1,000 GIFTS, #579 to #594

Another Multitude Monday, and I am having a "memory lane" moment right this very moment. I began this journey of counting His grace gifts to 1,000 last year while attending a conference for worship pastors with my husband. My very first list is right here and here I am again...attending the Metro Worship Pastor's Conference right now in Texas. GRACE.

579. I'm sitting in the lobby of the conference hotel and I love the sounds I'm hearing right now...the booming voices of the worship pastors all around me shouting greetings to one another as they are arriving..."hello brother," "how are you,"  "how is your family,"  "good to see you."  I love the family of God and I wish you could be in the meetings when these guys sing...a foretaste of glory divine. (Music people are wonderfully loud...in my observation.)

580. Just this morning my husband was in the conference hotel lobby talking to Ryan Dahl, the founder of Praise Charts Publishing. Gary shared an email with Ryan that our son Jeremy had written him (Gary) recently about the blessing of being raised up singing hymns...which led to Ryan writing a blog post on the spot - it was one of those God-ordained moments that has already set the tone (pun intended) for this week. You can read the email and the blog post by clicking here.

581. The great joy to worship yesterday morning at Prestonwood Baptist Church.  What a church! They celebrated 797 people saved on Easter Sunday last week. WRAP YOUR HEART AROUND THAT! The preaching by Dr. Graham was great (a message on leadership), the worship was amazing, and the people were so friendly. We sat with our dear friends Jack and Sharon Price (Prism Music). When you never get to sit in church with your husband, it means so much to just sit WITH him in a worship service.

582. It was a blessing to celebrate our Lord's Resurrection on Easter Sunday - and the GREATER JOY is that we are able to celebrate His Victory over death, hell, and the grave every single day. Hallelujah what a Savior. These are my three grands in their Easter finery...Zeke in his "theer thucker thuit" and Madie and Jackson.  Gran Jan's JOY!

 

 

583. This is my family...the "Real Maloys."  My parents, me, my sisters Joan and Jo. I love these people with all my heart. We were all together Easter weekend (Jo's birthday).

584. I often write and share about the joy and blessing of being a country dweller, but I'm very serious when I say it is a gift of God's Grace to come home to the quiet of the country. Yes, we drive a bit further, but the solitude is worth the travel time...it's peaceful here with front porch time;



585. Peaceful with garden time (which happens to be therapy to me - honestly it does);

586. Genesis 1:29

 And God said, “See, I have given you every herb

that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth,

and every tree whose fruit yields seed;

to you it shall be for food.

587. Chicken yard time...I love all their various clucking "sounds" and funny ways.

588. And I love their contribution to our family breakfast time...who knew a dozen eggs would fit in my husband's John Deere cap? :)  I forgot to get the basket from my mom.

589. I'm working on a baby quilt for a long, long, awaited baby. God is good and Heather and Bubba are going to be wonderful parents to their baby girl...due to arrive in June. I'm thankful for my new found love of quilting and the gift of grace in their lives too.

590. There is a willow tree on the banks of our pond that Zeke and I like to sit under and have picnics when he comes to the farm. I am calling it the Picnic Willow and I love to spend time with my grandchildren.

591. My friend Lanie made a quilt to raise funds for cancer research. She herself is an ovarian cancer survivor.  God is so good - she brought this quilt to our James Bible study last week and we were talking about the power of prayer and healing from James 5.

592. This past Friday at work was wear purple for "Military Child Appreciation Day," and these are some of my wonderful coworkers - my work family. We live and work in a military town and are blessed and thankful for our armed forces and their contributions to our daily lives. This is a great bunch of purple-wearing folks!

593. This is my Dad and his great-granddaughter, my granddaughter Miss Madie. My dad had 8 sisters (he is lone survivor in his family of origin, which included 11 children, 8 girls and 3 boys), and he is the father of four girls (I am the eldest), so it didn't take too much for this sweet little girl to win his heart. 

594. This is the first of my daylilies to begin to show signs of blooming. I can't wait and love to "come to the garden alone..." like the old hymn says. 

Speaking of "showing signs of blooming and growth," I am asking the Good LORD to be with all of us at the Metro Worship Conference and I need to log off and take care of some things...I am praying for all that God has in store for me, that I will BE a blessing to others and that God will speak to my heart in the deepest places...I am so thankful for His grace.

Jan