GRATITUDE

“I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” – PHILIPPIANS 4:12–13

Both days this weekend, I dragged myself out of bed at 5:30AM with a nasty head cold & cough, surveyed the piles of laundry and housework that was going to have to be ignored another day as I packed the necessary items to be at a weekend long volleyball tournament. Yet, rather then getting annoyed or letting all this get to me, as usual I put it on the flip side with a simple mind shift!

Instead, I chose to be grateful! Embracing these days in gratitude! Grateful for a messy house to come home to clean when many have none. The very house that protects and provides the roof over my family’s head…and although humble, it is ours.

Grateful for the laundry piles that I walked by on my way out the door. The very pieces of fabric that clothe my loved ones.

Grateful and appreciative of the many hours in a convention center. Cheering & watching volleyball games for hours on end because I realize I was blessed with able bodied children. I also choose to remind them to be grateful for these opportunities that allows them to participate in events so many never have a chance to experience. I remind them, this is a privilege…never to be taken for granted.

I am even grateful for my head cold because it reminds me I have my health and however inconvenient, it is temporary!

I have reminded myself since the birth of my first child to be grateful and soak up every mom moment! No matter how crazed, hectic or what the sacrifice because soon enough these days would come to pass and I recognized how much I would long for them again. True enough, time is knocking on my children’s doors as the first readies herself for flight and my other two will follow quick enough…so I am grateful for the here and NOW!

Being grateful or showing gratitude is more than a reaction to receiving what we desire. It protects us from disillusionment and bitterness. It provides us the strength to keep going and gives us an iron clad resolution to face each day fresh!

So…I choose to be grateful for anything these days may bring…and no, I am not sarcastic or silly or even sentimental…I am serious. I am choosing not to complain about the mundane because I am alive, I am healthy, I have a home and I am surrounded by the love of my family and friends. I am Hope living in gratitude!