At the suggestion of my deepest friend, she and I–along with one other sojourner–are practicing intentional gratitude for the 40 days leading up to Thanksgiving. So, every morning for the past 9 days I’ve been taking some extra time alone with God to give Him thanks, to highlight verses and passages in His Word that reflect gratitude, and to write a thank you note to someone in my life whom I appreciate. And then, I go downstairs and see this…

Looks like an ordinary kitchen barstool to most, but because I thrive in surroundings that are orderly and neat and organized…which means that all barstools should be pushed flush against the counter, shouldn’t they???…all my gratitude goes out the window.

So I stand there…staring and sighing at the barstool…before I walk over, push it against the counter, and ask myself, “Why can’t Clint just push in the barstool when he’s done with breakfast?”

And then God asks Himself, “Why doesn’t Penny just give Me thanks for the man who sits in that barstool every morning at breakfast?”

Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness (Colossians 3:15, emphasis added).