An Attitude of Gratitude

It’s beginning to simmer. Do you feel it? The start of the holiday season and its hectic demand on our time. Already feeling pulled in three different directions at once, something has to give. Unfortunately what gives is my peace. I need to find it and get it back.

With so much vying for our time, how can we find a moment to cultivate peace? A moment is really all it takes. Just a moment to say thank you, to realize gratefulness in the simplest of things.

Turn on the faucet, and clear, fresh water streams out. Not everyone in the world has this luxury, so be thankful. The frig is so full of food for the holiday that it’s truly crammed. Oh, so much food to be thankful for!

My sons are home and my house is full, even if only for a couple of days. The two middle boys, now young men, still have the job of peeling potatoes for the holiday meal. What joy to have these six foot plus giants in my kitchen, when I remember them hanging on my legs in the days before they cast such a big shadow .

The pressure to make it all perfect has to give way to the joy of the moment. Savor it, for it will soon be gone to yesterday and the moment is gone. Take the time to look each one in the eye, and find out where they truly are in life today. Laugh and joke, and love.

Each day holds hundreds of opportunities to cultivate a grateful heart. Why is it easy to only see what needs fixing and mope or complain about what we can’t have? The best ‘fix’ may be an attitude of gratitude.

Finding opportunities in the everyday to be thankful, truly grateful, focuses attention on the positive instead of belaboring the negative.

As we gather to share hearth and home, and a feast that could feed a small village, I pray that the moments of gratefulness we share as we indulge in our meal and our fellowship will carry into the days that follow.

My prayer is for God to open my eyes to the littlest of gifts, those that might otherwise go unnoticed, and cause me to pause and give thanks for these moments in life. It really is the little things that make up a life of gratitude. And saying thanks is a prayer of praise worthy of our humble hearts.

Blessings to all, in the spirit of the season. May your lives be blessed with fruitfulness, and may you grow in appreciation for the little things that bring joy and appreciation for the moments in which we live.