Thankful

I have so many things to be thankful for.  I have been blessed beyond all reason.

1) I have a roof over my head.
Circumstances have been kind to us.  We have been able to buy a house in a neighborhood we love in a community with people we adore.  We have scrimped and saved in order to purchase our first house and have continued to cut corners to work at paying our mortgage off early.  Again, we are fortunate that we have jobs that allow us to pay for our house and living expenses.

2) Our Health.
Aside from oldest child's stay in the NICU when he was born, all three of the kids have been healthy.  Oh, we've had broken bones, food allergies, and assorted illnesses, but  overall, we are healthy.  As husband and I get older, we continue to focus on getting daily exercise and eating right.  Our goal is to stay healthy as we age and stay out of the medical system for as long as possible.

3) Education
Love it or hate it, our country is unique in the history of the world in that every single citizen is eligible for a free public education.  Every person learns to read and write, and an education is provided through grade 12.  It's a privilege that I think too many of us take for granted.  Even today, there are places in the world where children do not get to go to school unless if their parents have money, and many girls have to drop out of school because they fall behind their male peers due to the fact that they have to miss several days of school each month due to their menstrual cycle.

4) Food
Food on our table, food in our fridge.  I am thankful that I have always had a yard, pots, or a community garden plot to grow some vegetables.  Our jobs have provided enough money to keep food on our table every single day.  Don't think I ever underestimate what a blessing this is.

5) Employment
Speaks for itself.

6) Friends and Family
You know what they say: you can choose your friends, but you can't choose your family.  We are blessed indeed.  My family lives within an hour of us, my Mom is still with us (not a certainty after last year), and we have fantastic friends that I am honored to know. 

Many of my extended family has passed on, but I am thankful to have had them in my life.  Their guidance and encouragement when I was younger helped shape the person that I am today.  Without them, I wouldn't be here.  Every day, I give thanks for the tremendous impact they have had upon my life.

What about you? What are you thankful for this year?

My Lenten Journey Begins

Ash Wednesday is tomorrow.  For Christians, Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent.  40 days of looking inward, reflection, and meditation.  Lent concludes with Easter Sunday.

When Lent approaches, many people take things away to help bring them closer to God.  Social Media, chocolate, caffeine, the list goes on and on.  I've found over the years that craving chocolate for 40 days does absolutely nothing to draw me closer to God.  It does bring me closer to Dove chocolate, which culminates in a good 24 hour binge of chocolate eating on Easter Sunday.  I'm still not sure how this brings me closer to God....

Years ago, I decided to start adding something to my life in Lent.  Something to help draw me closer to God every day.  Something I should be doing, but don't always do.  Praying, Bible study, mediation, the list goes on.  Over the years, I have always done something to help me walk a little closer to God.

This year, I am going to be keeping a Gratitude Journal.


Inside the front cover of my journal.
I've got a plan for the front cover, but it won't be ready until tonight,
we will be burning the palms from last year to make the
ashes for the Ash Weds. service tomorrow.

40 days of thankfulness of the things I am thankful for.  I can draw a picture, take a picture, add a memento, etc., but each item that goes into my journal must have a quick sentence or two, telling why I am thankful, what great thing it represents, or it's significance to my life.

Can you imagine?  40 days of focusing on finding the good in my life. 

I try to do it here.  I really do search for the good and the funny as much as I can, or else I find myself spiraling down into a bottomless pit of depression and bad thoughts.  Not every day is a good day, but every day has something good about it.  The sunrise.  (Hey!  I'm here for another day!)  The sunset.  (I survived this day.  Tomorrow is a new one, with no mistakes in it yet!)  The amazing kids I work with, my own children, the lady in the grocery store who hands her extra coupons to people in the check out line.  The young man with Down's Syndrome who bags at the grocery store and always has a smile and a positive thing to say to every person who comes through his line.

If you are a Christian, and you are looking for a way to observe Lent this year, I invite you to join me in keeping a Gratitude Journal for the next 40 days. 

What a difference we can make in the world when we focus on finding the good in the world around us.



I added this to my journal last week.
One of my little girls made this for me.
She came to this country 4 years ago from an orphanage.
When she came, she couldn't walk, or hold up her own head.
After running down the hall to come to class,
she made this bracelet for me, all the while chatting about
what she is learning in school, and the latest book she was reading.
What a gift this young lady is.
And what a gift her family is to this young lady.