Here we are, the day before Thanksgiving, talking about “Practicing Plenty.” I love the way this all worked out.
I don’t know where this season finds you — in the spaciousness or in the squeeze. I know what both feel like. What it’s like to feel the breath and the space and the grace. And what it’s like to feel like Hard is just on your heels or, even, here for a good long stay. In Chapter 22, I talk about my journey of finding plenty within my own soul even though I could not see plenty around me with my own eyes:
Plenty means fullness, and I believe it’s one of the most subversive things we can do to scout out the fullness instead of focus on the lack. It’s too easy to settle for scarcity.
I truly believe God wants to show you and me his mysterious abundance this Thanksgiving — an abundance that transcends circumstances. An abundance that transcends even the facts in front of our face. God is in this very strange business of giving us things we cannot secure for ourselves. He can give us space, breathing room, a very real sense of plenty . . . no matter what evidence our lives are presenting to the contrary.
So here we are, on the eve of Thanksgiving, and I want to give us all an assignment: Notice one holy thing. Notice one holy thing that you may not have paid any attention to had you not been looking. Notice one holy thing that is waiting for you to notice it. Maybe it’s been there all along. Maybe it will walk through your front door tomorrow. Don’t prearrange it. Let it surprise you. And let the holy thing — no matter how simple or how lofty — fill you with a posture of plenty.
With so much love and mashed potatoes and holiness waiting to be noticed,
Leeana
P.S. Last fall, right after Breathing Room released, I had the opportunity to give a preview of the book at a conference in South Carolina. While I was there, I got to meet two of the most lovely people you will ever meet. Sisters Myquillyn Smith (aka The Nester) and Emily Freeman. They invited me to be a guest on their podcast and we recorded a conversation titled, “WHEN IT DOESN’T LOOK LIKE PLENTY,” in which I relate the story from this chapter. I thought a few of you might be interested in listening to us chat about plenty.
