Deep Breaths

Daily Gratitude Year 7- Day 346: Today, I am grateful for deep breaths.

This is the season of rushing around. The hustle and the bustle is fun for a bit, but the weeks move so quickly we find ourselves a little breathless. 

The old song, "Silver Bells", talks about the busy, but it encourages us to pause and listen to the lovely chime of the Christmas Bells, wherever they are ringing. When we hear the bells and pause to take them in, we cannot help but take a deep breath. 

This scripture calms my heart today:

"The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save;
he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing." -Zephaniah 3:17 

Ahh... it is like the promise of a deep breath. A semi-colon is the punctuation that means pause. It is perfect in this passage. In fact, look at the multiple uses of the semicolon in the ESV translation. Be still my heart! I can't resist celebrating the semicolon. 

"; he will quiet you by his love;"

This might be my new passage to carry into the new year. Our God saves. He rejoices over us with gladness. He quiets us by his love. He loudly sings in celebration over us! How can we be silent about the goodness He brings to our days? 

Remember Mary? 

"and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told." -Luke 2:18-20

She paused to ponder these amazing things in her heart. She let her spirit be quieted by His love. She took a deep breath in wonder, awe and welcome as she held the newborn King and Savior in her arms. 

Remember to pause and take in the wonder this season. Don't let the watch, the clock or the alarms set steal your joy. 

Today, I am grateful for deep breaths.