It's the final week of the hashtag #graditudetrain (see blogs below) that I started on November 1st.
I'm already feeling sad that it's almost over because even though I will continue to give thanks after the month of November is over, I know it won't be with the same attention and energy that these past few weeks have provided.
I have been challenged in ways that I didn't think I would be when I started this little refresher course in giving thanks.
It's been so fun to see others hop on board this train with me, and it truly has hit a refresh button in my heart and mind. I feel like I have grown in my "attitude of gratitude" and that makes me real happy.
Now the challenge of taking what I've learned and using that growth about having a thankful heart is what I'm thinking about.
If I were to teach a class on gratitude and how to stay
in this place of contentment, gratitude, and thankfulness I think this scripture from the Message version of the bible is what I would start with;
"You're blessed when you're content with just who you are- no more, no less."
I'm thinking that this quote has become a motto of sorts in my mind.
The older I get the more I'm realizing that in order to be content I have to accept the present moment.
That's not to say there isn't always room for improvement, but finding a sense of contentment in the present moment is crucial to contentment in life as a whole.
"That's the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can't be bought."
There are A LOT, and I do mean a whole lotta things that can be bought these days.
But I want to be the proud owner of the eternal things that can't be purchased with a swipe or insert of a stupid plastic card.
I want to remain grateful for what I already have, as well as know that my love for those around me, and their love for me, isn't defined by, and doesn't hinge on what I give them from a retail store.
Finding worth in what can't be bought has got to be where true life is found.
I know it's wrapped up in there somewhere.
I also think that you have to work at contentment and dwelling there.
It's a habit that is formed over many years of saying "Thank You" even in the midst of heart ache and pain.
In the face of challenges and hardship is where we find our true selves.
Our character is built in these times.
It's easy to say thank you when everything is going well and the sun is shining and unicorns are a plenty. But to remain in a grateful state of mind when everything and everyone around you has gone to the dark side this is the true challenge in life.
"You're blessed when you've worked up a good appetite for God."
Matthew 5:5-6
I have a thankful for heart because of the Lover of my Soul.
(Insert old Petra song here)
I'm hungry, no starving, for knowing more of the heart of my Creator.
There are SO many things in this life that our energy, and our appetites can be appeased with, but only one gives any return, and that is when I spend time with my Creator, the true lover of my soul.
That is why I can say, no matter what ...I LOVE RIGHT NOW!!
or
"Yet though you slay me I will still hope and trust in HIM!"
Job 13:15
I'm full steam ahead on my #graditudetrain.
(see post week 1 and 2 below if you're wondering what this is all about)
It's been so much fun to see some friends hop on board this with me. When others get on board this train of giving thanks in ALL things it gives me more momentum. Starting this train has truly been like hitting the reset button.
On Thursday of this past week I walked outside to the fresh smell of rain and I was tired, so very tired, but right away I took a deep breath and thought, today is going to be a good day.
I know it is strange that rainy days invigorate me, but they truly do.
The above pic is our drive way up to the cabin in Washington.
When it rains here, I can't help but think of this special place that now houses my oldest daughter Emma.
I needed that rainy morning last week to stop, and pause because the few days prior had been all kinds of rough.
I feel compelled to share the things that have happened this past week that I wasn't so thankful for because, basically they SUCKED!!
First, My dishwasher broke.
(insert full blown crying emoticon here)
Which ok, it's not the END of the world because we have hot water and dish soap and sponges, and hands that work. I was reminded of the 4 years in the cabin where we lived without a dishwasher, or central heat, or more than one bathroom, and I gotta say I stopped in my tracks and thought...it's those little things like dishes piling up that can really derail a train of gratitude in a New York Minute!
But beloved reader, I was determined not to let it.
I'm keeping the bigger perspective in mind, and the minute I almost started to be ungrateful I was reminded not only of the cabin life, but of another momma friend of 4 who is battling for her life right now.
It was a moment that I paused and thought, God thank you that I'm healthy enough to stand here, and do dishes by hand for hours and hours if need be.
It was a true reset button when I thought about how my friend probably wishes more than anything in all the world that she was healthy again and able to care for her clan of 4 kids.
I give thanks for Barbara because she is a warrior momma who I admire for her strength and courage and humor.
I paused and lifted up prayers for her and her family and thanked God for her.
IF you're interested in helping my fellow momma friend click the link below.
Help Barbara fight Cancer for the 2nd Time
I started thanking God for all the things that are STILL working even though my BLASTED bleepity BLEEP dishwasher is broken!!
Then the place where I work got broken into right before our big Veterans day event last weekend.
Which for me personally wasn't so bad, but I felt terrible for my boss/friend Mark who had to deal with this in the wee hours of the morning on Wednesday.
I started to think about how in life when you are going about your business something like that can happen and really shake things up.
They are moments that cause us to pause in all our busy, and hopefully we remember what to give thanks for in those moments.
I felt a certain sense of violation and frustration toward this selfish, stupid person who thankfully didn't get away with a single thing, but still it caused all kinds of other work for us last week that we really didn't need to be dealing with.
Even in this though, I was thankful that nothing was taken, and no one was hurt.
And I KNOW we did do some really good work for our community this past weekend when we gave away free tattoos to all the veterans as our way of saying thank you for your service to our country.
There are countless other little things that happened this past week that tried to derail this train, but I saw those things coming down the tracks and thought to myself ... NOPE...NOT TODAY!
We all have those things that come to rob, kill and destroy the attitude of gratitude, but they are nothing more than the Punk Ass Devil messing with what really matters.
When talking about giving thanks it's important to mention that not all things, obviously are worthy of thanks or gratitude. A lot of things in this life truly are horrible and there are no answers for the injustice.
But, "in all things" we give thanks.
Still, I believe there is always, always, always something to be thankful for.
I'm not really sure how this works when faced with true tragedy. I don't pretend to have all the answers or even some of the answers, but I know that personally in my life if I look for gratitude in every circumstance I can always find it.
It might not come right away, but it does come to me.
Again I will say, in this life we find what we are looking for.
If you look for something in every life circumstance to be thankful for you will find it.
This "graditudetrain" isn't about ignoring the horrible bad things that happen in life, it's about being determined to not stay there.
We have to allow for times of grief and sorrow to fully heal. It can't be all sunshine and roses everyday because with out the dark times we don't know how to appreciate the light.
I do believe though, there is something to wrestling our way out of those dark times and the muscle we use to dig out of that pit of gloom is gratitude.
So there you have it... week 3 here I go !
Keeping my attitude of gratitude and the determination to be a graduate in giving thanks in ALL things... "grad"itude train for LIFE!!
Last week on November 1st I decided I would start my own hashtag #graditudetrain on Instagram.
I misspelt the gratitude(graditude) on purpose for two reasons;
one- so that the hashtag will only have people who come aboard this train with me, and
two- because grad-itude has the word grad in it which is what I'm doing.
I'm determined to become a graduate in this life of gratefulness.
This is a train that is full of people who want to come against all the negative in this world with an attitude of giving thanks.
Even, in the midst of hardship and struggle I will give thanks.
"Like the homies on the night watch!"
I have to admit that for me, this is not a hard exercise of the heart.
Even though like everyone who has lived on this planet for 2.5 seconds I have experienced hardship and struggle in many different ways , my M.O. or resting stance of attitude falls very easily back into positivity and gratitude.
For years, I have said I might not be rich in material things, but when it comes to what is really valuable in this life I am beyond wealthy.
The people that I'm surrounded by, and who I have crossed paths with are some of the most incredible people on the planet.
I feel beyond honored and blessed to know each and everyone of them.
Much like the above photo of my giant, (aka my husband) hugging my daughter on her home visit from Seattle last month... coming back to an attitude of thanks is like coming home for me.
I feel the embrace of my creator everyday when I look around and see all that He has given me to enjoy.
My heart swells with gratitude for the people in my life.
This first week of thanks has not only reminded me once again how rich in love my life is, but also how abundantly blessed I am in the department of relationships.
There are 30 days in this month, and honestly every single one of these days could be filled with a shout out of thanks to certain people in my life that have shaped me.
Just for fun, let's look at the numbers of my rather large family of origin and marriage.
I have 4 siblings, 4 children, 2 parents, 4 parent-in-loves, 1 husband, 4 nieces, 1 grand-niece, 1 grand- nephew, 6 Uncles, 3 Aunties, 2 brother-in-loves, 1 sister-in- love, countless cousins.... so you do the math!
In my family ALONE there are more than 30 people to give thanks for, and I truly DO give thanks for them ALL!!
That is just my family that I didn't get to choose, but would choose each and everyone of them if I could.
Then there are the ones that I call family that I did get to choose.
My friends who are like family to me and who I choose to walk out life with, my inner circle if you will, I give thanks for ALL of them as well.
I realize this is not the case for everyone.
This gives some insight as to why coming home to a stance of gratitude is so very easy for me.
Even with all of these beyond amazing people in my life, I still struggle (like any human "being" ) does. I put the word "being" in quotes because just being human means we will from time to time fall out of the character traits that we would hope WON'T define us in the end.
Ya know, like... I mean we all have bad days!
Days we wish we could push the rewind button and do that part of life over again.
The great thing about this life though, is that we get to choose to push the reset button.
We might not get to rewind, but we definitely can reset our course.
So, that is what this month is about for me.
I'm hitting the reset button, and coming home to a place of giving thanks for what truly matters in this life.
I'm looking up instead of down.
I'm determined to graduate from this life with a masters degree in gratitude!
Who is with me?
I've been really quiet on here.
Some of that quiet came about because I've been really busy just living, but a good portion is because I've been letting the steam of my inner soul build up again.
I read this quote on another blog a long time ago, and it never left me;
When the door of the steambath is continually left open, the heat inside rapidly escapes through it; likewise the soul, in its desire to say many things, dissipates the remembrance of God through the door of speech, even though everything it says may be good...Timely silence, then, is precious, for it is nothing less than the mother of the wisest thoughts.
So that's kind of what I've been doing these past several months.
I've been allowing the steam of my soul to build up again in hopes that I would come back to share something that would be really good for you all beloved readers.
That above quote also reminds me of something that my grandmother used to always say to her kids, and then my mother said to me several times as a child, and now of course I say it to my own children;
"The smart one shuts up!"
Well, I don't know if shutting up really does make one smart, but I've been working hard to appear real, real smart these days.
I decided today, November 1st was a good time to get back on here, break the silence(even if I may appear stupid for doing so) and share some thoughts with you all.
You'll have to let me know if all that quiet helped me to become infinitely wiser these past few months? (wink wink)
In my quiet I've been contemplating the state of our world at large as well as my own personal little corner in it.
I've been quietly mourning the tragedies occurring around the world, and at the same time still mourning the loss of my beloved friend Christeeny. In my mourning and grieving I've also been trying to attain a happy balance of gratitude and still have hope for the future.
I'm not faking the happy, and I always have hope in Christ, but it is very much mixed with sadness at the same time. I feel as though I can't just throw my hands up though, and stop hoping for a better tomorrow because I have 4 children who need to be reminded that there is still so much good in this world.
(Enter John Mayers song The Heart of Life)
I wonder if anyone else feels the same in regards to seeing how crazy our world is right now and trying to make sense of it all for your children's sake if not for your own sanity?
I know there are some things that will never make sense to me, but I desperately want to try and find a way to help my kids navigate the madness of it all.
I have decided that to come against all this crazy from a different angle. I'm taking a totally different perspective than all the negative that is so easy to find these days.
Like that saying, "You can't fight evil with evil" that's what I'm trying to do here.
Fight the good fight.
Run the race,
and
Hopefully, Lord willing set a hopeful example to my children of what we do when the going gets rough.
So today, I break the silence to invite you beloved reader to join me this month of November to get on a gratitude train with me.
For the whole month of November I am going to post what I'm thankful for in an attempt to maintain balance and come against the spirit of sorrow, depression, and crazy in our world.
November is a good time to start, don't you agree ?
With Thanksgiving on the horizon I want to get on a train that gives thanks even in the midst of madness.
I also know that giving thanks and living in a state of constant gratitude is a muscle you have to work out everyday.
Some days are better than others.
I know there are actual studies out there that prove that when you feel the funk of life creeping up on you all that is needed is a good dose of giving thanks.
My friend/pastor shared this past Sunday the very same state that I'm talking about so I know I'm not alone in this.
I have a wooden sign in my house that says this;
"There is always, always, always something to be thankful for. "
and I truly believe it.
Even in the midst of pain and sorrow, heartache, and loss there is always something to be thankful for.
Today I am thankful for contentment and courage to change at the same time.
I'm content with where God has me right now and at the same time open to what He might want to change in me for better tomorrows.
I'm thankful for the state that I live in as well as the state that my heart is in.
It has taken me a very long time to find this place of contentment, especially in regards to living in Nevada again.
Those of you that know me well, know that it has been a life long struggle for me to find the beauty is this place that I used to disdainfully refer to as
"Brown Town!"
I chose that above photo for todays post because, even though I have lived here most of my life and seen that Nevada fence in pictures countless times I never knew where it was located until today.
Can I get a witness that in this life you find what you are looking for?
If you look for the good in any situation you will find it , and vice versa.
I have searched high and low for the good in this state and worked very hard to find the purpose in being here right now.
I believe I have come to a place of true thanks for this season and the place where I live.
I'm thankful that I live close to my parents and amazing siblings.
I'm thankful that I get time with some of my nieces and being a part of their lives is priceless to me.
I'm thankful for the lifelong friends I have here who have walked along side me, and my family and made all of our lives richer and deeper because of their influence and devotion to us all.
(My friend/pastor very much included in that thanks)
I don't know what the future holds, but I do know that no matter what I won't look back on this time, on this season, and wish that I would've had a better attitude about it.
So who is with me?
Let's put out the energy of giving thanks and get on this #gratitudetrain
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