A Glimpse into the Power of Gratitude

It’s the Monday morning before Thanksgiving and outside my window is a blustery swirl of white cloud poop.  Do I sound grateful? No I am not. Not even a tiny bit. 

The yellow and red leaves are peeking through the blanket of white, crying “Too soon! Too soon, rescue us, rescue us!”

But I don’t step outside. The windchill is single digits, the dense gray threatens to smother me and I turn away. I have a turkey to think about. And table decorations. Guests to consider, napkins to iron. The list is long and I am weary.

In only a few days my home will be transformed into a Bistro of delicious smells and happy family. I can’t afford to allow an unwanted early snow fall to ruin my day.

I’m supposed to be thinking about gratitude.

But winter does not bring about thoughts of gratitude and love. It brings about thoughts of wondering what the heck God was thinking when He thought about cold and snow and did He have some nefarious evil plan up his sleeve when He planted me in the Midwest and then proceeded to provide me with ailments that feel pain upon every frigid moment? Because if He did have a plan, I want to know what it was.

This is on my list. My list of things to discuss with Him when we meet Face to Face. I hope He has a long meeting time scheduled for me, because it is a very long list.

I don’t like the sound of my own whining. But- I own it. I am whining about winter. I don’t pretend to like it, that would be fake and a lie, and I am about facing my truth.  I am not about pretending to be perfect and liking everything and being grateful for everything. I am not… not even a tiny bit… grateful for winter.

So fine. Acknowledged and accepted. Expressed and removed from my head. Now that it is out of there, I can let it go. Goodbye crabby whining, goodbye bad winter attitude, I am moving on to better thoughts, better uses of my brain power.

If I can’t be grateful for winter, what can I be grateful for? 

• I am grateful for my family- grateful that in a few days they will come, bearing the traditions of our holidays, food in hand, memories in hand, the same stories year after year and we will laugh at them as if it is the first time they have ever been shared. I love the time we have to share together, having my children around me, my husband home from traveling, the precious time to spend with my mother. And come to think of it, ironing napkins and tablecloths is relaxing and helps my creative brain. I am even grateful for the time I set aside for ironing. It gives me peace.
• I am grateful for my home blessing time, now that I remember- This is the time I bless my family and myself with a well loved home. My gift to them from my heart. I am grateful that I have a career that allows me time to do this for them and for myself.
• I am grateful for this home, intact and warm, knowing full well that only a week ago- just miles away an entire town was flattened by a storm so much more devastating than the harmless swirling flakes outside my window. (Perhaps, those tiresome flakes are not so bad, when I think about it after all.)
• I am grateful for the abundance in our lives, we have food on the table, savings, our needs are provided for, and we have our health. Okay, so yes, I have a few aches and pains here and there when the weather turns cold, but we are all free from cancer and disease, we don’t live in fear of illness or oncoming death. We are blessed that everyone in our family and close friends are healthy. So what are a few aches and pains? No big deal! I am profoundly grateful for our health!!
• I am grateful that I live a life that allows me to express my God-given creativity and talents in a way that serves others and changes lives. That is a precious gift, one I am thankful for every single day. Such a blessing as this is not to be taken for granted. Every day, I bow my head and ask, “How can I serve you?” and every single day, that prayer is answered in new and profound loving ways. I am truly living a gracious and blessed life.
• I am grateful for laughter, which reminds me that even on a gray blustery day, there is still plenty to laugh at, such as the antics of my three dogs who are running around out there right now, prancing in the snowflakes as if they are seeing them anew for the first time, delighting in the wonder of this “New” back yard they have woken up to today. They remind me that every single day is a fresh start, a new experience, a place to begin again, with a brand new perspective.

Such as…It’s the Monday morning before Thanksgiving and outside my window the world is alive with the wonder and magic of swirling snow. Do I sound grateful?

Because I am.