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Taking inventory of 2016 <3

Today I helped with inventory at the store. I counted cards. Twice. Because I am neurotic like that and I second guess myself on just about every task.

Inventory is just one of the many reasons I love working retail. I find it cleansing to start the year assessing what remains and reconciling it out with what was purchased.

In a perfect world, a shopkeeper’s books should balance out in a nice equation:

Merchandise ordered – merchandise left in inventory = merchandise sold

But it is not a perfect world.

When it’s all tallied, the books will come up short.

Through theft…human error…damaged product that had to be removed…there will be losses on the record.

How about you and me?

We were given 365 days in 2016.

365 chances of 24 hour segments with plans and purposes, appointments and opportunities, responsibilities and recreations.

We put effort into living every single day, with hearts desiring to make the most of our time given.

In a perfect world we should be ending with output reconciled to input.

But as you and I know…it is not a perfect world.

There were gains but there were losses.

Theft…

damages incurred…

human error – our own mistakes and the backlash of those made by others.

As you take stock of 2016, and you should, I pray for God to show you the wins and the losses from His Perspective.

He keeps books differently than you and I.

Some of the things that look like write-off’s may well be your biggest pay-off one day…spiritually speaking.

If you journal in a notebook or keep a prayer list or even just look back over your calendar from the past year, take some time to flip back through the pages and I know you will see the faithful thread of God’s fingerprints woven throughout.

He is writing your story…do not doubt it is a good one.

As we celebrate the wins and grieve the losses, let us open wide our hands and hearts and lift all of what 2016 was to Him.

Release the joys, sorrows and the fact that you made it through; to the One who made you.

Consider it a final fragrant offering of praise.

Return it all to Him from whom all blessings flow and then…

let’s turn our faces forward, my friends, as we continue the journey…

onward <3

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