Deeper Gratitude

Okay, I felt a need to get a gratitude posted this morning, but I don't feel like I came even close to doing justice to the gratitude I feel toward Caleb's birthmother. This gratitude for the person who brought an end to my pain and made my greatest dream come true runs deep in a way I have never been able to fully explain. My friends who have also experienced the gift of a child through adoption get it, but we all have a hard time finding the words to express it.

I think deep may be the best word I can come up with. Deep because it is always with me, everytime I look at my son. It doesn't get pushed aside with the busyness of my world or the "I wants" that often make us forget to be grateful. Deep because it feels like it comes from far inside my heart - that my heart is bigger than it looks from the outside or in an xray. You Harry Potter fans will get it when I say my heart feels like one of those magical tents that look small and ordinary on the outside but are huge and beautiful on the inside.

This gratitude runs deeper than any other in my life. As a pastor, I probably shouldn't say that. I should say my gratitude to Jesus for the gift of his life, death and resurrection runs as deep, but honestly it doesn't.

So as I work my way through this Advent of Thankfulness, I wonder what would happen if I nurture and foster my gratitude for the gift of Jesus so that it too runs deep.

What is the absolutely best gift physical or otherwise that you've received? How deep does your gratitude run?

Blessings,
Liz