Heart + Soul Check-Up

I notice something when I haven't been writing down the gifts - all the rich blessings tiny, big, & all the in between that I began when I first read Ann Voskamp's book One Thousand Gifts a couple years ago now...  My mind & heart focus on all that has gone wrong & is wrong & will probably be wrong or could possibly be wrong, & deep inside the troll cave I've turned into my mind I'm alone & overthinking every little thing & stuck in the muck that I over-analyzed & zoom-magnified into... & it is dark & scary & devastating & I am broken there & I forget who I am in Christ, & that Christ is in me.  Let's soak that in for a mere moment {or a thousand}: Christ is in me.  Thus, can't I do all things {Philippians 4:13}?  Hasn't He given me what I need through the gift of the Holy Spirit {2 Timothy 1:7}?  And with prayer - not worry - can't I talk to Him about what is hurting my heart {Philippians 4:6}?

Sometimes I just need to do a gratefulness heart & soul check-up to see where I'm laying the focus in my circumstances.  To see if I'm counting up the gifts or the fears & worries.  To see where I'm fixing my gaze.  To see if I'm fixing my eyes on Jesus who gave it all for me {Hebrews 12:2}.  Who better to trust my life with, than the giver of every good gift {James 1:17}?  Who better to look to when the doubts start piling up in my noggin?  He is the truest source of joy {He created it, after all} that never fades in this temporary, passing life, & sometimes the best place to start remembering that is to start looking around with new eyes & counting every gift.

This girl definitely needed that check-up tonight, too.