Today is my sweet mother’s birthday, as well as Thanksgiving, and my birthday will follow in one week. So before the New Year comes in one short month, I want to take the time to immerse myself in the gratitude I feel for this year and everything I have learned.
A year ago, I had a vague outline of a plan for my life, and I knew what I could expect in the near future. I had some kind of misplaced trust in “knowing” what the future held for me, and that made me feel safe. But what I neglected to remember is that none of us really know what lies ahead on our path. At the beginning of 2017, there was a period of time when I was feeling uncertainty about my life, and I turned strongly to prayer. In a moment of courage, instead of praying for what I wanted, I prayed instead for God’s will to be done in my life.
I heard once that our prayers stand outside of time—a beautiful thought, isn’t it? That a prayer can reach across time and space, can reach God when we most need it. And I think that even during times when I have failed to cultivate my spiritual life, God still knows my heart.
And so today I am grateful for the most important lesson I learned this year: tomorrow is not promised, and I can’t place my trust in my own plans or other people’s promises for my life; rather, as long as I place my whole trust in God, I can truly feel safe knowing that He has a good and wonderful plan for me.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
My second lesson of the year is one that I’ve learned every year of my life, and not a day goes by that I’m not more aware of it: there is nothing more important in this life than treating the people around us with love, no matter what. The quickest way to change the world is to love the person standing next to you.
And of course this lesson is, in my opinion, the most difficult because it means overcoming our feelings of hurt, anger, fear, and self-importance. It’s not easy to act with love toward people who have hurt us. It’s not easy to act with love when we are tired, weak, and feeling our lowest. But it’s the number one thing I want to work toward in this life. Because love will always save the day.
Wishing you grace and strength to share your love with the people around you— Happy Thanksgiving ❤️
– L
leslieannramey.com 