He has given you and that He wants to give you. Surrender your timeline - after all, this is GOD, the Creator of the Universe, that we're talking about. He has perfect timing.

Something else I think we (or at least I) do, is want gifts that are not good for us. We don't even realize that they're not good, and we get upset with God because we're not getting it. But He only gives us good gifts, and sometimes that means not giving us something we think we want. For example, there is this awesome wedding blog site, WeddingBee. It's a collaboration of blogger brides who get chosen to write about their wedding planning and then recap for about a year or two once they are married. Every so often they have open applications for brides to apply. I love to blog and I love wedding planning, so part of me wanted to apply. I thought it would be something good and it was something I wanted. But I never did apply. Now looking back, I realize how not good it would have been for me to be a wedding-bee blogger. I can barely do homework as it is! I don't need any more distractions. But initially I thought this was something good for me.

As a small piece of evidence of His good gifts, I have an exciting story! (Exciting to me anyway!) Back in December I ordered my info cards from Vistaprint at a steal of a price! I only paid shipping & handling for 100 cards! They turned out beautifully and I was very happy about the look and price! Then over spring break, as we were putting the invitations together, we realized two things: 1) my mom's phone number was wrong on the info cards and 2) one of the hotels we listed was not one we wanted to recommend anymore. Since the cards were so inexpensive to begin with, we though, "No big deal, we'll just reorder." But I ordered the original cards during a special promotion. I waited a few days...but no promotion came. I was getting anxious about having to pay full price for the cards, which would be very disappointing. I began to pray about it. [Side note: something cool from my devo last night -- we are God's children, therefore when things matter to us, they matter to God.] Last night I just felt like I should email the company and explain the situation, just to see if they could give me the promotion. Guess what? This morning in my inbox was an email saying they had added the promotion to my account! Vistaprint is great! God is awesome! [PS: this is my shameless plug for Vistaprint - sign up for their emails so you can be notified of promotions - and order when the price is right! You won't be disappointed with the product for your price!!]

I'm thankful God is the Giver of Good Gifts. I'm praying that throughout this very stressful week, I can keep my eyes open for the good gifts He has for me.

Oh, and one more good gift: tonight a girl took my shift at work!! Now I can get more homework done and hopefully still sleep! Thank you Jesus!

Thankful.

There are so many things I am thankful for. To start off with, I'm thankful to be home finally! After two days of traveling on snowy roads, a trip that should only take one day (11 hours), Jason and I made it safely home from La Grange WY. (I had flown there on Monday afternoon so that I could see his campus and our house! And also drive home Tuesday together...which turned into driving to Billings on Tuesday, staying the night there, and getting to Missoula today!)

I'm thankful for this handsome man that I'm going to marry
 and spend the rest of my life serving God with.
He has such an incredible heart for God and for me.
 I am so blessed. We're crazy in love!

I am thankful for our housing opportunity for next school year in La Grange, Wyoming.
IT'S FREE! Yes, it's not much to look at, but I am so willing to make it work.
It'll save money. It'll be our own place. All we have to pay is utilities.
Disclaimer: it's not set in stone yet, but a very likely possibility!

I'm thankful for my awesome family. I have parents that walk in righteousness and lead our family to do the same. They provide everything they can for our family. I have a great sister Heidi who is such a close, sweet, friend. She is a talented athlete. I have a very tall brother Nathan who is...very smart. He always helps me with my computer problems. Ya he's a nerd, but it's great! And I have a precious sister Josie who smothers me with hugs and kisses and says she's misses me everyday. She also steals my bed and sends boxes of her toys to college with me.

I'm thankful for my great, lifelong friends, Monz and Meaghan. I'm thankful for Corban and learning through a Christian world-view. I'm thankful for my cross-country team at Corban. I'm thankful for my roommate Kate!  God has blessed me in so many ways. So so so many. I could go on for a while.


Our God is so good and so faithful. He has redeemed me and saved me from His all consuming wrath, which I don't thank Him enough for!