Overwhelmed with thankfulness…by Kara Backes

That’s what I have been this late spring/early summer season.  God is so good – life is so very hard but God is so good. 

Things I’ve been overwhelmed with thankfulness for…

• Abundant Grace, Love and guidance – Thank You God!
• Sunday morning RidgeKids volunteers – it takes 100+ volunteers in our ministry to make happen what your kids experience every Sunday – our volunteers are amazing – the light of Christ in them – their dedication – I am completely overwhelmed with gratefulness for each and every one of them – Thank You God!!!
• Our RidgeKids – have you seen their faces? Have you seen the light of God in their eyes?  I have – they are amazing – their hearts for Jesus – astounding – their sweetness – their love of fun – their passion for Jesus and others – oh my!  Thank You God! 
• Our Family Ministry team – the hours, the dedication, their passion for God and meeting families where they are – their hearts to serve others – I am humbled daily to be given the gift to serve alongside an amazing team.  They are a gift from God, for me, for you, and most of all for Him.  Thank you God!
• Our Staff – humbled again to work alongside a staff that works together, that loves God and all of you so very much!  Thank You God!
• For times like a simple grill out and games in a park called CeleMAYtion – that so many people would gather to engage in community with their families and others – and the joy in the children’s eyes as they threw marshmallows over and over.  These are simple and yet profound moments to cherish. Thank You God!

• For a Fine Arts camp – Create and SING – I could not have imagined how God would move and work.  The amazing confirmation  that kids are indeed longing to integrate their passion for God and their passion for their talents and gifts together in their every day life. For the joy, the hard work, the amazing creativity and their hearts for God – engaging in the fruits of the spirit.  And last but not least amazing volunteers again. Thank You God!
•  For all the little moments that God gives as a gift – when the sun shines down on me, when my kids laugh, how my husband still makes me laugh, when the trees bloom with flowers, dear friends, loving family, when health seems a little more hopeful.  Thank You God!

And so I choose to sit in this thankfulness I hope for a long time, but at least for the summer.   I want to choose thankfulness which God blesses with Joy.  I want to choose to deflate this summer.  A very good friend shared this story with me – So if I was a balloon, I’ve been blown up with a full season in life and ministry, and maybe I should take time to deflate like a balloon, so in the next season I can be filled even further than before. (You know how a balloon can be blown up more the second time you blow it up, but if you blew it up too much without deflating it, it would pop.)  So I choose to deflate, not to pop, and enjoy the anticipation of an even fuller season to come.  Whatever God has in store. Do you need to deflate so God can fill you more?  Start with thankfulness.  Thank You God!